A benefit for the East Hampton Lions Club tomorrow will feature a tasting of local beers, from the Montauk Brewing Company’s selections to brews from the Twin Fork Beer Company, Crooked Ladder Brewing Company, and the Southampton Publick House. The sipping gets under way at 4 p.m. at the Montauket in Montauk and continues until 7. Food will be served. Tickets are $25 in advance and can be purchased by calling Tina Piette in Amagansett; they will be sold at the door for $30. Taxis will be available.

Cittanuova Nights

A lineup of nightly specials at Cittanuova in East Hampton begins with pizza night on Tuesday, when any pizza with a draft beer or homemade gelato is $15. Wednesday, or steak night, follows, with a New York strip steak priced at $19. On pasta night, otherwise known as Thursday, any entrée pasta is offered at an appetizer price.

Eat, Talk

The next artists and writers night at Almond in Bridgehampton will be hosted by the well-known painter and sculptor Eric Fischl, whose work is in museum collections worldwide. He lives and works on North Haven with his wife, the artist April Gornik. The event, beginning at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, will feature a familystyle three-course meal starting with a fall salad and followed by Szechuanstyle chicken and angelfood cake with Italian meringue. The cost is $45, which includes tax and gratuity and a glass of local wine or craft beer.

Thinking of Thanksgiving

Who can believe it’s only three weeks until Thanksgiving? With the holiday approaching, thoughts turn to the feast table. Those who plan to place orders for dishes to serve family and guests had best think ahead, as local businesses are already making their lists.

Round Swamp Farm in East Hampton is preparing to close after Thanksgiving weekend, but is stocked with soups, dinners, and baked goods that can be frozen for use over the months until the farmstand reopens. The Round Swamp market in Bridgehampton will remain open for limited hours into December. The market’s Thanksgiving menu can be found online. Orders for items, to be picked up at either location, are accepted only online.

Happy at Nick and Toni’s

Nick and Toni’s in East Hampton now has a happy hour from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, as well as on Sunday from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Deals include a glass of wine, selected by the sommelier, for $8, and select cocktails for half price. A “daily growler” — a glass of tap beer — will be offered for $6, and there will be a bar menu of small plates, including pizza margherita, cheese or salami plates, crispy spiced chickpeas, and bruschetta. On Sunday afternoons, the full pizza menu will be available. Nick and Toni’s serves dinner from Wednesday to Monday, beginning at 6 p.m.

Ramen for Lunch

A $20 lunch special on Fridays at Momi Ramen in East Hampton includes a starter item such as gyoza or edamame and any ramen dish. The restaurant is closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but serves dinner the other nights of the week as well as lunch, from noon to 3 p.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Chowder How-To

Learn how to make a Long Island clam chowder during a workshop next Thursday from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Rogers Mansion in Southampton with Kyle Scheure, a chef from Schmidt’s Market in Southampton. Participants will learn how to open clams and prepare a batch of chowder, and will leave class with a quart to take home. Reservations are required and can be made by calling the Southampton Historical Museum office, open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdaythrough Saturday. The cost is $35, or $25 for museum members.

Smoked or Deep-Fried

At Smokin’ Wolf in East Hampton, Thanksgiving meals for large or small parties can be ordered, and include a turkey, cornbread, cranberry sauce, gravy, choice of side dishes, and pie. Roasted, smoked, or deep-fried turkeys may be selected. Additional entrée options include grilled filet mignon, ovenroasted pork loin, smoked barbecue brisket, traditional brisket, and smoked glazed salmon. Appetizers can be added for an additional charge.

Thanksgiving at 1770

The 1770 House restaurant in East Hampton will serve a three-course Thanksgiving prix fixe from 2 to 8 p.m. on the holiday. The cost is $95 per person for adults. For youngsters 12 and under, a two-course, $40 prix fixe will be offered. Tax and gratuity are additional. A vegetarian option will be offered as well as the traditional turkey entrée, with fixings.

For Home Cooks

For cooks planning to make Thanksgiving — or other meals — at home, the selection of cookbooks at BookHampton is now 20 percent off.

Farm Produce Shares

Winter shares in the Peconic Land Trust’s Quail Hill farm in Amagansett are available. Individual shares are $250; shares for families are $395. In addition, new members must pay a one-time fee of $50. Those interested can obtain more information online at peconiclandtrust.org., or contact Robin Harris at the land trust’s Southampton offices.

Here it is, early November, and the farmer’s market in Sag Harbor this past weekend still had peppers, corn, lettuce, and other greens, along with the usual suspects of winter squash, potatoes, apples, onions, garlic, and more. Maybe it was the fact that the last market of the season (the 12th) was on Halloween, but there was definitely a festive atmosphere, along with a few early-morning costumes.

For the last 20 years out here I have been working as a pastry chef, therefore did not have Friday (Nick and Toni’s) or Saturday (Sag Harbor) mornings off to go to the markets. This past summer was more “leisurely” for me, and I made a point of going every Saturday, stocking up on greens and other vegetables, flowers, fruits, olive oil, soaps, salts, bread, fish, cheese, honey, even dog treats. Some of the vendors I have known for years, but some, like the farm interns from Quail Hill, change from year to year.

Of the 24 vendors participating, only about 12 were still manning their tents this past weekend. Blue Duck Bakery dropped out a few weeks ago; Dennis from True Blue Coffee ran out of coffee a while back; there are no more flowers, and I have no idea why Gula Gula Empanadas hasn’t been there for a while, cuz they make a tasty breakfast treat.

Dave Falkowski                                                                                                                     Laura Donnelly

I find that I linger the longest at Open Minded Organics, Dave Falkowski’s stand. I’m pretty sure he may have been a hawker in an Asian market in a previous life because that boy can sell! You can hear his voice carrying over all others, sharing recipes, explaining the mushrooms’ culinary and medicinal uses, and telling folks how and when to plant seed garlic. This weekend he expressed some relief that the season is over and shared a drawing of a cold smoker he built himself.

Jeri Woodhouse of Taste of the North Fork had discounted his frozen pestos (cilantro, arugula, basil) to $5 each, so I stocked up. I probably have enough jars of Charissa harissa, the marvelous Moroccan condiment that goes with everything, but I bought more anyway. For gifts, I swear!

Philip, representing Wolffer Estate Winery, was wearing a fighter pilot uniform. When I suggested he keep the noise down when he flies into our local airport, everyone laughed. Definitely a local crowd at Saturday’s market.

On that last day I purchased the following: cauliflower, red cabbage, and onions from Quail Hill; a bag of lettuce, fingerling potatoes, and shiitake mushrooms from Dave; cornmeal, apples, and the last-of-the-season sweet corn from Dale and Bette, a.k.a. Under the Willow Farm; a bottle of white wine from Wolffer, and halibut from my buddy Alex of the Seafood Shop in Wainscott.

Alex from the Seafood Shop                                                                                                   Laura Donnelly

The fingerlings were sliced and roasted with olive oil and rosemary, the red cabbage was braised with a bit of bacon fat, apples, onions, vinegar, and maple syrup. I made a polenta with the cornmeal, which was a colorful variety of ground flint corn. As I cooked it, the color changed from light sand to lavender to taupe to something between all three. Not very attractive, but I can assure you, once I topped it with sauteed shiitakes and fresh herbs, it didn’t matter.

I roasted the cauliflower florets with onions and curry powder, and the apples shared a pie filling with huckleberries I’d gotten from a chef friend.

Between cooking I walked back down to the market to watch the dismantling of the season and take a few pictures. Gabriel and Ryan from Quail Hill found it hard to believe I had cooked so much in the few hours since I’d seen them that morning. They rewarded me with some smoked peppers and more cabbage. Thanks, guys!

I steamed the corn to cut off the cob and freeze for winter. I have to admit, this last batch was a bit watery, but I figure once it’s in a chowder in February, nobody will complain.

Lastly, what to do with the lovely halibut? I decided to go all Frenchie and make a mash-up of bechamel-Bercyvelouté. In other words, I just winged it by making a light bechamel, adding shallots that had been boiled down in the Wolffer white wine, and fresh herbs still struggling valiantly in my garden. It was divine. All in all, I was quite pleased with myself and had made enough food for dinner for two, leftovers for three neighbors, and enough still for one more meal for moi.

Halibut                                                                                                                                    Laura Donnelly

The atmosphere at the last market was festive and panicky at the same time. Festive for those who don’t have to work so hard again until spring, panicky for those of us who abhor winter and will miss the ritual of waddling down to the market on the bay every Saturday for company and sustenance.

I will purchase a winter share at Quail Hill, and I can buy Bee’s Needs honey, Charissa harissa, and Blue Duck breads at my local I.G.A., but it’s just not the same. Maybe I should have gotten a few more potatoes and cabbages and peppers and heads of garlic and oil and, and, and. . . .

Click for recipes

Topping Rose House

1 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike

Bridgehampton

537-0870

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days

The first time I reviewed the Topping Rose House I recall coming to the conclusion that it wasn’t so much a place you pop into for a good meal but rather a place for a dining experience, a special occasion. I returned two years ago and it was empty. I returned with some friends a few nights ago and it was empty again, save for one lone diner who was staying at the hotel. He sat across the grand, white, high-ceilinged dining room from us, reflected in the glow of his cellphone, looking like a snazzier version of an Edward Hopper painting.

The interior of Topping Rose House is beautiful. The ancient bones of the building have been preserved, but the walls have been jazzed up with modern art and there are huge light fixtures on the ceiling that cast a star-shaped glow. The floors are dark wood with muted rugs. There are black Windsor chairs in the bar dining room and a long burgundy leather banquette lining the larger dining room. The tiny bar is painted a marvelous, glossy teal.

This is probably the most expensive restaurant out here. The menu is very, very short, and the dining room closes at 9 p.m. on weekends and 8 during the week. “Ruh roh!” as the Jetsons’ dog Astro would say.

As soon as we were seated we were asked how everything was so far. Um . . . the napkins unfold nicely and the silverware has nice heft to it? The moderately priced bottle of Sancerre we ordered was not available, so we were offered another bottle for the same price, with samples poured first. Very nice!

A bread basket came to the table filled with absolutely exquisite breads: thin, salty breadsticks, hot brioche buns, and slices of dark olive and rosemary bread.

There are five appetizers, four of which are salads. We began our meal with a garden vegetable salad, an array of local cauliflower, and salad Lyonnaise. All portions are very small. The garden vegetable salad was a beautifully composed selection of Brussels sprouts leaves, pumpkin butter, parsnip chips, carrots, raw cranberries, cubes of celery root, and a few leaves of mache or baby spinach.

The array of local cauliflower was a confused variety of flavors. A few, small, chilled florets surrounded the rim of the plate. Some of them had a shaving of summer truffle, others had white anchovies draped over them. In the center was a tart salad of raw cauliflower and some orange and lemon segments. A soft-boiled quail’s egg sliced in half and a few capers garnished the whole. The summer truffle shavings lost the fight against the anchovies, capers, and lemon.

The salad Lyonnaise was delicious but such a small portion that I got panicky that I wouldn’t get a chance to try it before my guest wolfed it down. It was a dainty arrangement of some frisée leaves, a small cube of superbly crisped pork belly, a poached egg, which inexplicably had its white trimmed off, a few Kalamata olives, and some black dust on the plate — dehydrated Kalamata olives.

This restaurant is definitely into sand, soils, dusts, shards, petals, flurries, splinters, and other enhancements.

For main courses we ordered the pappardelle with braised lamb, a cod dish, and fluke. The pappardelle was very good, full of richly flavored and tender lamb, some strips of yellow and red peppers, broccoli rabe, and topped with grated ricotta salata.

The cod dish was a buttered, nicely salted piece of fish. It sat upon a few stems of broccoli rabe and had four carved balls of butternut squash topped with the tiniest pomme souffles you’ve ever seen. This was distressing to my guest, because she had ordered the dish with great anticipation over the pomme souffles. These were literally the size of wasabi peas, and there were only five of them, more like a garnish than an accompaniment to the cod. It was covered with another dust, this time tasting green, like dehydrated spinach, but it could have been more Kalamata olive sand.

The fluke dish was a dainty portion of super fresh, perfectly cooked fluke on top of a root vegetable barigoule. “Barigoule” usually means artichokes stuffed with meat and braised; this was more like a selection of braised root vegetables. There were carrots, more butternut squash balls (or “turned” squash, as the French would say), parsnips, turnips, Brussels sprouts, peppers, and little bits of house-made chorizo, which gave the dish some welcome smoky spice.

The service on the night of our visit was excellent. Our waiter, Kyle, was knowledgeable and fun and we had his undivided attention. The manager stopped by our table several times throughout our meal to see how we were doing. The background music kept us company.

Prices at Topping Rose House are very high; this could be the most expensive restaurant on the East End. Appetizers and salads are $17 to $24, pastas are $35 and $37, entrées are $41 to $85, and desserts are $12.

We tried two desserts, the gingerbread hazelnut semifreddo and apple fritters. The semifreddo was a lovely presentation, a dainty quenelle of semifreddo laid upon a landing strip of bittersweet chocolate ganache and a row of chopped, toasted hazelnuts. It was creamy and rich and topped with an excellent pumpkin seed brittle.

The apple fritters were pretty good, although one of them looked like a deep-fried oyster that had been discovered at the bottom of the Fryolator. Maybe I just don’t get the trend of doughnuts and fritters for dessert. They’re just too oily and heavy. The caramel sauce served with them was a perfect version, the sugar darkened just enough to achieve buttery flavor.

Along with the desserts we were presented with a little plate of passion fruit pate de fruits (jellies) and chocolate chip cookies. The jellies were delicious — concentrated with tart, tropical fruit flavor. I couldn’t tell you how the chocolate chip cookies were as they were the size of Yorkshire terrier treats and were eaten by my friends before I could try one.

With the check we were given individually wrapped, streusel-topped apple muffins to enjoy for breakfast the next day. A lovely touch.

Topping Rose House is open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. There are barbecues on the weekends and excursions offered by the hotel — a trip to Widow’s Hole Oyster Farm and equestrian activity packages. Clearly it is trying hard to keep guests occupied, entertained, and sated. The empty dining room was somewhat alarming, but I think that for those looking for a special occasion destination and the 1-percenters, this is the place to go.

Mexican Halloween

Traditional Mexican fare for celebrating Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, will be offered tomorrow though Monday at La Fondita in Amagansett. Menu items will include pork, chicken, or chile and cheese tamales, stuffed poblano peppers, churros, and atole de pina, a warm porridge beverage with pineapple that is a traditional drink for the holiday. La Fondita is open for takeout on Wednesdays through Sundays at 11:30 a.m.

Let’s Go Mets

The Mets will play the first home game of the World Series on Friday at Citi Field, and patrons of Stuart’s Seafood shop in Amagansett who come in wearing Mets regalia — a T-shirt or hat — and say “Let’s Go Mets” will receive a 10-percent discount on their purchase.

Manhattan Moonshine

A new spirit called Manhattan Moonshine is being offered at the Montauk Yacht Club and online at manhattanmoonshine.com. The founder of the Manhattan Moonshine company and its chief executive officer is Will Kehler of Southampton.

Money for School Gardens

Applications for grants to help with the growth of school gardens on the East End are being accepted through November by Slow Food East End and the Joshua Levine Memorial foundation. Applicants must be nonprofit schools or school districts that are members of the Slow Food East End Chapter and already have an established school garden. Recipients will be required to regularly attend meetings of the Edible School Gardens group and to report on garden progress. Grants of $250 to $500 will be considered. Applications may be submitted through the Slow Food East End website.

Seasonal Closings

In Montauk, Dave’s Grill closed for the winter after last weekend.

Inlet Seafood is still open on Fridays through Sundays, but will close for the season on Nov. 29.

Nick and Toni’s Specials

Three prix fixe specials are offered on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday at Nick and Toni’s in East Hampton. For $30, diners will get a romaine or mixed greens salad, any pasta entrée, and two scoops of gelato or sorbetto for dessert; $35 gets one penne or romaine salad to start, followed by a roasted chicken entrée and tartufo, and $40 includes the appetizer, entrée, and dessert of the day. The specials are for restaurant dining only. Nick and Toni’s is also now serving its various pizzas made in a wood-burning oven all night on Sundays through Thursdays, except on Tuesdays, when the restaurant is closed.

Steaks at Harbor Grill

Steak night at Harbor Grill, which is Wednesday, now features a choice of a char-broiled ribeye, a marinated and grilled flatiron, or a Salisbury steak, each served with potatoes, vegetables, and a choice of soup or salad to start. The twofor-one deal for a pair of diners is $36.

Wine Workshops

Wednesday night wine workshops at Wainscott Main Wine and Spirits continue next week with Vintage From Our Vantage: Life in the Family Business, a talk by Kareem Massoud, the winemaker at Paumanok Vineyards. Each weekly 5:30 p.m. session includes tastings and costs just $10. Those interested can call the store to sign up or send an email to [email protected]. Argentinian wines Beyond Malbec will be the topic on Nov. 11.

“Why Seattle?” asked so many people when I told them I was whisking my son away for a long weekend recently. “Well,” I’d explain, “I was born in Northern California but have never been to the Pacific Northwest.” But the real answer is that it’s one of the few places my offspring was willing to explore with his old, old, uncool mom.

Ninety percent of my research beforehand was on where to eat. Guidebooks are always out of date, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and OpenTable are usually skewed by the restaurant’s own employees and therefore not that reliable, and our host was not a foodie. I found one grand establishment for our last night, Canlis, for which my son would be required to wear a jacket. Other than that firm plan, we were free to explore the city and all of its culinary offerings.

We stayed four nights in two different hotels, the first two at the Palladian, a recently restored Kimpton hotel that had weird portraits in the lobby of Kelsey Grammer (Frasier!), Dave Matthews, Bill Gates, and Jimi Hendrix, dressed as Napoleons. Our last two nights were at the Edgewater, the only waterfront hotel in the city built for the 1962 World’s Fair and famous for a visit from the Beatles in 1964 during their first world tour. All other hotels in the city refused them. Both hotels are downtown, and more important to me, within walking distance of the Pike Place Market.

The Pike Place Market was established in 1907, but even earlier than that, in the 1800s, the native tribes of the Puget Sound region — the Duwamish, Suquamish, Tulalip, and Muckleshoot — traded and shared their goods. It is now a publicly owned national historic district that supports local farmers, small businesses, and fishermen from the area, including Cambodians, Chinese, Danes, Egyptians, Ethiopians, Filipinos, Greeks, Hmong, Italians, Koreans, Japanese, Laotians, Malaysians, Mexicans, Russians, Sephardic Jews, South Africans, Thais, Turks, Vietnamese, and more. There are also numerous homeless shelters and a lot of low-income housing in the surrounding area, interspersed with a gazillion cranes building high-rises for Amazon, Expedia, and other big companies. Seattle is, without a doubt, the most egalitarian city I have ever visited.

To say I achieved nirvana (Ha, ha. Seattle grunge humor, get it?) at Pike Place Market would be an understatement. I went several times a day: in the morning for breakfast apples, in the afternoon to admire the flower vendors and fish tossers, and just about anytime to sample things I have never tried before, like tayberries, marionberries, and Chukar cherries. I have never seen such a staggering array of mushrooms: cauliflower, lobster, fresh porcini, and chanterelles. There were Kusshi, Totem Point, Kumamoto, and Mirada oysters, averaging $12 to $18 per dozen! Dungeness crabs were in season, but alas, Walla Walla onions were not. Lavender grows well in Washington State as do palm trees. Go figure! Finding good restaurants was a hit or miss experience. There is a local chef, Tom Douglas, who has an empire of eateries, from Greek to Italian to fish to biscuits. We sampled his Dahlia Lounge on our first day and tried Tibetan “tingmos,” steamed breads stuffed with eggplant and other goodies. Most excellent. Another lunch was at Matt’s in the Market, where a little piece of super fresh halibut was served with cauliflower puree, romesco cauliflower, toasted pine nuts, sultana raisins, and a garlicky parsley sauce.

Another great score, food-wise, was Cafe Campagne, renowned for its cassoulet this time of year, which is exactly what we had. It was perfect, served in a piping hot, individual cast iron casserole full of white beans, sausage, and duck, and topped with breadcrumbs.

However, not all of my research resulted in success. On an evening foray into the Chinatown-International District, comprising Chinatown, Japan-town, and Little Saigon, no doubt an area full of delicious restaurants, we experienced an epic fail at a Thai establishment called Green Leaf. A good rule of thumb is go where there are a lot of people. This place was packed. Good sign. Another good rule is: If the place looks filthy, don’t go! We made the mistake of eating there anyway. The dismal food and a staff freakout over a toilet overflowing into the carpeted dining room added to the whole charming experience.

At this point, I realized I couldn’t just keep going to Pike Place Market and admiring the local delicacies. I had to cook. Our host was aghast. “You shouldn’t have to on your vacation!” he yelped. But cook we did, and it was such a treat to fill a bag with pounds of fresh chanterelles and sautee them in butter with shallots. It was heaven to pick out a supremely fresh piece of wild salmon and marinate it with ginger, garlic, honey, and soy sauce.

My son whipped up a spinach salad with pomegranate seeds and toasted walnuts, and we feasted withsome Washington State wine. Other than these food adventures, we did explore the aquarium; the Experience Museum, a Frank Gehry-designed music, sci-fi and whatnot museum; the Dale Chihuly Garden; ride the monorail; stare in wonder at the Gum Wall (yes, it’s an alley covered with chewed chewing gum); visit the Fishermen’s Memorial and the Seattle Locks, and glance at the Space Needle. We only got a brief glimpse of majestic Mount Rainier one day, as it was predictably raining for a good part of our visit. For each tortuous activity my son in-dulged me in (shoe and umbrella shopping, wheeee!), he got to choose another activity. One was a visit to Archie McPhee’s, a crazy shop of gag gifts, costumes, and novelties. Who doesn’t need a Sasquatch Research Kit? Another stop on his list was a bar called Shorty’s, where the walls and ceiling are decorated with creepy clowns and marionettes, the P.B.R.s flow like water, and the booths are pinball machines.

I’d like to say we bonded over a visit to Hashtag, one of the legal marijuana dispensaries, but I probably embarrassed him by proclaiming to the tattooed and pierced salesman that I am a pastry chef, and asking which of these cookies or chocolates was actually tasty and not just some T.H.C.-laden way to get high.

On our last afternoon, we returned to our hotel rooms exhausted and not very psyched for our last meal, at the best restaurant with the best view in the whole city. So we agreed to cancel it and just wallow in our bathrobes enjoying the noisy seagulls outside our windows and order some salads and burgers from room service.

I had hoped our last night would be an opportunity for a mother-son talk, a little delving into his heart to see how he is faring since his father died last year. But that talk didn’t take place. Or as he reminded me on the plane ride home: “Mom, we can do that anytime you want when you come into the city.” Yes, we can, and I suppose we will.

For now, I am just grateful that he was willing to spend four whole days and nights with his mama, exploring, tasting, and learning. Together.

Fall Food Festival

The Amagansett Food Institute’s fall festival at the Amagansett Farmers Market on Saturday will have much to offer foodies of all ages. Among the highlights of the noon to 4 p.m. event will be a hands-on workshop on preserving fall foods with Laura O’Brien of Josephine’s Feast, who will share her quick-pickle method. The cost is $5, and this is the only part of the festival for which advance registration is requested. Spaces can be reserved by emailing [email protected].

All afternoon there will be food and drink from the Sea Bean food truck out of Montauk, the Madeline Picnic Co., Gula Gula Empanadas, and Joe and Liza’s Ice Cream, as well as live music and activities for kids. Entrance to the festival is free.

Dinner and Movie

Cinephiles rejoice. Rowdy Hall’s dinner-and-movie deal has returned, and what a deal it is. From Sundays through Wednesdays, patrons can get a burger and ticket voucher for the East Hampton Cinema for just $20. On Thursdays, they get a choice of a burger, fish and chips, meatloaf, or mussels for the same price. A pint of select beer adds $5 to the bill, wine $7, and dessert is an extra $7. For those who don’t eat meat, a vegetarian option will be offered as part of the deal on Sundays through Thursdays. The restaurant opens for dinner every day at 5.

Thai at Highway

Starting next week, Thursday nights will be Thai night at the Highway Restaurant. The chef, Anand Sastry, will prepare a selection of authentic Thai dishes each week. An example: wing bean salad, followed by green chicken curry, with coconut ice cream for dessert. The three-course meal will cost $35.

The restaurant, which is on Montauk Highway west of East Hampton Village, is also serving Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is open for dinner Wednesdays through Mondays from 5 p.m. and for lunch on Saturday.

At Fresh

Todd Jacobs, the executive chef at Fresh Hamptons in Bridgehampton, will teach a series of cooking classes starting tonight and continuing on Thursdays through Dec. 3 at 6:45 p.m. Participants can attend just one class for $105 or all six for $575.

The first two classes will focus on raw vegan meals. On Nov. 5 and 12, students will learn to prepare some of Fresh’s signature dishes. Thanksgiving foods will be the subject of the Nov. 19 class, and on Dec. 3, it will be football party food. Spots can be reserved by calling the restaurant or emailing [email protected].

Bell and Anchor Specials

October brings a number of specials at Bell and Anchor in Noyac, including a two or three-course prix fixe from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Saturdays and all night from Sundays through Thursdays. The two-course option, at $30, has just an appetizer and entrée; dessert can be added for $5. Also at the restaurant, Wednesdays are lobster nights, and a prime rib special is offered on Thursdays.

Osteria Salina

Osteria Salina in Wainscott is taking reservations for a Sicilian “carnival” Halloween celebration that will include a buffet dinner from 8 p.m. and dancing until midnight on Oct. 31. The cost is $75 per person including an open bar.

Wine-Tasting Workshop

Andrew Bell, the co-founder of the American Sommelier Association and president of Wine Symphony, will lead the next tasting workshop at Wainscott Main Wine and Spirits on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. “Since Andrew is a leading wine educator in Manhattan, we like to basically just wind him up and let him go,” said Chimene Visser Macnaughton, the shop’s general manager. The workshop begins at 5:30 and costs $10. Space is limited, so advance reservations are recommended at wainscottmain.com or by calling the shop. On Nov. 4, Kareem Massoud, the winemaker at Paumanok Vineyards on the North Fork, will talk about life in the family business. Upstairs at Pierre’s

Pierre’s Upstairs, a members-only private addition to Pierre’s in Bridgehampton, is ready for prime time, the restaurant announced this week. “Upstairs is discrete, comfortable, and most importantly limited in the number of guests in order to provide excellence and privacy,” the restaurant said in a release.

The space, which opened on Friday, is a lounge and bar on the second floor of the restaurant. Membership is open to regular restaurant customers and those recommended by them. The cost is $5,000 for a “lifetime membership” for couples, which includes a special rental rate of the space once a year for a private event not on a weekend or holiday, and preferred seating in the restaurant. They’ll also get a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue that will be kept in the Upstairs cellar. An annual membership will cost $2,000 per couple, including a $1,500 joining fee, and include a bottle of Champagne on the first visit. Annual membership renewals will be $500. There will also be 30-day memberships at $750 per couple. Lifetime members can take three guests at a time; annual members can take two.

At a time when many of us are wannabe chefs, when the TV is as apt to be turned to the Food Network as to ESPN, one woman in Springs has revived a veritable tradition: She has gathered recipes from family and friends and created a modest community cookbook.

Her name is Ethel Henn and she has put her academic and organizational talents as a former vice principal of Washington Irving High School in Manhattan to good effect on the “Seasons in the Springs Cookbook” as a fund-raiser for the Springs Library. Pamphlets on local topics have been produced for sale at the library in the past, but this time, Ms. Henn not only gathered the content but wrote seasonal introductions and did all the printing and collating.

Seated with her husband, Bob, in their King’s Point Road, Springs, dining room after showing two visitors around, Ms. Henn said her family has had a passion for cooking that goes back at least as far as her great-grandmother Mary Carter. Great-grandma contributed a recipe for Christmas plum pudding that was brought over from England. The version in the book has been updated somewhat, with butter as an ingredient rather than suet. As for Mr. Henn, he was clear that he doesn’t cook but enjoys the fruits of his wife’s labor.

Other members of Ms. Henn’s family are well represented in the book, with recipes from her mother, son, a nephew, an aunt, and a cousin. She inherited the house in Springs from her parents, who bought it in 1965. It still has the warm and cozy style of that decade, although the kitchen is dramatic in red, white, and black. Everywhere you look you see chickens, in paintings, and on fabrics and ceramics. Ms. Henn explained the collection with a tolerant smile, saying, “Our name is Henn, after all.”

Ms. Henn included a few recipes — coconut cake is one — that her mother, Justine Rothwell, used to make, but she left out her mother’s renowned coleslaw because she never liked it. On the other hand, a few of Ms. Henn’s own recipes call for Miracle Whip as a substitute for mayonnaise, because her mother used it. Her nephew’s recipe is for barbecue sauce, and her son, who loves to cook and gave her a smoker as a recent birthday present, contributed a few that are the most elaborate in the book.

She was not as able to get as many recipes from library volunteers as she would have liked, Ms. Henn said, although local residents are indeed represented. She compensated, not only with family recipes, but with some from old cookbooks in the library’s archives, where she spends time as a volunteer. Jean Stafford’s broccoli salad is an example of a recipe found in the archives. Ms. Henn also culled recipes from “Bonac Bites,” a local series done by Mary Ann Siegfried, and from a very old encyclopedia of cooking.

The result is more than 60 recipes, which run the gamut from that old-time Christmas pudding to beer Margarita and from clam pie to spicy sausage and shrimp sauce for pasta, with anchovies optional.

Ms. Henn said quiche Lorraine was her most popular recipe in the book, while her chicken and blueberry salad is arguably the most inventive.

The Springs Library is in a preserved, old Anderson house across the street from Ashawagh Hall. Owned by the Town of East Hampton and operated by the Springs Historical Society, its hours are from 10 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. Copies of “Seasons in the Springs Cookbook,” available there, are $5.

Wainscott Main Wine and Spirits has commenced a new series of wine tasting workshops on Wednesday evenings. The 5:30 p.m. sessions include a discussion led by a wine expert and, of course, a taste of the wines under discussion. Upcoming on Wednesday is “Demystifying Burgundy: An Importer’s Tour,” with David Bowler, the owner of David Bowler Wines. On Oct. 28, Andrew Bell, a co-founder of the American Sommelier Association and the president of Wine Symphony, will discuss “tasting fundamentals.”

As attendance at the workshops is limited, those interested have been asked to sign up in advance on the store’s website, wainscottmain.com, or by calling the shop. Later sessions in the series will feature Kareem Massoud, the winemaker at Paumanok Vineyards, a look at Argentinian wines and at Napa Valley cabernet sauvignons, a first-person discussion of becoming a “master of wine,” and a December session focusing on “wines for your celebration table that won’t break the bank.”

Brunch and Art

The Watermill Center, Robert Wilson’s art hub in Water Mill, will continue its series of international cuisine brunches, which take their focus from the home countries of the center’s fall artists-in-residence — Chile, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The meals, in conjunction with the Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton, will center on local and seasonal ingredients and be served from noon to 2:30 p.m. Reservations are required. The cost is $75.

Theater Dining Deal

Guild Hall’s John Drew Theater lab has resumed a free series of staged readings, and the 1770 House in East Hampton is offering a pre-theater twocourse prix fixe for $27 on reading nights. The next, when there will be a reading of “Ashes and Ink” by Martha Pichey, is tomorrow. The meal, which includes a starter and main course, or main course and dessert, will be served between 5:30 p.m. and the 7:30 p.m. curtain call. After this week, the final reading will be on Nov. 17.

Winning Chowders

At the Montauk Fall Festival over the weekend, Manhattan and New England-style clam chowders were served, and the best tasting were selected as winners from among the more than two dozen entries by local restaurants.

Pizza Village came out on top in the Manhattan clam chowder contest, followed by Swallow East in second place, and Gulf Coast Kitchen in the third slot.

In the New England clam chowder contest, Gosman’s was the winner — same as last year. The Point Bar and Grill took second place, and tied for third place were the West Lake Fish House and the Backyard restaurant at Sole East.

Our approach to Via del Mare in Water Mill felt eerie. The curtains were drawn, there were no cars in the parking lot, and it was pitch black inside. I started rehearsing an apology to my editor for not having a review for this week’s issue. It’s happened before, usually at places like Philippe that are only open for vampire weekenders and don’t stay open for people who dine and enjoy food in the evening.

Then, suddenly, a figure clad in chef’s whites scurried through the back door, voices were heard, the lights came on, and the door was thrown open by Corrado, who would be our maitre d’, our waiter, our busboy, our father-confessor, for the rest of the evening, delightful, charming Corrado.

Via del Mare took over the Mirko’s space a month ago and I couldn’t say for sure what has changed, if anything yet. It’s a pretty, little restaurant. There is a tiny, tiny bar to the left of the entrance, with a hostess stand for which there is no room. To the right is a dining room with pretty, pale blue-grey wainscoting, a fireplace, lots of windows with linen curtains, and some brown, industrial carpeting that has seen better days. Once we were seated in the utterly empty dining room we got some grilled bread slices with herbed olive oil, sundried tomato tapenade, and Cerignola olives — very tasty, except some of the bread slices were soft and had grill marks with a faint taste of gas on them. Next, Corrado presented us with what he called an amuse bouche, but was such a generous portion, it was more like “amuse estomac.” We each got a little platter of Manila clams dressed with a mild, white balsamic vinegar reduction on wilted spinach leaves with a bit ofParmesan cheese and cress microgreens on top. They were delicious.

We began our meal with a roasted pear and spinach salad, a special appetizer of fried, house-made mozzarella with fried artichokes, and fritto misto. The roasted pear salad was pretty good. It was baby spinach leaves, toasted walnuts, a few dabs of Gorgonzola, and one chilly, roasted pear half. The fried mozzarella was very good, a bit firm with a crisp coating, a good amount of quartered fried artichokes, and a zesty basil aioli on the side.

The fritto misto was excellent — a big portion of calamari, a few shrimp, and sticks of zucchini in a very good batter. The marinara sauce served alongside was super spicy, which we all loved but it might have had some people scrambling for their water glasses.

For entrees we tried the pan-seared salmon, risotto with mushrooms, penne with shrimp and zucchini, and a special of house-made fettucini with salmon and peas with a dab of caviar on top.

The pan-seared salmon was cooked as ordered, but wasn’t anything to write home about. It was a good-sized portion served with a lemon wedge wearing one of those mesh diapers, a few fingerling potatoes, four stalks of asparagus, and a rather intriguing, cold, green, leek mousse.

The mushroom risotto (billed as chanterelle, which would have been divine, had it been true) was an alarmingly large portion for such a rich dish. It was very tasty and cheesy and probably had portobello and shiitake mushrooms in place of the chanterelles.

The fettucini special was a sad, creamy mess. The fettucini was undercooked and stuck together, the cream coagulated, the peas and salmon bringing nothing to the dish. The penne was another disappointment. The zucchini and summer squash were so overcooked that they had lost their color and turned to mush. When I asked my friend what else was in her penne dish, she poked around and replied “a bunch of other mashed up stuff.” Most unfortunate.

At this point, much to our delight, and Corrado’s no doubt, a couple came into the restaurant. Yippee! The lights were dimmed, the Michael Buble and Glen Miller Orchestra were cranked up, and this place almost started hoppin’. It felt more like a restaurant than our Twilight Zone experience thus far.

Via del Mare is expensive, way too expensive for the quality of the food. Appetizers and salads are $15 to $22, pastas are $24 to $32, entrees are $32 to $46, sides are $12 (!), and desserts are $10 to $15.

Our service, the lone Corrado, was delightful, solicitous, chatty, and charming. Some of the desserts are made inhouse. We tried a napoleon and chocolate cannoli. Both were pretty good. The napoleon was a towering stack of puff pastry squares, filled with whipped cream, plenty of sliced strawberries and blueberries, and showered with powdered sugar. Unfortunately, it had a heavy-handed dose of thick dulce de leche in between each layer, a bit of sugar shock overkill. The cannolis were crisp and filled with more of a chocolate mousse than the traditional ricotta mixture.

When we asked for our check, Corrado seemed very disappointed that we were leaving. He suggested we stay a little longer and relax.

Via del Mare is the kind of place that is cute and kind of cozy, and Corrado was such a charmer that one wishes for it to succeed. But the food will have to rise up in quality to match the unjustified prices.

New at Babette’s

New menu items are on the list at Babette’s restaurant in East Hampton, which focuses on healthy and organic meals with vegetarian and vegan choices. A sample of the new selections offered at dinner, which is served from 5 to 10 p.m. Fridays through Sundays, includes Montauk striped bass with lemon sautéed Swiss chard, herbed fingerling potatoes, and oregano vinaigrette, pan-roasted sea scallops with apple, quinoa, and roasted root vegetables, spaghetti with meatballs made with free-range turkey, and “new foo yung,” which is pan-seared, herbed scrambled tofu with vegetables, organic brown rice, and teriyaki over udon noodles. Babette’s also serves breakfast and lunch daily, except for Wednesdays.

Three Courses and Art

The next Artists and Writers Night at Almond restaurant in Bridgehampton will feature Tucker Marder, a Springs native and graduate student in fine arts at Carnegie Mellon. He has shown his work at the National Aviary, the Phipps Botanical Garden, and underwater, and was chosen by Robert Wilson as a participant in the Parrish Art Museum’s Artists Choose Artists program. Most recently, his piece “Stampede!” — featuring more than 200 live ducks and three large abstract puppets — premiered as part of the Parrish’s Roadshow program.

The event, on Tuesday at 7 p.m., will feature a discussion with Mr. Marder and a family-style three-course meal. The $45 cost includes a glass of local wine or craft beer, tax, and gratuity. Reservations are a must.

Farm to School Money

New York State’s Farm to School program, which promotes connections between agricultural producers and local schools, has $350,000 in grants available for projects that will foster its goals, Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. recently announced.

Eligible projects in pre-K through 12th-grade schools and other entities that participate in national school lunch or breakfast or summer food programs include training for food service staff in using locally produced specialty crops, the purchase of equipment or capitalimprovements needed to use those crops, and employment of a local or regional farm-to-school coordinator.

Additional information about the grant program is online at agriculture.ny.gov/RFPS.html. Applications must be submitted by Oct. 19, and awards will be made in November.

Foraging for Wild Food

Chandra Elmendorf, a naturalist, will lead a walk in the woods to forage for wild edibles on Oct. 17 from 10 a.m. to noon in the area around Trout Pond in Noyac. In addition to the field identification of over a dozen edible plants, Ms. Elmendorf will discuss correct harvesting and the storage and preparation of wild foods. Sponsored by Slow Food East End, the walk will cost $15 for Slow Food members, $20 for nonmembers. Advance registration is required.

At Fresh

At Fresh in Bridgehampton, a lineup of nightly specials includes a Sunday night family dinner with three courses — enough for two to four adults, or two adults and two or three kids, for $72. Tuesday brings tacos for $22 ($12 for kids 12 and under), with half off bottles of wine with dinner on Wednesday, and a burger and beer or glass of wine for $18 on Thursday.

Last Chance

This weekend, Navy Beach restaurant in Montauk will be serving lunch and dinner on Saturday and dinner on Sunday. After that, it will close for the season.

Gosman’s Dock restaurant, down at the entrance to Montauk Harbor, will also close for the season after this weekend. Monday will be the last day of service for 2015.

Dinner and Theater

The 1770 House in East Hampton has teamed up with the John Drew Theater at Guild Hall to offer a special pre-theater two-course prix fixe for $27. Diners who reserve an early dinner spot between 5:30 and the 7:30 p.m. curtain call and use the code “JDT Lab” can claim the deal on dates that the theater lab puts on staged readings. The next will be on Friday, Oct. 16.