The Winner Is . . .

East Hampton Gourmet Food got the top “outstanding new product” award for its gluten-free lentil rice crispbread at the 2014 sofi (specialty outstanding food innovation) Awards at the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City on June 30.

The shop’s entry beat out 449 other contenders in its category to win what is considered the Oscar of the food world. Over all, 2,737 products were entered into the 32 awards categories of the Specialty Food Association competition. The finalists were selected by a panel of specialty food professionals from organizations such as Whole Foods, Dean and DeLuca, and FreshDirect, and the winners were determined by votes cast by 275 buyers at the food show.

Bastille Day at Pierre’s

Pierre’s restaurant in Bridgehampton will celebrate Bastille Day on Saturday with tastings all day of Nicolas Feuillatte champagne and oysters, as well as a specialty summer cocktail made with Cointreau and Botanist gin. There will be live clarinet and guitar music throughout the day, and Pierre’s staff will appear in period costume.

Montauk Pearls

The growers of Montauk Pearl oysters, harvested in the water off Rick’s Crabby Cowboy Cafe on Montauk’s East Lake Drive, are celebrating the oyster’s rise in popularity over the last few years with a daily shellfish happy hour at the restaurant. From 4 to 6 p.m. a dozen oysters or clams cost $12.

Lobster Night

Wednesday is lobster night at the Bell & Anchor in Noyac, with a three-course special offered beginning at 5:30 p.m. and featuring various options for a lobster entree. They include lobster garganelli, a steamed 11/2-pound lobster, and butter-poached lobster claws with filet mignon.

Bar Bites

Monday through Saturday from 5 to 6:30 p.m., and on Sunday beginning at noon, the Harbor Grill in East Hampton offers a selection of bar bites for $6 or $8. They include corn fritters, cheesy bread, zucchini sticks, cheese quesadillas, baked clams, and two kinds of chicken wings. More than 40 kinds of beer are available to wash it all down.

Dining and Fireworks

Reservations are being taken at the Harbor Bistro for dinner seatings on July 19, when the Great Bonac Fireworks Show can be seen in the skies from the restaurant’s waterfront perch. Weather permitting, Mamalee Rose and Friends will perform outdoors that evening beginning at 6, and the backyard area will have a beer-and-wine bar set up with a seating section for fireworks viewing. Dinner seatings are available beginning at 6 p.m.

Karen Lee Returns

Karen Lee, a New York City-based cooking instructor, caterer, and the author of five cookbooks, including “The Occasional Vegetarian,” will give a cooking class in Amagansett next Thursday from 6 to 10 p.m. Students will prepare and eat marinated and grilled local sea bass with papaya relish, marinated and grilled split organic chicken with a dry rub, quinoa pilaf, roasted zucchini and red peppers, a seasonal side dish, and sour cherry tart with creme chantilly. The cost is $115 per person; participants can bring their own wine. The session is limited to 12 students. Reservations can be made at karenleecooking.com.

Foodies Weekend

Numerous East End restaurants, food purveyors, and chefs will participate in the GrillHampton competition and the Taste of Two Forks event this weekend.

Among those to square off at GrillHampton tomorrow night at Sayre Park in Bridgehampton from 8 to 11 are Peter Ambrose of Peter Ambrose Events, Arthur Wolf of Smokin’ Wolf, Emanouil Aslanoglou of the Old Stove Pub, and Victor Tapia of the Palm in East Hampton. The event will be hosted by Robert Irvine of the Food Network’s “Restaurant: Impossible” and include music by the Nancy Atlas Project. Tickets are $120.

At Taste of Two Forks on Saturday night at Sayre Park, Anna Pump of the Loaves & Fishes store, a chef, baker, cookbook author, and innkeeper at the Bridgehampton Inn, will be honored for her contributions to the East End culinary world. Among the local restaurants participating are Bay Kitchen Bar, Fresno, the Living Room, and Smokin’ Wolf in East Hampton, 668 the Gig Shack, Lynn’s Hula Hut, the Westlake Fish House, and the Harbor Raw Bar and Lounge in Montauk, Fresh Hamptons in Bridgehampton, Doppio Artisan Bistro and Page at 63 Main in Sag Harbor, and the Bell & Anchor in Noyac.

Numerous artisanal food purveyors will also be on hand, and there will be wines from local wineries. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. for V.I.P. ticketholders (at $240), and at 7:30 p.m. for those with $160 general admission tickets. Ticket packages for both events are available. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to All for the East End, which benefits East End nonprofits. Information and tickets are available at danstasteofsummer.com.

What to Eat, and How

The Amagansett Food Institute and the Amagansett Library have teamed up to present “A Place on Your Table,” a series of food-related events beginning tonight at 7 at the library. The program will feature the Dock-to-Dish community-supported fishery program and Amagansett Wine and Spirits for a discussion of “what’s fresh, how to prepare it, and what goes with it.” The evening will include a tasting. The program is free, though reservations with the library are a must as space is limited.

Iced Coffee

Red Thread Good Coffee, a Sag Harbor-based woman-owned company that donates a set portion of the sales of its coffee, concentrates, and coffee beans to a charity, has launched a line of cold-brewed iced coffee in different flavors using organic, fair-trade beans. Along with the company’s other products, it is sold at Sylvester & Co. in Sag Harbor, the Amagansett I.G.A., the Red Horse Market, East Hampton Gourmet, and Dylan’s Candy Bar in East Hampton, and the Old Stone Market in Springs.

Harlow East

1 Long Wharf

Sag Harbor

631-725-5858

Tuesday to Sunday

Noon-Midnight

Harlow East is a pop-up restaurant on Long Wharf in Sag Harbor, where B. Smith’s resided for many years. It is a huge space, close to 400 seats indoors and out.

While B. Smith’s was a cheery and attractive restaurant, Harlow is much sleeker and prettier. It is simply white and blue, with some very cool artwork worth paying attention to. There are mirrors with 3D-looking koi swimming across them. A golden shark emerges from a wall, and there are portholes with soothing water videos playing inside. Behind the hostess stand is a huge rectangular flower arrangement of yellow and white chrysanthemums. This sits on a case filled entirely with boxes of Barnum’s Animal Crackers. No need to compete with the water and yacht view, but it’s all totes adorbs.

On our first visit, early on a Friday night, we were asked if we had a reservation. No, we did not. “Sorry, we are closed for a private party, but you can have some bar snacks outside,” said the lovely hostess. She was wearing a bouclé skirt with a cream top with many adornments. If Babe Paley had been edgy and hip, this is what she might have worn. Her stilettos required a Lipizzaner-like gait as she negotiated the outdoor deck surface. (Lipizzaners are those beautiful white Austrian horses that perform the haute ecole/ movements of classical dressage, kind of a fancy-prancy step. Quite stunning with horses, awkward on a girl at a marina.) More on the staff uniforms later.

We spent $100 that evening on two glasses of wine, three minuscule fish tacos, and some shishito peppers. Ouch!

The prices are high, but the food is very good. The little fish tacos were $19. The fish (striped bass or halibut) was plenty crispy and the slaw nicely spiced. The shishitos, here called pimientos de Padron, were well grilled, topped with a crunchy sprinkle of Maldon sea salt, and served with a little dish of excellent romesco sauce.

Our waiter, actually one of the bartenders, may have taken pity on us, for he comped us an order of their cauliflower side dish. This dish is so delicious I ordered it again on our next visit. The cauliflower florets are fried, then coated in a sauce reminiscent of General Tso’s chicken, sweet and spicy and orange. The cauliflower stays chewy-crunchy, so I’m guessing there is some rice flour or cornstarch involved in the batter. It is then topped with toasted sesame seeds and cilantro.

As the evening wore on we noticed that no one had shown up yet for the “private party” that was to have begun an hour earlier. So we wandered about the massive space, chatted with the D.J., and checked out the racks of clothes on display in the back. We felt so naughty overstaying our welcome.

Our second visit was for lunch. I was foolishly hoping that the prices might be a tad lower. Alas and alack, they were not.

We began with a tartine with heirloom tomatoes, and the baby octopus salad. A tartine is an open-faced sandwich; these were more like pizzettes. They were excellent. The charred, naan-like bread had a thin layer of fromage blanc, some roasted corn kernels, and cherry tomatoes with basil. This dish was prettily presented on a long wooden board, with a pea-shoot salad on the side. The tender pea shoots were, mercifully, sliced into manageable bites, and were dressed in a delicious lemony vinaigrette.

When we ordered the baby octopus salad our waiter asked if we had ever eaten it before. “Do you mean here at Harlow, or do you mean have we ever eaten octopus before?” I asked back. “Yes,” he replied. He explained that it was a “textural thing,” perhaps not to our liking. I got the impression this meant that this dish had been sent back to the kitchen a few times. Upon trying it, I could see why. The baby octopus tentacles had been cooked beyond chewy little rubber-band stage to the big, thick, eww, kind of rubber bands that hold lobster claws together stage. The warm fingerling potatoes and jalapeno vinaigrette served with them were tasty, though.

For entrees we ordered the branzino and lobster mac’n’cheese, and the aforementioned, awesomely addictive cauliflower. The branzino was beautifully prepared — light, fresh, lemony, and perfectly cooked. It was served with a topping of more pea-tendril salad, microgreens, and frizzled hearts of palm. The hearts of palm were a wonderful touch, crisp with a hint of sweet artichoke flavor. The lobster mac’n’cheese was also perfectly executed. The campanelle pasta (“little bells” or “bellflower” in Italian) was the perfect shape to hold the creamy sauce. There was a generous amount of lobster in the dish, and it was tender, not overcooked. We detected a hint of truffle oil or truffle salt, which could have been overkill but it worked.

The service at Harlow is okay to good, and the hostesses are charming and pretty. This is, for sure, a people-watching place, and the employees (actually I should say specifically the young ladies) working here are part of the scenery. The gents wear Tommy Hilfigeresque white pants, red belts, and blue shirts. Perhaps you’ve seen Jimmy Fallon’s amusing little skit/song “Tight White Pants” in which he claims to be the only person in town wearing tight white pants? Well, he would find some stiff competition here at Harlow. Some of the gals wear little blue rompers, others wear St. Tropez mini­dresses in the classic blue and white stripes. We observed quite a few nymphets attempting a discreet tug on their spandexed bottoms.

The blips in our service were being charged for an extra dessert and having our doggie bag of leftover lobster mac’n’cheese thrown away. To compensate they gave us a half-order to take home; that’s a tad tacky. 

The menu at Harlow is very short. Tapas, tartines, and salads are $15 to $29, raw bar items are $4 up to $160 for the seafood plateau, entrees are $29 to $49, sides are $12, desserts are $10. The wine list is expensive.

The desserts are made in-house. We tried two of them, the guava cheesecake mousse and kiwi-strawberry shortcake. They were quite beautiful in a nouvelle-cuisine, go-go ’80s kind of way. Rather ornate, architectural, and teensy. The guava cheesecake was a very small white square with another small square of guava paste embedded in one corner. The cheesecake mousse was on a paper-thin slice of cakey-biscuit; a petite scoop of guava sorbet accompanied it. I love guava, and this was a delicious combination of flavors.

The kiwi-strawberry shortcake wasn’t really a shortcake. It was a small white chocolate dome with a creamy interior on a thin slice of lemon sponge cake. The amount of strawberry slices within the dessert and garnishing the plate was, oh, about one large strawberry — maybe two tablespoons of fruit total. The menu said this was paired with an orange frozen yogurt, but it tasted more like a goat cheese or creme fraiche ice cream, just a bit creamy and tangy, not citrussy.

Harlow appears to be yet another nightclubby establishment plopped down for the season, overpriced for small portions, geared toward a younger, wealthy clientele. It is that, but it is also more. The menu is creative and the food mostly delicious.

The folks at the Montauk Juice Factory are so in love with Montauk and its people that they’ve opened a place where customers can get healthy just by drinking one of their concoctions. And there are many to choose from.

The store on South Etna Avenue is naturally lit, the sunlight streaming in through the large windows of the space, which is right next to Lila Yoga. Bret Caretsky, his brother, Paul Caretsky, and Madi Murphy are the owners. Ms. Murphy, who visited the hamlet on vacations as a child, is a health coach certified by the New York Institute of Integrated Nutrition. The brothers have been part-time residents since they were children, and both are certified in food management by the Suffolk County Department of Health Services.

In the back room of the store is a cold press that squeezes the juice from fresh fruit purchased weekly at the Montauk Chamber of Commerce’s farmers market or within 100 miles of the area. The press, with its steel plates, is designed to eliminate oxygen during the process to keep the flavors of the fruit pure. Rows of neatly lined pineapples sit beside it in a pristine kitchen.

For those on the run, the juices are sold in bottles in a refrigerator in the main part of the store. Each juice is blended to help nourish, fuel, detox, revive, or hydrate the body, and some are just plain delicious, especially the pineapple and coconut juices, which taste quite different from those bought in supermarkets.

“It’s liquid sunshine in a bottle,” Ms. Murphy said.

Every item in the store is organic and natural. There are scented soaps, skin care items, sunscreen, beach spray for hair, chia chips, kale chips, and T-shirts.

The shop is participating in Hamptons Wellness Week, which starts on July 13 and enables ticketholders to try out fitness classes, spa services, and more at a reduced rate. The tickets cost $45, and if purchased from the Juice Factory they come with a half-price discount off a drink.

The store is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Madeline McLean, a Sag Harbor resident, has launched the Madeline Picnic Co., which features meals made with ingredients from local farms and artisanal food producers.

A picnic for two costs $50 and includes two tartine-style sandwiches, two salads, two Madeleine cookies, and a reusable tote. A sample menu includes a Mermaid Tartine, with smoked local fish, pickled shallots, capers, greens, and aioli; a French Farmer tartine with saucisson, cheddar, onion jam, and cornichons, and an English Garden tartine with mixed radishes, basil butter, pea-shoot pesto, and sea salt. Salad choices include a kale Caesar, a pasta salad with pea-shoot and garlic-scape pesto, wilted spinach, and roasted fennel, and a Moroccan-spiced couscous salad. Pre-packaged picnic items will also be available a la carte. There are “kid-friendly” choices as well.

Among the local purveyors with whom Ms. McLean is partnering are Amber Waves and Balsam Farms in Amagansett, Briermere Farm in Riverhead, the Catapano Dairy Farm in Peconic, Good Water Farms in East Hampton, and the Mecox Dairy in Bridgehampton. Baked items are made by Carissa’s Breads in Amagansett.

Orders may be placed online at madelinepicnic.co, and the picnics will be delivered to one of three pick-up locations in Southampton, Sagaponack, and Amagansett.

Early Dinner

The Harbor Bistro in East Hampton has extended its dinner hours and now begins serving at 5 p.m. daily.

Damien O’Donnell is the chef at the eatery, which blends new American and classic French cuisine with Asian and South American influences. Among the entrees are Montauk monkfish with sofrito rice, chorizo, mussels, tomato, fennel, and saffron, Jamaican jerk pork tenderloin with rice, pickled peaches, lemon, and fennel, and five-spice Long Island duck breast with root vegetables, chevre, and blackberry-onion jam.

New Market Cafe

Page at 63 Main in Sag Harbor has added a patio cafe behind the restaurant, where diners may sit at picnic tables to eat or pick up takeout meals. Called the Back Page, the casual spot will serve breakfast from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., lunch from 11 a.m. to 4, dinner from 6 to 10, and a late-night menu from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. Erma Orofino, formerly of Annie’s Organic in Southampton, served as a consulting chef in the development of the menu, which includes vegan and organic options made with produce from the restaurant’s aquaponic garden.

Chefs Help Chef

Joseph Realmuto of Nick & Toni’s in East Hampton will be among the chefs preparing a meal at a July 16 fund-raiser for Gerry Hayden, a chef and owner of the North Fork Table and Inn, who is suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

The “all-American barbecue” will be served at the River Cafe in Brooklyn. Mr. Hayden’s partner, Claudia Fleming, will also be cooking. Tickets are $250 and can be reserved online at aloveshared.com.

Moby’s Is Open

Moby’s, a new restaurant at the site of the old Spring Close House on Pantigo Road in East Hampton, opened on Sunday. The restaurant is the East Hampton version, and takes the place of, Moby Dick’s, which used to be at the site of Rick’s Crabby Cowboy Cafe in Montauk. The owners are Nick Hatsatouris and Lincoln Pilcher, the restaurateurs behind popular restaurants in Los Angeles and New York.

The menu includes a selection of pizzas made in the restaurant’s wood-fired oven, along with starters and main dishes. Moby’s will serve dinner tonight beginning at 5 and be open at 3 p.m. tomorrow through Sunday for the holiday weekend.

Nancy Passaretti is revamping the fro-yo fad with Buddhaberry, her frozen yogurt shops in Sag Harbor and Montauk that offer all natural yogurt with superfood toppings, as well as an entire spectrum of sweets. After last season, her first summer with Buddhaberry in Montauk, Ms. Passaretti decided to move to the South Fork full time and open a year-round store at 125 Main Street in Sag Harbor.

The store is lined with dispensers which range from a selection of healthy toppings like chia seeds, goji berries, toasted quinoa, and raw cacao to the tried-and-true sprinkles, Cap’n Crunch, marshmallows, and mini M&Ms. A chocolate and fresh fruit bar have even more to offer, plus coffee, and four different kinds of homemade Belgian waffles.

It’s been only three weeks since the store’s opening, and business is “crazy, too busy,” Ms. Passaretti said. In addition to the flood of customers, who begin pouring in at lunchtime, she must manage a daily shipment of over 100 cases of yogurt, each of which has a different shelf life after being defrosted. She and her 13-year-old daughter, Jenna, are moving to Sagaponack soon, but until then are renting the apartment on top of Buddhaberry. On Friday, Jenna traipsed down from the apartment to show off their Wheaten terrier, Jojo. Hearing her mother talk about the store’s chaos, she grinned and said, “She’s too busy to drop me off at the camp bus!”

After 20 years of working in medical software, Ms. Passarretti made the full-time switch to frozen yogurt, in part because her family was eating it so often and missed it on their weekends in Montauk. She saw a niche to be filled and a business opportunity on the South Fork, “as well as something good for other families. A frozen yogurt store is a perfect venue to get your kids to try some healthy alternatives,” she said.

Ms. Passaretti scouted the country for dairy farms and manufacturing plants. The yogurts she settled on are from all over: Arkansas, Wisconsin, Oregon, and Pennsylvania. Buddhaberry offers five different yogurt cultures, three of which are live probiotic strains to that are supposed to support digestion and boost the immune system. The store’s 12 original flavors include nonfat, low-fat, organic, sugar free, and Greek frozen yogurts. Also on the menu are fat and dairy-free sorbets, Italian ices, and reduced-fat gelatos. The store boasts “the East Coast’s only coconut-based, vegan yogurt,” Ms. Passaretti said, adding that the Kardashians come in daily for a dairy-free fix.

Ms. Passaretti’s favorite flavors are peach and chocolate, with toasted quinoa and almonds, while Jenna likes the tart the best, but both agreed they have spent so much time at the store over the past weeks that they have had enough for now. Their most popular flavors, “surprisingly,” said Ms. Passaretti, are still chocolate and vanilla. Also popular is the Bloomingdale’s “just plain” yogurt, and organic salted caramel with real caramel and pieces of pretzel. Buddhaberry yogurt is flavored with real flavors, Ms. Passaretti said: Green tea has real tea leaves in it, red velvet cupcake is made of red velvet batter, and candy bar smash-up uses five candy bars a gallon.

Not only did she look all over the United States for her yogurts, but she also traveled to Israel to figure out the design and technicalities of the store’s yogurt experience. Ms. Passaretti said she feels like a “germaphobe about self-serve,” so she looked for topping dispensers that involved minimal hands-on time, but kept “the creative aspect of designing your own yogurt.”

She was disappointed with the type of dispenser she used in Montauk last year, she said, and realized how important it is “to have the perfect system.” Anything smaller than a sunflower seed goes in a slowly-dispensing container. Nuts and malted milk balls, for example, go into a container that dispenses more quickly. Still not 100 percent satisfied with her current system, Ms. Passeretti said she is looking to improve the flow of toppings.

More delicate add-ons like Buddhaberry’s five flavors of juice-filled tapioca pearls, or boba, wet walnuts soaked in maple syrup, and fruit are added for customers by an employee behind the bar. Ms. Passaretti said that the fruit is delivered twice a day in both organic and nonorganic selections, depending on what looks good on a particular day.

Those who visit can enjoy an all-out sugar fest or a guilt-free treat. Starting Columbus Day, and throughout Buddhaberry’s first winter in Sag Harbor, Ms. Passaretti plans to serve vegetarian, lentil, and bean soups, with a “special miso soup with buckwheat noodles every day.” Next year, Buddhaberry will open in Southampton, too.

Takeout Catering

Art of Eating Catering in Amagansett has a menu full of takeout items for parties. The “bites” include summer rolls to deviled eggs, shrimp, clams, cheese puffs, beef roll-ups, homemade chips, and more. Also on the menu are salads, soups, tarts, pad thai, and main-dish meats, ready to grill, such as marinated rack of lamb, chicken, shrimp, beef, St. Louis ribs, Montauk tuna burgers, and naturally raised ground beef or turkey sliders. Ready-to-serve entrees include whole grilled salmon, chilled lobster, barbecue pulled pork, chicken pot pie, and beef filet. There are also side dishes and desserts, including margarita pops. The menu items will change seasonally.

Orders must be placed 48 hours in advance; they can be picked up at the Art of Eating home base on Montauk Highway on Tuesday through Sunday between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Lamb Roast

Reservations are being taken for the next “garden party lamb roast” hosted by the Living Room restaurant at c/o the Maidstone inn in East Hampton, which will take place on July 7. A family-style meal will be prepared, starting at 4 p.m., and served along with live music by Alfredo Merat and Radio Europa. The menu, for $75 per person, will feature a selection of appetizers, sauces, salads, and more, along with the whole lamb roast. Children aged 12 and under are half price.

Topping Rose Fish Fry

The Topping Rose House in Bridgehampton continues its summer farm dinner series with a fish fry tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. The cost is $95 per person, plus tax and gratuity. The menu will include fried local cod, grilled Montauk oysters, summer vegetables, and blueberry pie, along with local beer and wine. Reservations have been suggested as space is lmited.

The farm dinner series will continue on Sundays in July and August, alternating between a grill night, with meat, fish, and local produce prepared on the grill, a fish fry night, and From the Farm evenings, with a vegetarian menu of dishes made with produce from the Topping Rose House garden and other local farms.

On Monday to Friday between noon and 2 p.m., Topping Rose has a $35, three-course prix fixe lunch, and on Fridays and Saturdays between 5:30 and 10 p.m., oysters and rosé wine — the Lieb Cellars Topping Rose House rosé — are featured on the restaurant’s back patio.

Smokin’ Wolf

Smokin’ Wolf BBQ in East Hampton, which is now open daily, is offering a selection of pies, breads, and salads made with produce from Balsam Farms in Amagansett — kohlrabi slaw, beet-fennel salad, zucchini breads, and strawberry rhubarb pies, among them. The items are sold both at the barbecue shop and at the Balsam Farms stand on Town Lane.

Pies, including apple crumb, may be preordered for the weekend from Smokin’ Wolf. The restaurant has also recommended planning ahead for orders of its popular duck dish, which goes quickly and so should be reserved with a phone call.

Champagne Campaign

At 668 the Gig Shack in Montauk, Wednesday nights bring half-price discounts on various types of champagne. To complete the bubbly mood, a bubble machine will create airborne bubbles, and children accompanying their parents will be given their own bubble soap to blow bubbles. The fun continues until 10 p.m.

Pie Class

This evening, Leslie Dumont of Proud to Be Flaky Pie School will teach students how to make a three-berry lattice-top pie during a class from 6 to 8 p.m. in Amagansett. The cost is $70, which includes wine and cheese, and a batch of dough to take home. More information is online at proudtobeflaky. com.

Red Stixs

1020 Montauk Highway

Water Mill

726-6200

Open weekdays, 6-10 p.m.,

weekends, 6 p.m.-2 a.m.

If you love texting and valet parking and disc jockeys spinning and you like your restaurant hostess to wear neon lipstick and not particularly care about your interest in a table, all while paying a fortune for your meal, you will enjoy Red Stixs in Water Mill.

Having never made it to Trata during its run along the Montauk Highway, I can’t really tell you what has changed decor-wise at this attractive Water Mill restaurant space. It is mostly white with bright red accents. Upon entering, there is a long bar on the left. Several dining rooms continue toward the back. The floor is black, the chairs and tables white, and some garden trellises have been painted red and attached to the walls. There is an outdoor lounge area with lots of comfy looking sofas.

We were a party of three arriving at an early bird hour, before the vampire weekenders came after dark. Thus we were given the table by the swinging doors to the kitchen. Take that, reservationless fools! There is a large print disclaimer on the menu that states: “Red Stixs has no affiliation with Philippe Chow or any Philippe Chow restaurants.” Uh, okay, but this place sure gave me deja-vu vibes from the time I visited Philippe on Three Mile Harbor Road in the location of rotating nightclubs, currently Sienna. That was a few years ago. Back then at that restaurant, the Peking duck was $65. Now it is $79. At least we got to take the carcass home this time. While Red Stixs “has no affiliation” with Philippe Chow, the chef at Red Stixs and much of the staff are from Philippe Chow.

I arrived before my guests so I sampled one of its cocktails at the bar. It was a lychee martini with coconut cream in it and the lychee had been dyed red. Lychees are delicious but alarming to look at, kind of like slippery albino eyeballs. Dye one red and you’ve got an even creepier looking cocktail garnish. It was $19! This may be the Chinese year of the horse, but I felt like an ass paying that much for a small, sweet, adult beverage. The bartenders were super fun, though, and there were at least four or five of them.

We were seated shortly after by our gum-chewing hostess, who we thought was practicing a Kim Kardashian-esque walk down the aisle. It was super slow and caught the eye of every busboy in the joint. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I’m getting too old to go to places like this.

We began our meal with soup dumplings, chicken lettuce wraps, hot and sour soup, and salt and pepper calamari. The soup dumplings were outstanding. Six plump and tender dumplings arrived in the appropriate bamboo steamer. My friends Ellen and Chris explained how to eat them. You place a dumpling on your ceramic soup spoon. Poke a little hole in it with your chopstick and the soup spills out into the spoon. You sip this as you nibble into the pork. The pork was fatty, as it should be for flavor, and the soup was delicious, hints of black vinegar, ginger, and scallions in it.

The chicken lettuce wrap was a dud by itself, but was much improved by the condiments on the table — hot sauce, hoisin, and vinegar. The minced chicken was combined with tiny diced green and yellow squash, perhaps some mushrooms. You spoon the mixture into iceberg lettuce cups, wrap them up, and chomp away. The hot and sour soup was okay, but was carelessly served lukewarm. The salt and pepper calamari was a very good dish, the crunchy, scored pieces of calamari were given heat by lots of black pepper.

If you want Peking duck, it needs to be ordered 45 minutes in advance, which we did. For our entrees, besides the duck, we ordered shrimp fried rice and black bass with two sauces.

The shrimp fried rice was dull. This is a dish that can be truly wonderful when prepared with care and flavor. The black bass was also a disappointment. All three of us were absolutely sure that two different kinds of fish were used; each had a different texture. The portion was rather small for $64 (meant for two people). The sauces were okay. One was fermented black bean, the other garlic.

Now for the Peking duck. This is my absolute favorite meal and this version was as good as can be. The duck was presented to the table whole, crisped and mahogany colored. It was then expertly sliced and served on a platter with excellent homemade, paper-thin pancakes in a bamboo steamer, and the traditional accompaniments of hoisin sauce and slivers of cucumber and scallions. The skin was crisp with not too much fat underneath, the meat still moist and flavorful. Ellen and Chris spent many years living in Hong Kong, Bangkok, and Singapore, and they declared this duck “100 percent correct.” Was it really a seven-pound duck? Was it worth $79? To me, yes, because we got to take home the carcass and make Thai duck soup.

The prices at Red Stixs are high. All entrees are priced for two people. If you only want one portion you pay an additional $5. This means you can’t get any entree for less than $35. Soups, salads, and appetizers are $10 to $24, satays are $15 to $44, lettuce wraps, dumplings, and noodles are $14 to $24, entrees are $48 to $79, rice and vegetable sides are $9 to $14, and desserts are $14.

Aside from the hostess, the service on the night of our visit was very good. Our waiter was delightful and happy and peppy and charming. The wine list is short and also very expensive. You can try to find a cheap bottle of wine but you will have to pay about $65 for average stuff.

We were assured that the desserts are made in-house, but they most certainly are not. The choices (on display on a sideboard in the dining room) were mini apple streusel pies, red velvet cake, chocolate lava cake, and key lime tartlets. The chocolate lava cake was mediocre, as was the lime tartlet. The filling was nice and tart, the crust stale.

As someone who is on the back nine of life, a little worn around the tread, I don’t think this is the place for me. I would, however, be willing to spend the money on takeout Peking duck and enjoy it in the peace of my own home, with a reasonably priced bottle of wine or ice cold Tsingtao.

Art of Eating at Marders

Art of Eating Catering is offering a takeout menu at Marders nursery in Bridgehampton on Friday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The offerings, which change weekly, include items such as crudités with dipping sauce, hand-cut potato chips or sweet potato chips with seasonings, white bean dip, hummus, pad Thai, wraps, and salads.

Swedish Lunch

The Living Room restaurant in East Hampton will celebrate the summer solstice with a special Swedish “midsummer” lunch tomorrow through Sunday, in addition to its regular menu. A traditional three-course meal will be offered from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for $29 plus tax and gratuity. It includes a pickled herring plate to start, followed by blackened gravlax with summer vegetables and dill cream, and strawberry tartlet with vanilla whipped cream for dessert.

Celebrating a Smoker

A new mobile smoker will be christened at Townline BBQ restaurant in Sagaponack on Saturday during a Blessing of the Smoker event from 3 to 5 p.m. Riblets, wings, and other treats prepared in the smoker will be offered for sampling, and cans of Montauk Driftwood Ale and Montauk Summer Ale will be available for $2 each. A D.J. from WEHM radio will air a live broadcast from the event. The winner of a contest to name the new smoker, taking place on the restaurant’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, who will be chosen tomorrow, will get to spend the day on Saturday with Joe Realmuto, the Townline chef, learning how to cook on the mobile cooker. The winner will also receive a package including ingredients to make barbecue at home, such as Townline sauces and rubs.

Also new at Townline is a menu of drinks made with more than 60 selections of bourbons, whiskey, and rye selected by the restaurant’s beverage director, Richard Scoffier. Selections can be ordered as shots or as a tasting flight, with a beer back, or in specialty cocktails.

East End Chefs Program

Matthew Guiffrida of Muse restaurant in Sag Harbor will lead the next East End Chefs class at the Whalers Church in Sag Harbor on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m.

He will prepare jumbo sea scallops with artichoke hummus, spinach cakes, roasted fennel and tomato orzo, and cheesecake.

Space is limited; reservations have been suggested by calling Lillian Woudsma at 553-6515. The price is $20. Wine and water will be available for purchase.

To Celebrate Rosé

The Wolffer Estate winery in Sagaponack will celebrate rosé wines with a series of upcoming events.

The public has been invited to a tasting of rosé and shellfish from a raw bar at the Wolffer Wine Stand on Montauk Highway in Sagaponack on Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 in advance or $30 at the door. And to a Walkaround Tasting of rosé wines from around the world, including Wolffer’s, on the terrace at the main winery on Wednesday from 6 to 8 p.m., at the same ticket prices. Next Thursday’s free Twilight Thursdays musical performance at the winery will also factor into the themed week, as those who attend have been invited to wear their favorite shade of pink to the concert by Maria Bacardi, a chanteuse who sings Cuban and French jazz.

Members of the Wolffer Wine Club can purchase tickets for A Taste of Provence lunch on Sunday at the Wolffer residence, for $150, to be prepared by Christian Mir, the chef and owner of Stone Creek Inn in Quogue. Members can also tour rose gardens at the residence with Rich Bogusch, a horticulturist at the Peconic Land Trust’s Bridge Gardens, including tastes of Wolffer rosé wines from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday, for $25, or $30 at the door.

During the rosé celebration week, Wolffer is accepting entries on its Facebook page to win a Linus cruiser bike that is decorated with the vineyard’s “summer in a bottle” floral design. The drawing will be held at the Wolffer harvest party in October.

At Topside

At the Gosman’s Dock complex at Montauk Harbor, specials are available on Monday through Thursday throughout June at the Topside or at the Inlet Café. Which of the two eateries is open depends on the weather. Diners who buy one entrée will get a second entrée of equal or lesser value at half price, excluding specials or sushi.

Ruschmeyer’s Brunch

A new brunch menu at Ruschmeyer’s in Montauk has been prepared by several chefs from other restaurants, Matt Kliegman and Carlos Quirarte of the Smile and Roy Wohlars of Moby Dick’s. It will include wood-fired “black seed” bagels with smoked salmon and lemon-caper cream cheese, and the Smile’s granola. There is also a barista on site.

Pie Class

Leslie Dumont of Proud to Be Flaky pie school will present a class on Fourth of July pie next Thursday from 6 to 8 p.m. in Amagansett. The session will include tips on making piecrust, which will be used to make a three-berry, lattice-topped pie. Wine and cheese will be served, and each participant will make his or her own batch of pie dough to take home. The cost is $70. Reservations can be made at proudtobeflaky. com.

Dad is a role model, a caretaker, and a sweetheart, but does he have the machismo to take advantage of the manly-man restaurant deals being offered hereabouts for Father's Day this year?

For a bright and early start, you might consider taking him to Montauk where Gurney's will offer a Father's Day brunch at the Ocean Café starting at 7 a.m. The resort's Seawater Grill will have a brunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. for $45 per person and 1/2 price for kids under 12.

The Harbor Grill in East Hampton is promoting a Bottomless Buffet for brunch for $14.95 per person. There will be $3 mimosas and bloody Marys from noon on. Kids under 10 eat for free.

The Deck at East Hampton Point's Father's Day buffet will run from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and cost $49 for adults and $27 for children. The view of Three Mile Harbor and the East Hampton Point Yacht Club may inspire some jokes about giving dad a boat for Father's Day.

Michaels' at Maidstone will have a buffet for brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The tab is $35 for adults and $14.95 for kids. Bloody Marys and mimosas are on the house.

If dad would like a lobster fix, Gosman's Dock in Montauk is the place to go for a variety of specials. Stuart's Seafood in Amagansett is selling jumbo lobsters for $9.99 a pound for those who would prefer to entertain their dads at home.

Smokin' Wolf in East Hampton has all kinds of offerings for Father's Day, including breakfast fare in addition to entrees like pan-seared Montauk fluke with crisp oyster mushrooms, harissa spiced polenta, and sauteed spinach for $28 for lunch or brunch.

Back in Montauk, dads can enjoy a barbecue prix fixe at 668 the Gig Shack. The choices include grilled skirt steak, ribs, and marinated chicken thighs along with vegetables and other sides. Also in Montauk, Sammy's restaurant is will have a prix fixe with has surf and turf, shrimp scampi, New York garlic crusted sirloin, among the menu choices.

The Harbor Bistro in East Hampton has announced "Big Daddy" specials for the big day. Entrees can be a two-pound lobster, 12-ounce filet mignon, 24-ounce "cowboy" steak‚ or a half or full rack of Mongolian barbecued ribs. The sides are jasmine rice, garlic-confit potatoes, or house fries and asparagus. Dad probably won't be the designated driver on Father's Day, so the Harbor Bistro is also offering him half-price pints of Montauk Offland IPA beer.

Navy Beach in Montauk will be serving a complimentary bloody Mary or Budweiser beer for the special day, while Rowdy Hall in East Hampton promises happy-hour prices on pints of beer during the entire day. And, at Rowdy Hall, you can buy your dad a new drinking hat for $6.

Townline BBQ on the town line between Wainscott and Sagaponack will charge $4 all day for draft beers. Its combo offerings include sandwiches and sides, a pulled-meat sampler, chicken and rib dinner, or a mixed "extravaganza." A six-pack of beer will come with the meal.

Steak for two (or can dad take it on solo?) will be on the menu at Nick and Toni's in East Hampton for $90. A 32-ounce Painted Hills rib-eye is served with grilled local asparagus, roasted North Fork mushrooms, and it comes with a complimentary glass of wine.

The celebrations continue in Amagansett at La Fondita, which is offering a $30 make-your-own-tacos event, with enough fixings to feed a family four. This might be fun for the whole family.

The recently opened restaurant at the Bridgehampton Inn has another Father's Day approach. It will help you show dad some extra sweetness by giving him a free dessert.

And if dad needs to wind down from the day's eats, if the family would like a little change of pace, you can entice him to take a stroll through Sag Harbor Marine Park, where an annual Father's Day weekend arts and crafts fair will be staged with 50 different vendors on Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For Dads

A complimentary Bloody Mary or Budweiser beer will be served to fathers who have lunch on Sunday, Father’s Day, at Navy Beach restaurant in Montauk.

At the Harbor Bistro in East Hampton, “Big Daddy” specials will be offered on Sunday. They include a 2-pound lobster, a 24-ounce “cowboy steak,” a 12-ounce filet mignon, and a half or full rack of Mongolian barbecue ribs. Entrees will be served with steamed jasmine rice, garlic-confit potatoes, or house fries and asparagus. Dads will also be offered a half-price deal on pints of Montauk Offland IPA beer.

The Father’s Day celebration at La Fondita, the Mexican takeout shop in Amagansett, will include $30 make-your-own-taco packages that include the fixings to feed a family of four.

At Townline BBQ in Sagaponack, all “Townline Que” combo packages, which include sandwich fixings and sides, a pulled-meat sampler, a chicken and rib dinner, or a mixed “extravaganza,” prepared for differing numbers of people, will come with a choice of a six-pack of beer in cans on Sunday. In addition, all draft beers will be sold for $4 all day.

Steak for two, or a hefty meal for a special dad, will be offered on Sunday at Nick & Toni’s in East Hampton for $90. The menu will feature a 32-ounce Painted Hills ribeye served with grilled local asparagus and wood-oven roasted North Fork mushrooms. The special also comes with a complimentary glass of wine.

Father’s Day at Rowdy Hall in East Hampton will bring drink specials, including happy-hour prices on pints of beer all day long. Rowdy Hall hats will be on sale for $6.

Dads in Montauk will find a surf and turf barbecue prix fixe at 668 the Gig Shack. The $27 special will include a choice of three items from a list of meats — grilled skirt steak, ribs, or chicken thighs prepared with different marinades — fish, vegetables, and side dishes.

Lobster Special

Jumbo lobsters are on special, for $9.99 a pound, at Stuart’s Seafood in Amagansett, just in time for a Father’s Day fete.

Soccer and Specials

World Cup soccer fans will find beer specials at the bar during the games at several watering holes.

Pints of Montauk Brewing Company’s Driftwood Ale will be $5 at Indian Wells Tavern in Amagansett during all games today through Sunday.

Rowdy Hall will also celebrate soccer today through the weekend with draft beer and Brazilian caipirinha specials served in a commemorative cup, and a raffle and a trivia contest with prizes. Townline BBQ will have similar beverage specials, including its special cocktail on tap.

Cooking Class

Leading the next East End Chefs cooking class of the Old Whalers Church in Sag Harbor will be Livia Hegner and Marianne Farrell, the owner and manager of the Pepalajefa gourmet food shop in Sag Harbor. Starting tonight at 6:30, they will demonstrate how to make a variety of items from the shop menu. Admission is $20. Space is limited.

Booze Delivery

Using Minibar, a free new app, orders can be placed for wine and spirits to be delivered to residents from Westhampton to East Hampton, provided a minimum number of bottles — totaling $100 or more — is ordered. Delivery is guaranteed within two hours or less through the service, which has been up and running in Manhattan. Participating stores on the South Fork are Zabi’s Wine and Spirits in Southampton and the Sag Harbor Liquor Store.

Contessa on Tour

Ina Garten, East Hampton’s own Barefoot Contessa, will head out on a five-city book tour to promote her new cookbook, “Make It Ahead.” At Wil­liams-Sonoma stores in Boston, Chicago, Denver, Beverly Hills, and Cupertino, Calif., Ms. Garten, a winner of both Emmy and James Beard Foundation awards for her eight best-selling cookbooks and her Food Network show, “Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics,” will talk about her work and about enjoying food with family and friends at her East Hampton house.