Tickets are on sale for this year’s Chefs Dinner, a benefit for Jeff’s Kitchen at the Hayground School in Bridgehampton on July 28. A 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. cocktail party, followed by dinner, features the fare of a number of local and well-known chefs, including Tom Colicchio of the Topping Rose House, Jason Weiner of Almond, Joe Realmuto of Nick and Toni’s, and Christian Mir of Stone Creek Inn. Lily and the Parlor Tricks will perform during the cocktail party, and there will be demonstrations in the school’s newly expanded culinary facility by George Hirsch, a TV host and chef, and Aesop Skin Care.

    An intimate, V.I.P. wine dinner at Toni Ross’s residence will honor Eric Ripert and feature a four-course meal made by a number of chefs, including Claudia Fleming of the North Fork Table and Inn, Kerry Heffernan, a finalist on “Top Chef Masters,” Taku Sato of Nobu57, and Steffan Karlsson of Sweden. Wines selected by Aldo Sohm, a sommelier at Le Bernardin, will be paired with the meal. A live auction featuring exclusive culinary and travel items will follow the dinner.

    Tickets for the cocktail party alone cost $175 per person. Tickets for the dinner and the cocktail party cost $1,000. Children’s tickets, at $40, will include a kids’ dinner and child care by Hayground Camp counselors.

Seafood Hours

    The new hours of operation at Stuart’s Seafood in Amagansett are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

Pepperoni’s at One Stop

    Pepperoni’s, a takeout spot, is just south of the One Stop shopping center on Springs-Fireplace Road in East Hampton, and not farther north in Springs, as was stated in a listing in The Star’s A La Carte dining guide. Besides pizza and Italian specialties, including pasta dishes and focaccia sandwiches, Pepperoni’s has a wide selection of appetizers, cold salads, wraps, side dishes, chicken and seafood entrees, and desserts. There are several gluten-free options, including a gluten-free pizza. The shop also does catering and offers free delivery.

    This year, the Pepperoni’s folks opened Sprinkles, an ice cream shop, right next door.

At the Coast

    The Coast restaurant in Montauk has designated Wednesday as locals’ night and offers $5 maki sushi rolls along with other specials on appetizers and drinks. An early-bird discount of 15 percent is offered on all menu items on weekdays between 5 and 6 p.m., and a nightly happy hour takes place at the bar, also between 5 and 6. Live music is featured on Thursdays. The Coast is closed on Tuesdays.

Montauk Market

    The Montauk Chamber of Commerce’s farmers market takes place on the downtown green every Thursday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Participating vendors include Amber Waves Farm, Bambino’s Ravioli, Carissa’s Breads, Dolce Nirvana bakery, East End Apiaries, Hamptons Seafood Company, Horman’s Best Pickles, Mecox Bay Dairy, the 3 Nuts (selling nut butters), and Stoked Granola by Surfer Girl.

    The chamber of commerce’s Facebook page includes recipes featuring products sold at the farmers market. Money raised at the market last year, more than $8,000 in all, was donated to the Montauk Food Pantry.

Navy on the Fourth

    At Navy Beach restaurant in Montauk, the Fourth of July will bring a 5 to 7 p.m. performance by Nancy Atlas. Navy Beach is now open daily for lunch and dinner, beginning at noon.

Cait’s Baked

    Caitlin Baringer, an East Hampton baker who serves as the pastry chef at the Maidstone Club, is making her baked goods available to the public at the Springs Farmers Market as well as at several farm stands. Ms. Baringer’s pies are sold at the stand at the EECO Farm on Long Lane in East Hampton, now operated by the Food Pantry Farm, as well as at the Pantigo Farm Co. stand on Skimhampton Road in East Hampton.

    At the Springs Farmers Market, held at Ashawagh Hall on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., pies, cookies, carrot breads, and gluten-free and vegan options are offered.

Prosciutto Tasting

    At Lucy’s Whey cheese shop in East Hampton, there will be a tasting of American prosciutto and artisan-made salami tomorrow from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

New at B. Smith’s

    Walter Hinds is the new executive chef at B. Smith’s restaurant in Sag Harbor. A graduate of Peter Kump’s New York Cooking School, Mr. Hinds has more than two decades of experience at restaurants from New York to Paris and the Caribbean, where he had an eponymous, award-winning restaurant on St. John. Recent postings include Poco in the East Village of Manhattan and 75 Main in Southampton.

    B. Smith’s, which is on Long Wharf, is open daily from noon to 4 p.m. for lunch, and at 6 nightly for dinner.

Silver’s

15 Main Street

Southampton

283-6443

Lunch daily, closed Wednesday

    Silver’s is an attractive restaurant in Southampton that has been open since 1923. It is very popular and only serves lunch. Lunch at dinner prices.

    I had a pretty good meal there a few weeks ago and a mediocre one more recently.

    A long railroad of a building, with high ceilings and black and white checkered floors, it has a long bar, quite a few paintings on the walls, and bistro chairs. Upon being seated you get a bowl with warm, crusty bread with a pool of garlicky, salty olive oil sprinkled with parsley. It is delicious.

    On our last visit we began our meal with the borscht and d’Anjou pear salad. The borscht, served hot, was excellent and full of beets, beetroots, and beet greens. The broth had excellent flavor. It would have been even better if it had been served with the traditional dollop of sour cream. The d’Anjou pear salad was a large bowl of baby arugula with tomato slices, grapes, pecans, two huge wedges of Stilton, some sliced pear, and no dressing. There appeared to be a little drizzle of olive oil on the arugula and a wedge of lemon was perched on the bowl, so maybe it was a do-it-yourself salad dressing? I didn’t care for the lemon-Stilton combo.

    For entrees we tried the BLT and crab cakes. Silver’s is famous for its BLTs. The menu crows about them: “not what you make at home!” You’re right about that! “It’s awesome!” No, it’s not. The BLT is two enormously thick slices of bread, easily one and a half inches thick with a few leaves of romaine, even thinner slices of bacon, and some slices of tomato. The bread has attractive grill marks on it, but my son detected a slightly gassy flavor from the grill that detracted from the overall enjoyment of his bready sandwich.

    The crab cakes were two mounds of crab mixture, more like ice cream scoops, on top of salad. They were chock full of jumbo lump crabmeat with flecks of diced red pepper and parsley. The sauce was a mild mixture of mayonnaise and Thai sweet chili sauce. They tasted just a little bit too fishy. I only took a few bites.

    Prices at Silver’s are $14 to $48 for soups and salads, entrees are $20 to $40, desserts are $8 and $9. The $48 price tag is for lobster salad, the $40 entree is a lobster roll. The service was spotty. We kind of had one waiter to begin with; he forgot a glass of wine. Another picked up our plates. A nice waitress gave us dessert menus. No one inquired as to why the crab cakes had barely been touched.

    Along with “not what you make at home!” and “it’s awesome!” the menu has other boastful proclamations. The French picnic platter is “like dining in Paris without paying airfare!” Yeah, that’s because you can’t afford to fly to Paris after dining here. The smoked salmon, “terrific!” The desserts, “classically Parisian” and “very sophisticated!” Not.

    There are some very pretty paintings on the walls, mostly of women in various poses such as “I just finished practicing my ballet positions and now I am filled with ennui” and “I am feeling very melancholy in this cafe because my lover just left me. Desole!” Or perhaps: “How am I going to pay for that ridiculously expensive sandwich?”

    The bathrooms are down a staircase. The men’s room had no soap, only a recycled bottle labeled hand sanitizer. There are some freezers downstairs next to the bathroom. Well, this is a public place, so I took a peek at the contents? They were sloppily filled with bread rolls and cheap, industrial-sized cases of bacon. Hmmmmm.

    Silver’s Web site begins with “If you divide your time between reading Marcel Proust and indulging yourself at Bergdorf Goodman you’re going to love Silver’s, which you may have overheard is the only place to lunch in the Hamptons” and “if Oscar Wilde summered in the Hamptons, you’d probably find him here.” No, we’d probably find him across the street at St. Ambroeus or Cittanuova or Rowdy Hall or La Parmagiana or jail in Riverhead.

    The desserts are not made in-house. We tried three of them, the pecan tart, lemon tart, and opera cake. The pecan tart was stale and soggy and tasted of refrigeration. The lemon tart was soggy and cracked from age. The opera cake was okay.

    If I had stumbled upon Silver’s and the prices were half of what they are, I would probably think, not bad. At these prices, I am crestfallen.

    Our lunch was $140 for two before tip, with just one glass of wine. This is a short review, why should I waste your time? Silver’s, you get a bronze.

   The Food Pantry Farm on Long Lane in East Hampton, created in response to a growing need among South Fork residents, has found a way to increase what it is able to provide to the less fortunate. Its keepers have taken over a stand just steps from where the farm grows tons of food for thousands of those in need.

    Now in its fourth year on its three acres, the nonprofit farm has signed a one-year lease on the stand with the East End Cooperative Organic Farm, which it hopes to renew when the year is up.

    While sticking with the farm’s original mission to regularly deliver organically produced food to five food pantries between Southampton and Montauk and a women’s shelter, the stand now also offers the public the Food Pantry Farm’s nutritious produce, including carrots, salad greens, summer and winter squash, melons, strawberries, peaches, sweet potatoes, okra, beets, turnips, kale, collards, Swiss chard, and herbs.

    Local honey will also be sold there, from bees kept nearby on the farm. And there will be pretzel breads and baguettes, local pies, jams, jellies, and pickles. Paul Muller, who donates his proceeds to Lucia’s Angels, a charity for those dealing with cancer, will sell cookies and brownies there.

    This month, the stand’s indoor refrigerator is filled with such things as kale pesto, garlic confit, and strawberry vinaigrette prepared by Darcy Hutzenlaub. It opened on Memorial Day weekend and, starting today, will be open Thursdays through Sundays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

    Ms. Hutzenlaub will take over as farm manager at the end of July, and Peter Garnham, who started the Food Pantry Farm four years ago, will leave to pursue his interests in season extension and soil microbiology. Having been intimately involved with EECO Farm for quite a few years, he is familiar with earlier concerns about arsenic levels in the soil, which was farmed using conventional methods for many years until the land was purchased by the town and leased to EECO Farm. Since earlier tests showing elevated arsenic levels were conducted, Mr. Garnham said, hundreds of tons of organic compost has been added to the soil, and now, he said, “the arsenic levels in our soils are way below even the most stringent levels put out by the E.P.A. and state health departments.”

    Arsenic is naturally occurring in healthy soils, along with things such as iron, copper, manganese, and molybdenum, Mr. Garnham explained. Food Pantry Farm’s biodynamic farming methods go far beyond organic, he said, and “arsenic is no longer — if it ever was — a health concern.”

    Joining him and Ms. Hutzenlaub at the farm are Kristopher Bell, who grew up in Springs and was brought to the farm via community service. After fulfilling his mandated duties, Mr. Bell kept on volunteering. The farm management liked his work ethic and felt he was a good fit, said John Malafronte, one of the farm’s founders, adding that Mr. Bell is now an indispensable part of the team.

     “It is definitely had work,” Mr. Bell said last week, “but it is amazing and rewarding.”

    In addition to his work on the farm, Mr. Bell has designed and printed T-shirts sold at the stand to benefit the cause. One shirt on display there reads “Who’s Your Farmer?” a message that he hopes will make people think about where their food comes from in a non-confrontational manner.

    Jack Castoro, another East Hampton High School alumnus, has also joined the team, bringing his carpentry skills to the operation.

    “The young help carry the weight,” said Mr. Malafronte, a retired Wall Street executive turned agricultural philanthropist. He added that he hopes they will carry it forward, too, taking the skills they learn as lessons for both life and in business.

    Unfortunately, Hurricane Sandy took a toll on the farm last year, including some significant damage to the farm’s new greenhouse.

    Despite setbacks, “We have made money over the last five weeks to plow back into the farm,” Mr. Malafronte said last Saturday.

    The farm’s neighbors have been generous. “Iacono Farm across the street is super supportive,” Mr. Malafronte said. They helped to market the stand with signs and have allowed the use of their refrigerator, for example.

    Other farms in the community, such as Balsam and Bonac Farms, have helped fill holes in inventory, and Buckley’s farm donated flowers, which the Food Pantry Farm also grows and delivers to pantries as a pick-me-up.

    Schenck Fuels delivered a free, seven-foot-high, $13,000 Traulson double refrigerator and freezer that the farm uses for much needed cold storage. But as a nonprofit, Food Pantry Farm is always in search of donations for its physical plant, staff, and machinery. They can be sent to Food Pantry Farm, P.O. Box 181 East Hampton 11937. Inquiries can also be made via e-mail to [email protected].

   Long ago, it was the storied Inn at Napeague. Last summer, Banzai Burger. As of last Friday, 2095 Montauk Highway on Napeague is Share House, a restaurant and bar serving up “elevated comfort food with a seafood twist,” live music and D.J.s, and other special events.

    Sandwiched between the ocean and Napeague Bay, Cyril’s Fish House and the Clam Bar at Napeague, Share House, said its owner, Jacqueline Berchielli, is modeled after the shared summerhouse experience.

    “I want people to come here and relax, feel like they’re at home,” said Ms. Berchielli. “Sit back, enjoy a really good beer and a burger, listen to good music, and have a fun time.”

    David Blackmon Jr., the restaurant’s chef, brings a broad and deep culinary background to Share House. Formerly the banquet sous chef at New York’s Plaza Hotel, the New England Culinary Institute alum has also worked at Sanibel Harbour Resort and Naples Grand Beach Resort, both in Florida; in Michigan, and elsewhere in the South. “So I know healthy seafood-type cuisine, wild game, and the Low Country,” he said.

    Among the delicacies Mr. Blackmon recommends are the crab cakes — a particularly meaty and delicious creation — and burgers featuring a secret house blend and onion jam. Share House will also offer daily specials of fresh-caught fish and local produce. “Keeping it very healthy and light for the summer,” he said.

    “Our burgers are fantastic,” Ms. Berchielli agreed. “We have a really good down-home macaroni and cheese. We’re going to have some raw seafood, and lobster.” (On its opening weekend, Share House offered a 1 1/4-pound lobster at $15.) The fireplace is functional, Ms. Berchielli said, “and I’m hoping that in the fall we can continue business for the wine crowd. We want to make this a place for everybody.”

    Katherine C.H.E., a local singer, songwriter, and musician, is booking the  entertainment. The party got going on Friday night with Joe Delia and Thieves. As the skies cleared on Saturday afternoon, Ken Morsch and Jon Ludlow entertained outdoors on the patio as patrons enjoyed food, drinks, and Ping-Pong. (The Napeague Tea, one of Share House’s specialty cocktails, features elderflower, house-brewed tea, and sweet-tea vodka, and is enthusiastically recommended.) Hopefully Forgiven performed in the evening.

    “Some places have good music, and some have good food,” said Katherine C.H.E., “but very few places consistently have both great food and great live music. I know that music brings people, and I’ve been waiting for the place to open — that’s how I connected with Jacqueline. It was serendipity that she also had this vision to create a place that was like a Bluebird Cafe for the Hamptons,” she said, referring to the fabled Nashville venue.

    “This is something I’ve always wanted to do,” said Ms. Berchielli, who previously worked at a law firm in Manhattan. “I couldn’t sit at a desk any longer. I’m especially excited to bring this to the stretch.”

    Inside, Share House looks much as it did last year: The bar and dining room are bright and airy, whitewashed floorboards complementing the chic and cozy decor. Sunlight, and a gentle breeze, particularly when the front windows are open, flow through the space. Outside is a main patio with bar and a nearby sunset patio with fire pit.

    Ms. Berchielli hopes to keep Share House open throughout the year. “Anybody who loves live music and likes to support that,” said Katherine C.H.E., “should come and help make this a year-round thing.”

Farmers Markets

    Slow Food East End has published a list of East End farmers markets, which will be distributed at the markets and at other events throughout the summer. It can be downloaded from the group’s Web site, slowfoodeastend.org.

New Chefs

    At 75 Main in Southampton, Mark Militello, the executive chef at the 75 Main restaurant in Delray, Fla., is in charge of the kitchen this summer. The restaurateur and chef, who received a James Beard Award as “best chef in the American southeast,” will bring a touch of South Florida to the Italian and American dishes on the menu. Among the “contemporary American-Mediterranean fusion” dishes are grilled lamb chops served with couscous and pistachio-mint salsa, and halibut with a sweet onion crust, served with fennel gratin and marsala sauce. 75 Main is now serving breakfast and brunch daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

    The Riverhead Project, a restaurant in that town, also has a new executive chef. After earning a culinary arts degree, Lia Fallon began her career at the Food Network, working with chefs such as Emeril Lagasse and Bobby Flay. She was the executive chef and owner of Amarelle in Wading River and worked most recently at the Jedediah Hawkins Inn in Jamesport.

Lobster at the Palm

    The Palm restaurant is once again offering its summer lobster deal, a dinner for two for $79.95. It includes a jumbo four-pound Nova Scotia lobster with a choice of two starters and two side dishes. Among the choices are watermelon and buffalo-mozzarella salad, corn with crispy pancetta and caramelized pearl onions, and salt-and-vinegar new potatoes. The special is available Sunday through Thursday at the East Hampton location.

Summer Menu

    At the Living Room restaurant in East Hampton, Mathais Brogie, a “food concept manager,” has introduced some seasonal dishes using locally sourced ingredients, with a Scandinavian twist. They include iced watermelon soup with feta cheese marinated in sage and mint, sauteed Long Island seafood, a lemon risotto “catch of the day,” marinated rack of lamb with spicy carrots and fiddlehead ferns, seared local tuna, and Montauk black sea bass a la plancha, with grilled seasonal vegetables.

Al Fresco Dining

    The 1770 House is now offering patrons the opportunity to dine al fresco on the inn’s garden patio. Reservations are taken for outdoor tables by phone on the same day only, due to weather considerations.

Barbecue Class

    Brian Collins, an award-winning barbecue “pitmaster,” will give a demonstration, using his 10-foot smoker, on Monday at 5:30 p.m. at the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton. He will offer samples of pulled pork, grilled vegetables, and a dessert. The cost is $15. Space is limited, and those interested can register by calling the library, or online at myrml.org.

Summertime Hours

    The Hideaway Mexican restaurant in Montauk is open daily for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Stuart’s Seafood in Amagansett is now open daily from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Inlet Seafood in Montauk is open every day for lunch from noon to 4 p.m. and then for dinner. Sunday brunch is served from noon to 3 p.m.

New Smokin’ Wolf

    Smokin’ Wolf, a barbecue takeout shop, has reopened at 199 Pantigo Road in East Hampton, two doors down from its old location. Orders can be placed for lunch and dinner seven days a week, starting at 11 a.m. A new lunch menu offers smaller portions, with a smaller price tag, and catering is also available.

Best BLT

    The bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich at the Highway Diner and Bar in East Hampton has earned the distinction of being named one of the best on Long Island by Newsday. New at the diner are house-made guacamole and chips, a fried flounder sandwich, and buffalo wings.

Cookies at Lucy’s

    Beurre & Sel, a New York City cookie company, will set up a kiosk at the Lucy’s Whey cheese shop in East Hampton today, tomorrow, and Saturday. Lucy’s Whey is now open seven days a week.

Todd Jacobs from Fresh

    This month’s class in the East End Chefs series at Sag Harbor’s Old Whalers Church will feature Todd Jacobs, the chef and owner at the new restaurant Fresh in Bridgehampton and the former executive chef at the American Hotel in Sag Harbor. The class will be held at the church on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. and cost $20. Advance registration, by calling Lillian Woudsma at the church, has been recommended as space is limited.

    Mr. Jacobs will prepare a New England-style Bonac clam chowder as well as a variety of dishes featuring local vegetables, including wild organic sauteed spinach, and roast garlic whipped potatoes. He will also prepare barbecued short ribs with a pinot noir sauce, and, for dessert, a white chocolate, yogurt, and banana napoleon with organic strawberries.

Fresh

203 Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor

Turnpike

537-4700

Lunch and dinner daily

Brunch on Sundays

   The well-respected local chef Todd Jacobs has taken the helm at Fresh, the restaurant in Bridgehampton that once was Southfork Kitchen, and the new restaurant’s mission statement promises a great deal. As the eating public demands more and more specialized, individualized, and de-glutenized food items, this place aims to please.

    It tries hard to provide local fish, poultry, dairy products, fruits, and vegetables. You can build your own salad, choosing the greens, toppings, and crispy crunchy bits. I like this concept because if your blueberry, gorgonzola and cashew salad with tahini dressing doesn’t taste so good, you have only yourself to blame.

    Fresh has wisely left the interior untouched, other than adding a few Gandhi and Buddha paintings to the walls. It is a large, dark, and somewhat industrial-looking space, warmed up a bit by the recycled barn board paneling. There is a little alcove with a table for large groups to the right that looks a bit like a stage set from across the room, or like an interrogation room, what with the single light fixture shining down on the guests. The large bar, alas, has no booze. Fresh is still B.Y.O.B.

    The meal begins with fresh, warm rolls to go with bottles of olive oil already at the table. The menu and concept at Fresh is re-fresh-ing. You can order your entrees by the quarter, half, or full pound per portion, and you can get side orders galore, for instance five sides for $20.

    On a recent visit we began our meal with kale salad and grilled portobello mushroom salad. The kale salad was described as “raw Tuscan kale with hemp­seed hearts, sugar plum tomatoes, red peppers, zucchini, and fine herbs with lemongrass vinaigrette.” It was delicious and virtuous and the dressing was lemony but not at all lemongrassy, which is what I was looking forward to tasting. I also couldn’t find the hempseed hearts — they look like pot seeds, right? I know what pot seeds look like; I grew up in the ’60s. The grilled portobello mushroom salad was also delicious, tasting a bit like some naughty bacon fat found its way into the dressing. The greens were tender, fresh little leaves of spinach and chard, the Portobello nicely marinated and sliced. Shards of Parmesan cheese added some nice salty richness.

    For entrees we ordered the quarter-pound portions of skate, flounder, and duck. The skate was described as wasabi-crusted but we couldn’t detect that fiery Japanese powder in the flavor. Each entree was served attractively with a nasturtium blossom and chervil leaves on top. A tiny pitcher of the accompanying sauce was nestled in the deep bowls of each entree. The ginger beurre blanc served with the skate was mild. The flounder was pretty good. Not exactly “hemp flour crusted” as promised, it was rather moist and soft. The carrot butter “infused with ginger and lemongrass” didn’t taste too much like either. The duck, we all agreed, was the best of the three. Four beautiful slices of duck breast had nicely crisped layers of skin and the accompanying tart cherry sauce was perfect with it.

    We also ordered the five sides for $20 (there are 17 offered). We tried the Thai red curried spring vegetables, wild organic sauteed spinach, local organic snow pea shoots, shiitake mushrooms and sugar snaps, local organic Yukon potatoes roasted with duck cracklings, shallots, and dill, and lastly, red quinoa with oven-dried tomatoes, leeks, and oregano. The red curried vegetables had a fairly mousy coconut milk sauce, quite bland. Sadly, the vegetables, all of them, were completely raw. Al dente would have been okay, but raw chunks of carrot and chewy leek leaves are not pleasant. The sauteed spinach was delicious, delicately cooked with a bit of garlic. The snow pea shoots were also very good, tasting a bit of the coconut oil.

    The roasted potatoes were tasty, with a bit of duck fat flavor but nary a duck crackling to be found. And the cracklings were the whole reason I ordered this dish. We asked our waiter if perhaps we’d gotten the wrong dish but he insisted it was correct. We poked around the potatoes to show him there were no cracklings, to which he replied, “They’re subtle.” I believe the correct response would have been, “I’ll check with the kitchen and see if there are any cracklings lying around.” Oh, well.

    The red quinoa was pretty good. It’s one of those virtuous proteins that is best when mixed with lots of other tasty things. This quinoa was to be served with oven-dried tomatoes, leeks, and oregano. I saw some tomatoes but not the rest.

    I appreciate what Fresh is trying to do and the menu is extensive and promising. However, so many of the dishes lacked what was promised, and that’s distressing.

    The service on the night of our visit was good, and the hostess and manager friendly and charming. They were quite busy, although not completely full. Prices are moderate. Soups and salads are $7 to $12, small plates and shellfish are $8 to $42, main courses are $12 to $90, sides $5 or $9, and desserts $6 to $16. The higher prices are for large family-style portions, such as a whole pound of salmon or a whole chicken.

    For desserts we tried the white chocolate, yogurt, and banana napoleon, a classic creme brulée, and Fresh s’mores. The napoleon lacked its most essential detail — layers of crisp phyllo dough. There was one sheet on top of the banana and yogurt, but I fear it had deliquesced long ago in the kitchen. So it was basically a pretty presentation of breakfast food, yogurt, banana, and strawberries. The creme brulée had a good custard but needed a better sugar-crackled top. The s’more was pretty, homemade meringue piped on top of graham crackers and bittersweet chocolate, but the graham cracker was soggy.

    I want so much for a place like this to succeed, as they offer healthy food and honestly try to provide local and organic products. The portion options are genius. But the menu is so extensive and promises so much (some of it not delivered) that perhaps some simplification is in order.

    Fresh, if you were my student, you’d be teacher’s pet. I’d give you a big E for effort and a happy face sticker on your report card.

The Cuddy

29 Main Street

Sag Harbor

725-0101

Lunch and dinner daily

Brunch on weekends

   I was disappointed to hear that Phao in Sag Harbor was to be transformed into the Cuddy. What is the Cuddy? An American gastro-pub? Do we really need another American restaurant out here? Well, I have to grudgingly admit that in the case of the Cuddy, we do.

    This cozy location on Main Street has changed personalities more than Sybil. It has been Thai, Indian, Thai again, now American-ish. I say “ish” because it is more than that. There are ceviches, panang curry, kimchi, romesco sauces, homemade pastas, and best of all, a decidedly Southern bent with such items as biscuits, chicken ’n’ waffles, black-eyed peas, quail, and fried green tomatoes.

    The transformation of the interior is subtle. A lot of barn board has been applied throughout, a map of London dominates the bar, gray leather banquettes line the back and side walls. The tables are set with Mason jars filled with little oil-burning votive candles set into what looks like, I don’t know, road salt? Maybe broken windshield bits or some kind of glass you’d find at the bottom of a nice aquarium. There are red and white dishtowels for napkins. It is quite stylish and cozy at the same time.

    I went with a group of friends recently and the place was packed. It was a delightfully diverse mixture of young and old, families and couples, out-of-towners and locals. We began our meal with the heirloom tomato salad, soft shelled crab, cured black sea bass, and bacon-wrapped quail. All were excellent.

    The heirloom tomato salad had a pretty variety of multicolored cherry and grape tomatoes and an excellent super-fresh buffalo mozzarella. The basil almond pesto dressing was awesome, we all agreed. The soft-shell crab appetizer was one good-sized crab, fried in beer/fritter type batter and served with pretty butter lettuce leaves and an apple, jicama, kimchi salad. The crab is meant to be wrapped in the leaves as in Korean or Vietnamese cuisine. It’s always fun to play with your food!

    The bacon-wrapped quail was so good. The itty bitty quail had been de-boned, except for its darling little ballerina legs. The bacon was crispy outside the bird, and the quail remained deliciously moist. The black-eyed peas served underneath were also excellent, lightly sweetened with a honey shallot vinaigrette. A bundle of kale alongside made the dish a smidgen healthier. The cured black sea bass was light and citrusy, a beautiful presentation. The thin slivers of sea bass were joined by paper-thin slices of fennel, radishes, cucumbers, jalapenos, and sprigs of dill. A few grapefruit segments added more color and tang.

    For entrees we had the fried chicken with waffles, the Cuddy burger two ways, the tagliatelle with Little Neck clams, and pan-seared sea scallops. Fried chicken with waffles is a current trend almost as prevalent as bacon in, on, and with everything. This was a great version and they have major cojones to serve only dark meat. The crust was crunchy, not greasy, and the meat was tender as confit, perhaps brined, as it was well salted throughout. The half-moon waffle was crisp with flecks of scallions. A generous dab of homemade green tomato chutney topped the waffle and a drizzle of truffled honey adorned the whole dish. This was a great grown-up version of a Deep South classic.

    The Cuddy burger automatically comes with good cheddar cheese, tomato jam, caramelized onions, and truffle fries. Both burgers were tasty and cooked as ordered. They are served on brioche buns, which add another hint of richness and sweetness. The truffle fries, served in cute little copper pots, were hand-cut potatoes, cooked to perfection, and had just enough truffle essence to make them interesting. Tim, because he is a growing boy, added the optional sunny-side up egg and house-cured bacon to his burger, kind of a meal inside another meal.

    The tagliatelle we could tell right away was made with homemade pasta. It had either chopped up Little Neck clams or manila clams slipped out of their shells. The sauce was subtle, not too garlicky, with fresh herbs and more of the tasty little heirloom cherry tomatoes. I don’t know what kind of imagination comes up with sea scallops over grits in a panang curry sauce with frisee, tomato jam, and house-cured bacon but this crazy hodge-podge of a dish worked beautifully. The scallops were seared to a crisp caramelization on the outside, still silky verging on rare within. The grits were of a high quality, coarsely ground white corn variety, a creamy foil to the slightly spicy, very coconut-y curry sauce.

    As I mentioned before, the Cuddy was very busy on the night of our visit and it has only been open a month or two. In spite of this, the service was excellent, smooth, and professional. Our waitress, Shannon, was knowledgeable and charming. Jeff Resnick, the owner, was on the premises, as he almost always is, greeting guests and making sure things are ship-shape. Ha-ha, that’s nautical humor.

    For desserts we tried the orange olive oil cake, pain perdu, and strawberry coconut bread pudding. All three were very good. The orange olive oil cake was what appeared to be a topsy-turvy cupcake with a swirl of sour cream frosting. It was moist and citrus-y, served with a sprinkling of pistachios and a bit of orange jus on the plate. The pain perdu (which is basically French toast) was nicely presented with banana slices that had been bruleed with a sugary crust and served with house-made vanilla ice cream. The strawberry coconut bread pudding was a nice little round mound of moist cake, full of coconut milk and sprinkled with granola, an interesting touch that gave it some texture. The scoop of strawberry lime sorbet cut the richness of the bread pudding.

    Prices at the Cuddy are moderate. Appetizers are $11 to $18, entrees are $17 to $42, sides are $4 to $7, and desserts are $8. The wine list is short and smart, the cocktails clever without being too weird. As this is a gastro-pub, it is worth noting the beer menu. This, too, is short and smart. There are so many microbreweries these days it must have been very trying for the folks at the Cuddy to narrow down the selection. There are five draft beers (yay, Dogfish Head I.P.A.!) and seven fine bottled varieties.

    What is a “cuddy” I was curious to know? It is a small cabin on a boat, for shelter from the elements or for storage. While I was quite crabby to see Phao go, I have to admit that the Cuddy is a welcome addition to Sag Harbor’s restaurant scene.

Stuart’s Catering

    Jacqueline LaBorne is the new catering director at Stuart’s Seafood in Amagansett.  While Stuart’s will continue to do its traditional catered clambakes, pig roasts, barbecues, and raw bars, Ms. LaBorne, who has worked at Fresh Flavors, 230 Elm Street, and East Hampton Point and run her own catering business in Sag Harbor, will implement new ideas to help clients plan personalized parties.  Ms. LaBorne was appointed following the unexpected death of Karl Vanston, whose wife, son, and daughter still work for Stuart’s.

For Father’s Day

    Father’s Day on Sunday will bring a special at Rowdy Hall in East Hampton featuring a Rowdy burger or turkey burger with a mug of beer for $17.50, which includes taking home the mug. Rowdy will serve lunch from noon to 3:30 p.m., a midday menu from 3 to 5 p.m., and dinner from 5 to 10 p.m.

    At Navy Beach in Montauk, fathers will receive a complimentary Bloody Mary or Budweiser with their lunch, beginning Sunday at noon.

New Sushi Menu

    Ichiro Yamagishi, a master sushi chef and the owner at Ichiro Sushi in Huntington, has partnered with Douglas Gulija, the executive chef at the Plaza Cafe in Southampton, to add sushi to the restaurant’s menu.

    New items, available in the dining room, at the bar, or for takeout, include appetizers, maki rolls, and special chef’s rolls, such as a “Valentine roll,” with crunchy spicy tuna and avocado with tuna on top, or a “Country Green Roll,” with salmon, avocado, yellowtail tuna, and mango with a spicy sauce.

For Children at Fresh

    Fresh, a new restaurant on the Bridgehampton Turnpike in Bridgehampton, has a healthy three-course meal available for children 12 and under for $15. It includes “small plate” choices such as carrot sticks with hummus, or leek and potato cream soup, and entrees including gluten-free macaroni and cheese, sliders and fries, spinach and cheese quesadillas, gluten-free chicken nuggets and fries, and Caesar salad with grilled chicken. A choice of dessert is included.

Celebrate Strawberries

    On the North Fork, the Mattituck Lions Club will hold its 59th annual strawberry festival today through Sunday. It will include carnival rides, an arts and crafts sale, and live music, along with strawberries served numerous ways, such as in shortcake and pie, dipped in chocolate, or blended into daiquiris.

    In conjunction with the festival, Noah’s restaurant in Greenport will add two dishes to its menu: local strawberry and arugula salad with goat cheese, and strawberry balsamic ice cream served with warm rhubarb compote and basil shortcake. The restaurant serves dinner daily, lunch Friday through Sunday, and Saturday and Sunday brunch.    

The Wine Project

    Each Tuesday at 7 p.m., theRIVERHEADPROJECT restaurant in Riverhead serves a wine dinner — several courses served family-style for groups of 12, paired with featured wines. Wine “curators” and menus will vary weekly. The cost is $40 per person. Next week, the wine selections will be from Gabriella Fine Wines.

Cooking With Flowers

    On Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m., Miche Bacher of Mali B Sweets in Greenport will be on hand at the Loaves and Fishes Cookshop in Bridgehampton. She will sign copies of her book “Cooking With Flowers,” and provide tastes of some of her creations.

    From 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, the shop will have a free gazpacho tasting.

    There are three new cookery-life­style-entertaining books out with South Fork connections and they couldn’t be more different from one another. One is a new paperback printing of Ellen Wright’s “Hamptons Weekends,” originally published in 2000. Another is “Living the Good Long Life” by Martha Stewart, described as “a practical guide to caring for yourself and others.” Lastly, is “What’s a Hostess To Do?” by Susan Spungen, part of a series with other such titles as “What’s a Golfer to Do?” and “What’s a Disorganized Person to Do?”

    Ellen Wright’s book (East End Press, $24.95) is great fun to read. It is full of anecdotes, pictures, helpful hints, and historical tidbits. (It is worth noting that all proceeds from the book are to be donated to the Joe and Ellen Prosthetic Fund at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.) Since 1971, Ms. Wright and her family have spent summers and weekends in Bridgehampton, and the majority of photos in the book reflect this. Lots of white fences and horseys, big houses, big barns, paddocks, corrals, and more horseys.

    There are also lovely pictures of flowers and dunes and her tasty recipes. I like her style; it is casual and fun. She uses margarine and cake mixes and pancake mixes and cornbread mixes and canned soups when necessary. She studied with Julia Child and worked with James Beard. The book is divided into seasons and offers simple and delicious sounding menus throughout. Doesn’t this menu sound tempting? Tomato carrot soup with White House Saltines, swordfish my way, Mom’s marinated cucumbers, Chicago corn pudding, and cold berry pie. Ellen’s husband, Joe, worked in the Reagan White House where buttered and baked Saltines were served in the mess. That’s so Reagan!

    Ms. Wright shares her favorite sources for ingredients: Country Garden, Halsey Vegetable Stand, the Seafood Shop, etc. She entertains everyone from her ex-husband and his wife to Tom Brokaw and Mort Zuckerman. Her favorite serving platter is one made by her daughter, Lexie, when she was 10. She declares, “If I had my way, all dinners would be served early and end early.” My kinda gal. You probably won’t find any particularly new or original recipes in this book, but it is worthwhile for its helpful, simple, seasonal menus and engaging narrative.

    Ms. Stewart’s “Living the Good Long Life” (Clarkson Potter, $27.50) is quite different. It’s really more of a resource book with lots of common sense. But the common sense is filtered through Ms. Stewart’s philosophy and lifestyle. We should all know by now that the Mediterranean diet is the best overall way to eat. We also know we should “eat the rainbow,” i.e., eat colorful fruits and vegetables. Ms. Stewart shares personal anecdotes such as “sometimes when I’m horseback riding through my orchard, I’ll pick an apple right off the tree” and “caviar and salmon for one is far less expensive than caviar and salmon for a crowd so indulge yourself!” She recommends combining travel with exercise, for instance she has hiked Mount Kilimanjaro, the Inca Trail, and Northern Sikkim.

    The book is divided into sections like Healthy Eating, Healthy Fitness, Healthy Home, Healthy Looks, and so on. The Healthy Eating section has some recipes but none terribly exciting. Tuna with white beans, broiled grapefruit, and miso soup? Meh. Overall, it is an informative tome for those of us on the back nine of life. There are suggestions for keeping your brain active and functioning. Me, I struggle through the Tuesday New York Times crossword puzzle. Martha goes on “Law and Order SVU” to flex her gray matter muscles.

    She suggests spending time with children because this is not intimidating. In a section on wellness she begins “I can’t let myself get sick — with my busy schedule, there’s just no allowance for it.” Okay, that’s helpful for the rest of us.

    Her skin care routine section begins “I get up around 4 o’clock to start my work for the day.” She insists she has never had plastic surgery but does devote some pages to peels, fillers, Botox, etc. And I’m not sure I totally believe her because didn’t she spend some time in the pokey for telling fibs? When I reached the sentence “I walk barefoot on gravel” I put the book down and went back to Ellen Wright’s cozy and not so rigid book of recipe recommendations.

    “What’s a Hostess To Do?” by Susan Spungen (Artisan, $17.95) is part of a series of books all titled “What’s a Fill-In-Blank-Here to Do?” It is a retro-looking book that offers “313 ideas and inspirations for effortless entertaining and 121 recipes for spectacular party food.” Ms. Spungen is an accomplished author, food stylist, and recipe developer.

    As far as I’m concerned, no matter how much you know about entertaining and cooking, there is always more to learn. This book is great because it will help you with those pesky questions like “how much booze do I need to buy for my heavily Irish guest list?” There are suggestions for play lists, tabletop decor, and what kind of equipment you should have in your kitchen.

    One of my favorite intermittent features throughout the book is “What’s Wrong With This Menu?” Some of them sounded pretty awesome to me, but Ms. Spungen helpfully points out the flaws and offers alternative menus. One might have too much last-minute prep, one is all fried food, another has sticky ribs and peel and eat shrimp on a cocktail buffet. Messy, messy. Some other worthwhile instructions are illustrated guides to roasting and braising, cooking fish en papillote, outdoor grilling, and using up leftovers. Who knew you could layer slices of lemon on the grill to keep fish from sticking and impart added flavor? There are “five dinner party standby menus” and “ten great assembled desserts,” and “how to choose one special cheese.” I learned a lot from this book and will consider it a valuable resource from now on.

Click for Recipes

    The Loaves and Fishes Cooking School’s summer series of professional culinary classes begins with a beginners’ session Monday through next Thursday at the Bridgehampton Inn. The classes will each include a lecture, demonstration, hands-on session, critique, and cleanup. Topics will include food handling, sanitation, and equipment, knife skills, stocks, soups, and sauces, roasting, poaching, and grilling, and desserts, including making cake batter, pie dough, biscuits, and muffins.

    The second, intermediate unit will take place July 22 to 25, and the advanced unit is scheduled from Aug. 26 to 29. Each four-day session costs $800, although a 10-percent discount will be offered to those registering for all three units.

    The sessions will be taught by Carolyn Giacalone, a Sag Harbor resident and private chef who has taught professional culinary arts programs at the Art Institute of New York City, Brooklyn Technical College, and elsewhere, along with Sybille Van Kempen and other Loaves and Fishes staff.

Margarita Madness

    Next Thursday will bring the first Margarita Madness evening at 360 East restaurant at Montauk Downs golf course in Montauk. Beginning at 6 p.m., specialty margaritas will be offered for $5, and models will be on hand to serve $3 bottles of Heineken and Heineken Light poolside from 7 to 9 p.m. The Soul Junkies will perform music.

Juices and Smoothies

    A fruit juice and smoothie bar at Fresh in Bridgehampton allows patrons to choose from signature combinations or “build” their own drinks. Selections include the Green Machine, with almond milk, banana, hemp protein, powdered greens, kale fiber, and agave, and, for children, the Loli-pop, a mix of cucumber, carrot, strawberry, and other juices.

Midsummer Celebration

    The Living Room restaurant in East Hampton will host a traditional Swedish midsummer lunch tomorrow from noon to 3 p.m. For $30, it will include authentic Swedish fare such as gravlax, herring, cheese, and strawberries.

Homegrown Cookbook

    A book signing and tasting of dishes from “The Hamptons and Long Island Homegrown Cookbook,” by Leanna Lavin and featuring Anna Pump of Loaves and Fishes, will take place at the Loaves and Fishes Cookshop in Bridgehampton from 1 to 3 on Saturday afternoon.

Daily Seafood

    Inlet Seafood restaurant in Montauk, overlooking the mouth of Montauk Harbor, is now open seven days a week.