Those looking for a quick bite or a sweet treat now have a few more choices out east in Montauk, including two offering Mexican favorites. 

    Since Nicole and Matthew Meehan opened Gringo’s Burrito Grill earlier this spring, there’s been a steady stream of customers walking in and out, fat burritos and plates of tacos in hand. Both have worked in other food-related businesses, but always wanted to own a place of their own and thought Montauk could use a build-your-own burrito, taco, salad, and burrito bowl spot.

    Gringo’s is on the east end of Montauk’s Main Street in the barnlike building that housed an ice cream shop last summer. A counter protected by Plexiglas has all the fixings — sliced chicken, pork, shredded cheeses, steak, and house-made salsas. The vegetarian options are endless. “You see it and you build it,” said Ms. Meehan.

    There are tables and chairs in an upstairs loft area and on a patio out back, and there’s a kids menu. The grill is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

    A little farther west on the plaza in the center of the hamlet is La Brisa, a Mexican restaurant operated by a New York City team that also runs the Mexican eatery Tacombi at Fonda Nolita on Elizabeth Street as well as a fleet of food vans and carts. The Montauk restaurant, in the curved space that was La Bodega last year, is owned by Jack Luber, Dieter Wiechmann, and Dario Wolos, who is from Mexico.

    The space is filled with white picnic tables meant to encourage family style dining, said Mr. Wolos, the group’s spokesperson. The kitchen has been opened up so diners can watch their meals being made. La Brisa makes a variety of salsas, including dried chili de arbol salsa and a chipotle hibiscus flower salsa that will be sold commercially.

    In the center of the kitchen is a tortilla-making machine that is a sort-of throwback to Mr. Wolos’s roots in the food business. Growing up in Mexico, Mr. Wolos ate many a tortilla, most made by his mother. Later, he bought a Volkswagen van and sold his own homemade tortillas out of the open roof, and eventually he brought that van to the United States and put it in the middle of Tacombi, encouraged in the venture by a Montauker who wintered in Mexico.

    Mr. Wolos said he’d like to reach the point where he can supply tortillas to other eateries. Real Mexican tacos, he said, are very different from what Americans may be used to eating. At his restaurants “we try to stay true to the food and make everything from scratch.”

    He and his partners have already formed a business alliance with Gosman’s Fish Market and are using fish straight off local boats for their fish dishes that include seared Veracruzana fish, crispy fish, and, of course, fish tacos. “What’s cool is we are getting awesome fish out here,” Mr. Wolos said.

    Also on the menu is a Mexican mescal, which, according to tradition, should be downed before a meal, Mr. Wolos said, then sipped to signify the meal’s end. Although there are other drinks like beer and sangria on the menu, the bar itself is gone.

    Add these new spots to the dockside restaurant the Hideaway and the takeout joint El Vaquero downtown, and those with a taste for Mexican cuisine have plenty of choices in Montauk this summer.

    Down by the harbor in Montauk, Jason Ulmas has opened Lucky J’s in the small dockside food joint that for many years was Pier One. Now brightly painted with bistro tables inside, the menu is varied but includes a number of Southern dishes like chicken and waffles, collard greens, fried pickle chips, fried green tomatoes, and a Grandma Andy, which is — are you ready for this — Nutella, peanut butter, honey, and bananas. Yum.

    Mr. Ulmas, the executive chef at two restaurants in Texas, originally planned to open a food truck in Montauk, but found that was not as easy as he thought it would be, so he leased the small restaurant instead.

    Also new in Montauk this season is Buddha Berry on South Euclid Avenue, owned by Nancy Passaretti, who said she traveled the country to find the healthiest frozen yogurts available. There are 12 self-serve yogurts that change daily, acai bowls, smoothies, Greek yogurt with no sugar or fat, sorbets, frozen treats, and 60 toppings that patrons select from large jars propped on a wall, some healthy like granola and others not so healthy but oh so good.

    Each day Buddha Berry will offer three sandwiches, a healthy wrap, and a chopped salad.

    The yogurt shop has been painted a smooth orange color and has mosaic-tiled bistro tables and chairs. A yogi, Ms. Passaretti focuses on what’s good for you. “I’ve found that all yogurts are not the same,” she said, and stressed that everything she offers is fresh. “Every berry in this place is treated like a baby,” she said. “You’ll never find a piece of wilted fruit here.”

New Zealand Wine Tasting

    Wines from Stonecrop, a 20-acre vineyard in Martinborough, New Zealand, that is owned by Andrew Harris and Sally Richardson of Montauk, will be featured at a tasting at Domaine Franey Wines and Spirits on Montauk Highway in East Hampton on Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m. The couple will be on hand to pour samples of the Stonecrop sauvignon blanc and pinot noir. The vineyard’s wines have received international accolades, including a recent New York Times rating of the Stonecrop pinot noir as New Zealand’s number-two pinot noir.

Summer Happy Hour

    Those who belly up to the bar at Townline BBQ in Sagaponack for a Monday-through-Friday, 4 to 7 p.m. happy hour can order discounted bar snacks from 4 to 6, including chili cheese nachos for $3 (or an extra-large order for $10), warm pretzels with mustard for $3, hush puppies with chipotle mayonnaise for $2.50, and a dozen wings, with a choice of sauces, for $6. The weekday happy hour also brings free pool, beer and wine specials, and a selection of mixed drinks, including fresh lime margaritas, at half price.

Brunch at Fresh

    Brunch at Fresh, the new restaurant in Bridgehampton in the Southfork Kitchen’s old space on the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, is served on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and includes eggs Benedict, cornflake-crusted challah French toast, and omelettes with local organic spinach and other fixings, as well as fresh orange, carrot, and apple juices. Selections from the lunch menu may be ordered as well. The restaurant’s Web site is freshhamptons.com.

Old Stove Pub

    The Old Stove Pub in Sagaponack is open seven days a week, and serves lunch on Saturday and Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. On Sunday through Thursday, a four-course prix fixe is offered for $29. On Fridays and Saturdays, a piano player performs.

Fresh Mozzarella in Montauk

    Fresh mozzarella, made daily by Jeanine Alfano-Burge of Silver Spoon Specialties catering, is available on Thursday through Sunday at Sausages Pizza in Montauk. It will be sold by the pound, along with Sicilian pesto and stuffed garlic knots. Silver Spoon Specialties, a mobile catering service, has also added a second food truck to its fleet of mobile catering vehicles.

Summer Culinary Classes

    The Loaves and Fishes Cooking School in Bridgehampton will offer a series of four-day classes this summer designed to provide students with a broad range of professional cooking and baking skills. A beginner class will take place on June 24 through 27. It will be followed by an intermediate class on July 22 to 25, and an advanced class on Aug. 26 to 29.

    Carolyn Giacalone, the teacher, graduated from the New York Restaurant School and apprenticed at two locations in France. She has also worked at Manhattan restaurants such as the River Cafe, Restaurant Mondrian, and the Peninsula Hotel, and has taught in the culinary arts programs at the French Culinary Institute, the Art Institute of New York City, Brooklyn Technical College, and Suffolk Community College. In 1996, she opened Fina, a retail cafe and wholesale bakery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Now a Sag Harbor resident, she works as a private chef and teaches a variety of classes for the Loaves and Fishes school.

    The beginning class will address knife skills, food handling, and sanitation; making stocks and sauces; roasting, poaching, and grilling, and dessert making. Each of the four-day classes will cost $800, though a 10-percent discount will be offered to those who register for all three of the monthly sessions.

    On Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m., Loaves and Fishes will also present a Country Weekend Entertaining class with Anna Pump. The menu will include fresh pea soup, grilled swordfish with tomato-basil relish and lemon rice with pine nuts, and rhubarb-blackberry crisp with coconut ice cream. The cost is $165.

   A new chef group at Ruschmeyer’s in Montauk is gearing up for a two-year collaboration with a goal of using as much as possible “from right here in our backyard,” said Matt Kliegman, part of the team from the Smile in Manhattan that King and Grove Hotels has hired to operate the restaurant along with the executive chef, Brian Loiacono.

    “Soft-shell crabs are on the menu now, for about another two weeks,” Mr. Kliegman said Sunday. The chefs also source tilefish and swordfish from the docks in Montauk, working closely with Asa Gosman, who was at the restaurant that day. Ruschmeyer’s is getting produce from Balsam Farms in Amagansett.

    Joining Mr. Kliegman from the Smile are Carlos Quirarte and Melia Marden, a young chef who he said has a prodigy-like talent for executing good food in a high-volume environment.

    Proudly showing off items from the Ruschmeyer’s menu, Mr. Kliegman explained how the fluke escabeche, on seven-grain bread from Blue Duck bakery, is topped with lettuce, making it a nice neat way to eat the sumptuous finger food.

    The yellowfin tuna poke is one of Mr. Quirarte’s favorites. He gave props to Mr. Loiacono for the perfect blend of sesame, soy, coriander, and seaweed. Mr. Kliegman said that Mr. Loiacono grew up fishing on frequent camping trips to Hither Hills. “He gets it when it comes to the East End,” he said, adding that the chef has recently returned from Verona, Italy, with new ideas for delicious wood-fired pizzas, including one with white clams, chili, parsley, mascarpone and Parmesan cheeses, and fresh herbs.

    Almost all of the beers on tap are from Long Island, including one from the Montauk Brewery, and the wine list includes many biodynamic, sustainable, and organic wines. Colin Asare-Appiah, the mixologist in residence, created the cocktail menu and said Sunday that he will be adding more and more ingredients from the kitchen to this season’s signature cocktail, the Moscato Crush, among them juicy rhubarb, ginger, and lemongrass. He’ll also be making his own bitters.

    The restaurant welcomes families with open arms, and on Sunday there was a picnic table full of kids, with mocktails, pizza, and minted sugar snap peas. The hotel will offer a number of family-oriented evenings this summer including movie nights and comedy nights, with soy crayons for coloring. Reggae music will be on tap every Sunday afternoon.

    The restaurant’s management is also big on charitable ventures. On Sunday, Mike D from the Beastie Boys was there with his Rockaway Lunch Truck, which he runs in partnership with Robert McKinley, the restaurant’s creative director. Its mission is to “fill plates and build spirits” for residents of Rockaways neighborhoods devastated by Hurricane Sandy. Waves for Water, a nonprofit that works to get clean water to communities without it, served as the umbrella organization for the benefit, but proceeds supported the truck and its work.

    The afternoon included a dunk tank, into which Mike D was willing to take a splash for his charity. The lunch truck, staffed with many top chefs and volunteers, began as a group effort to offer a depressed community hope through the warm gesture of a hot meal.

    Even so many months after Hurricane Sandy, “Warm food is still necessary,” Mike D said.

    “Chefs come to us,” said Sam Talbot, formerly of the Surf Lodge, who is involved in the effort. The benefit also brought D.J. Stretch Armstrong, who volunteered to spin for the crowd and for Mike D, who took the microphone for a half-hour set.

    Sweet and savory Beurre & Sel cookies will be sold this summer at Lucy’s Whey cheese shop in East Hampton. The cookies were created by Dorie Greenspan, a four-time James Beard Award-winner, cookbook author, and blogger. On weekends in July and August, her son and business partner, Josh Greenspan, will be at the store to sell the cookies and talk about their story.

Chicken and Waffles

    A new, 24-hour eatery on West Lake Drive in Montauk began as an Austin, Texas, food truck. Lucky J’s Chicken and Waffles features boneless chicken and waffle “tacos,” billed a “a great handheld meal.” The restaurant opened last weekend and will serve seven days a week.

La Brisa

    La Brisa, a Montauk branch of a New York City eatery, has opened in the space on Main Street that housed La Bodega last year. It will serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, featuring tacos made with an in-house tortilla machine, ceviche, fresh Mexican-style juices, and more. Dinner service will extend until 1 a.m. on weekends and until 11 p.m. during the week.

Soft Serve Fruit

    Chloe’s Soft Serve Fruit Co. is offering its products at the Hampton Coffee Company in Water Mill and at the Golden Pear stores. The frozen soft-serve and ice pops are made with just three ingredients: fruit, water, and organic cane sugar. A full selection, including soft-serve fruit, will be offered at the Sag Harbor Golden Pear, while the other Golden Pear locations, in Southampton, Bridgehampton, and East Hampton, will sell items from the freezer. Varieties will rotate seasonally and include flavors such as mango, banana, raspberry, blueberry, pear, apple, pumpkin, blood orange, tangerine, and dark chocolate.

Happy Hour at Georgica

    At Georgica restaurant in Wainscott, a Friday happy hour from 6 to 9 p.m. brings $1 clams and oysters, $2 shrimp, and $5 drinks, along with an offer of a three-course prix fixe for $29, and half-price bottles of wine. Live acoustic music will be played.

Lunch at Fresh

    Fresh, the new restaurant on the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike, is now serving lunch on Monday through Saturday. The menu includes choices for vegetarians as well as those following a gluten-free diet, and a full selection of juices and smoothies made primarily with organic ingredients. Among the choices are create-your-own tossed salads, to which tofu, chicken, and salmon may be added, as well as wraps, burgers, and sandwiches.

Home Canning

    The Friends of the Montauk Library will present a home canning seminar at the library on Saturday at 1 p.m. Mark Vosburgh, who gained certification as a “master food preserver” from Cornell Cooperative Extension, will discuss safe food handling, food preparation, and water bath and pressure-canning methods.

The Cuddy

    The Cuddy, which is also new this year and in the space on Sag Harbor’s Main Street formerly occupied by Phao, is now open daily, with a brunch offered on Thursday through Sunday beginning at 10:30 a.m. According to the restaurant, “afternoon delight” service hours are from 3 to 5 p.m. on Thursday through Sunday, while dinner is served seven days a week beginning at 5 p.m.

Seafood to Boats

    The Seafood Shop in Wainscott, which offers catering as well as fresh seafood caught by East End fishermen, before it is shipped off to the New York City fish market, is now offering delivery to vessels docked in East Hampton harbors. The Seafood Shop also offers prepared clambake dinners for $45 a person.

I look forward to Memorial Day weekend the way I look forward to getting a tooth pulled. It’s going to be exceptionally unpleasant and bloody, but after it’s over I can knock myself out with painkillers and booze.

This will be my third summer as a waitress in the Hamptons. I imagine the annual migration east to be like the Biblical exodus, but instead of donkeys pulling carts and shoeless people in rags carrying bundles of household items toward freedom, there is a line of Range Rovers and Porsches snaking from Manhattan to Montauk conveying women in Louboutins with big-eyed Chihuahuas shivering on their laps, men wearing button-down Ralph Lauren shirts, collars popped, yelling into their wireless mobile devices, and children with their gummy faces glued to the screen of an iPad.

They are driving toward this Promised Land filled with the milk of designer shopping, the honey of expensive dining, parties, beaches, and multimillion-dollar houses with pools glittering like jewels in the sunlight.

And then there’s us. We’re swamped every night, Thursday through Monday. Hour-long waits for a table. Three-hundred plus covers. Everyone in a rush to make the 7 p.m. showing of whatever superhero blockbuster is in theaters. The children scream, and the parents demand, “Little Johnny is hungry. Can you ask the kitchen to send his food out, like, now?”

Here’s how it starts: A woman waves me over. “Where is our dinner? I’m starving.”

“I apologize for the delay,” I say. “A well-done filet mignon usually takes at least 20 minutes, possibly more when we’re this busy. It shouldn’t be much longer.”

“It’s been over half an hour!” the woman protests. There’s a little spit in the corners of her mouth, and her bright pink lipstick has begun to run and smear. Her husband is staring at his phone, oblivious.

I debate with myself: Should I explain to her that from when I took her drink order, then went to the bar and waited for the drinks to be made, delivered the drinks to the table and then stood and waited some more because she insisted she was ready to order food but instead argued with her husband about whether or not they should share a salad and which salad it should be and how she should get her filet cooked — it has been 30 minutes, but it’s only been 20 minutes since I put in their order, and 20 minutes is a perfectly reasonable amount of time to wait for a main course at a busy restaurant on a Saturday night. I sigh. It isn’t worth it to argue.

“I’ll go and talk to the kitchen and make sure you get your food as soon as possible. I’ll be back with an update. Would you like some more bread while you wait?” The woman waves her hand at me dismissively. I notice her rings. Her husband continues to be lost in the glowing screen of his phone.

And that’s how it will go. Your world narrows to the 10 tables in your section. People need more bread, more water, more coffee, mustard, mayonnaise, relish, cocktail sauce, another soda, another napkin, another fork. It seems like the water pitcher is never there when you need it. It seems like the coffee’s always just run out. It seems like every guest is gluten-free, or cannot have dairy, or has a peanut or onion or shallot or garlic or pepper or citrus or legume allergy.

The hostess is seating you with four tables at once. Every single person at your seven-top would like hot tea. You drop a glass of water. You drop a knife. You almost trip going into the kitchen. A guest lifts a drink off your perfectly balanced tray and the entire thing nearly tips over.

Another guest is unhappy with his beer. He doesn’t like it. He wants something else.

Everyone wants something else, something more.

Your entire section is utterly helpless. Their hands wave in distress, but you are unable to fill the void inside them — that black hole that is never satisfied. So you shove food at them and hope they’ll settle down.

I care about my tables. I do everything I can to ensure they have a relaxing, pleasurable dinner, lunch, or whatever. But in the summer when the clientele skews a bit more “Mommie Dearest” than “Pollyanna,” I sometimes wish I could remind them that it’s just food.

This is the Hamptons — there is an abundance of everything except self-awareness — and I want to tell them all that they will get their $50 filet mignon, though it might take a few minutes longer than they think it should.

I work as a waitress because the guests are crazy and interesting, because I’m able to pay off the debt my liberal arts degree cost me. And at the end of the night I get my shift drink, count the money, and go home with a few good stories and, if all goes well, a stack of cash.

—

Rebecca deWinter (not her real name) works in a restaurant somewhere between the Shinnecock Canal and Montauk Point. This is her first column for The East Hampton Star.

    Ruschmeyer’s in Montauk opened yesterday. The restaurant will be a collaboration this year between the executive chef, Brian Loiacono, and a team from The Smile restaurant in Manhattan, including Matt Kliegman, Carlos Quirarte, and Melia Marden.

    A new menu emphasizing fresh Montauk seafood and local produce includes a selection of organic wines made of grapes grown using sustainable and biodynamic methods, as well as a new list of signature cocktails. Service will be provided in the main dining room as well as in a breakfast nook. 

Madison & Main

    At Madison & Main, a new restaurant on Sag Harbor’s Main Street, lunch is served daily beginning at 11:30 a.m. A $10 kids’ menu includes a choice of chicken fingers, pasta, or a burger, served along with a drink, side dish, and “Cookie Monster” dessert. Madison & Main hosts a happy hour from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, featuring drinks — cabernet, pinot grigio, draft beer, or watermelon martinis — for $5, as well as $5 appetizers: stuffed meatballs, wild mushroom flatbread, calamari, or stuffed clams.

Farmstand Delivery

    The Good Farm Delivery, a new business, is offering weekly delivery of items chosen online from a list of those produced and offered at local farmstands to customers who sign up for the service.

    The a la carte list will be updated each week to include seasonal offerings from a host of food producers, including Balsam Farms in Amagansett, Pike Farm in Sagaponack, the Milk Pail in Water Mill, Golden Earthworm Farm in Jamesport, and Good Water Farms in East Hampton, which produces microgreens. Also available will be items from the Blue Duck Bakery in Southold, ice cream from Joe & Liza’s in Sag Harbor, teas from the Montauk Beverage Works, eggs from East Hampton’s Iacono Farm, and artisanal soap from the Southampton Soap Company.

    Customers may order weekly or monthly, with delivery service being offered to Sag Harbor, Bridgehampton, and Sagaponack on Friday afternoons and evenings. The company expects to expand delivery into East Hampton and Southampton during the summer.

    The Good Farm Delivery was founded by Megan Schmidt, a Sag Harbor resident who is a member of Slow Food East End and Edible School Gardens, and a leader of Peconic Harvest, a volunteer food-awareness group.

Hampton Market Place

    Anthony Digiantomasso is the new chef making prepared foods for sale at the Hampton Market Place in East Hampton. His background includes cooking at Felice’s restaurant in Amagansett as well as at Blackwell’s in Wading River.

Sardinian Cuisine

    A culinary class “tour” of Italy at the Loaves and Fishes Cooking School in Bridgehampton concludes on Saturday with a focus on the foods of Sardinia.

    From 6 to 9 p.m., students will learn to prepare a salad with arugula, artichoke, and bottarga, a Mediterranean caviar, along with a Sardinian paella, and almond and orange custard with chocolate biscotti. The cost is $165.

    Spring is here and with it comes one of the best vegetables, asparagus. Available at farmers markets, local asparagus can be found in chopstick-thin stalks, Sharpie-pen fatties, and even some violet-tinged varieties. You can steam, boil, stir-fry, roast, grill, microwave, and pickle asparagus. Serve it hot, at room temperature, or cold. Puree it into soups. Save some tips for risottos. You can even shave it raw into salads.

    Asparagus is a bit tricky and time-consuming to grow, hence the often-hefty price tag. The plant requires three to four seasons of growing before the first stalks can be harvested. It also has a short lifespan, requires careful tending, and must be harvested by hand.

    The French are quite fond of white asparagus, which has been shielded from the sun, preventing photosynthesis. Some believe this version of asparagus (raised like veal, as far as I’m concerned) is sweeter and more delicate than the green. I find it blander, a bit tougher, quite boring. But it makes a fine vehicle for transporting hollandaise sauce into your mouth.

    Asparagus officinalis is a member of the lily family and distantly related to onions and other alliums. The name “asparagus” was used in classical Greece and Rome and can be traced back to the Persian work “asparag” meaning a sprout. “Sperage” was used in the 16th and 17th centuries, then “sparagus” and the adorable “sparrow grass.” The early Greeks did not cultivate asparagus but the Romans grew it in their gardens for culinary and medicinal uses. After the fall of the Roman Empire, asparagus cultivation continued in Syria, Egypt, and Spain. Asparagus arrived in France around 1469 and in England by 1538. China is now the largest producer, followed by Peru and Germany. In the U.S. most asparagus is grown in California, Michigan, and Washington.

    Because freshly harvested asparagus is very juicy and noticeably sweet, it is important to consume it shortly after picking or buying, just like corn. Once picked, the still actively growing shoot starts to consume its own sugars, faster than any other vegetables and mostly within the first 24 hours. A good storage solution is to trim the woody ends and store the stalks upright in a jar with a few inches of slightly sweetened water. Place a plastic bag over the tips, and try to enjoy your asparagus within two days. When purchasing, look for tight tips with no additional sproutage. They should also be snappy and firm, not soft and limp. Check the ends, they shouldn’t look too woody and dry. The thicker stalks can be shaved with a vegetable peeler so you can use more of them.

    And what, I know you are wondering, causes your pee-pee to smell after consuming asparagus? This is a sulfur-containing substance, asparagusic acid, a close relative of skunk spray called methanethiol. This passes through your bloodstream so quickly it can be detected within 15 to 20 minutes after consumption. But don’t ever let this odd little side effect deter you from enjoying asparagus. It is full of folate, potassium, antioxidants, vitamin C, and fiber. Some believe it helps dissolve uric acid deposits and ease hypertension. South Korean scientists recently did a study and now they believe it helps cure hangovers. But if you ask me, they should be more concerned with that fat little sprout to the north, Kim Jong Un.

    Another question that pops up when discussing asparagus is what kinds of wine go with it. Some say a simple sauvignon blanc or gruner veltliner. Asparagus, like artichokes, can have a strange flavor when consumed with the wrong beverage.

    My favorite way of preparing asparagus is roasting it tossed with olive oil in a hot oven, 450 degrees, for about 5 to 15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the stalks. I then sprinkle on a bit of lemon juice or a few shavings of Parmesan cheese, followed by lots of chopped chives, salt, and pepper. It’s also excellent grilled on the barbecue. When I serve it with a vinaigrette, I use a mild sherry or champagne vinegar, shallots, and good olive oil. Other ingredients and flavors that are wonderful with asparagus are anchovies, orange zest, pesto, Hollandaise, mornay sauce, mustard, salmon, and bacon.

    Get this spring delicacy now while you can and try to find it at the farmers markets. It should be available through June.

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   I was recently fortunate enough to spend some time at a health-concscious resort called Miraval. Miraval’s motto is “Life in Balance.” It is set on 400 acres next to the Santa Catalina Mountains outside of Tucson, Ariz. And it serves booze!

    Miraval has been around for almost 20 years. Oprah likes to come here, so now it is super famous for that. Dr. Andrew Weil has been a part of its integrative wellness program from the beginning. He is so adorable, looks like a Zen Santa. Besides having every kind of exercise from beginner’s yoga (an expensive nap) to the challenging all-day hikes up the mountain, it has lots and lots of woo-woo stuff like spirit journey and astrology readings and a “discover your soul mission.” I go for the food. It is delicious and it is free, or perhaps I should say included in the entire package.

    One of the things I loved about this place is that a lot of the guests, men and women alike, just wander around in their bathrobes. They are on their way to or from a spa treatment, so why bother with clothes? There is also a welcome and refreshing no-cellphone policy, which is constantly ignored by the more type-A types who simply cannot bear to be disconnected from their little rectangles of aluminum. I like to be the cellphone tattletale in places like this. No one needs to hear you yammering on your phone while they’re trying to enjoy the view of desert flora and fauna, hummingbirds, prickly pear cacti, and men naked under their robes.

    Maybe you’re jealous by now — “Wow, she’s so lucky she gets to go to this fancy resort” — and you would be right. But I earned it. In the year before this trip, my brothers and I sold our family home, an event as fraught with sibling nastiness as it should be in a family that usually puts the “fun” in dysFUNctional. I moved to Sag Harbor, and four months later my dog died suddenly and unexpectedly. Two weeks after that a moron fell asleep at the wheel on Route 114, plowed through a streetlamp, a tree, and then my house, destroying the porch and foundation. The moron was fine, by the way. Two months after that I tore a tendon in my hand, preventing me from working (as a chef) for a month. So I arrived at Miraval with a custom-made hand brace that makes it look like I am perpetually about to give you the finger.

    “Mindfulness is the core of the Miraval philosophy,” begins the mission statement. Mindfulness is the practice of “being awake and fully aware, giving you the opportunity to work toward greater self-understanding and peacefulness,” according to the Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Miraval is now owned by Steve Case, former C.E.O. of AOL, so its interpretation of mindfulness is just a smidge different, calling it “a vivid perception of one’s choices, strengths, and potential — empowering yourself and optimizing your energy.” The food was awesome, but I was mindful of the frightfully small portions.

    The breakfasts at Miraval had all the things you would expect at a health and wellness-oriented buffet. Fruit of all kinds, low-fat muffins, oatmeal, ground-up birdseed, I mean flax, yogurts, etc. But it also had bagels and lox, omelets, burritos, salsas, pancakes, homemade sausages, salmon patties, baked sweet potatoes, and so on. There was a smoothie and juice bar open all day in case you were compelled to drink something green between your desert zipline adventure and Unleash the Power of your Soul sessions.

    All of the food has a Southwestern flair, with such local delicacies as prickly pear syrup, nopales salads, and desert flower honeys. The calories and carbohydrates, sodium, and fat content of every dish are displayed with little signs or on the menus. Surprisingly, this bothered some people because they don’t want to be reminded (or mindful?) that they just opted for the bagel-palooza instead of three blackberries. I found the information helpful because a lot of people do come here to lose weight or have to watch their sodium intake. Sadly, the coffee served here was God-awful weak, but I concluded this was intentional. Don’t need people to be all Starbucked-up in this serene environment.

    Some of the more genius creations at Miraval are the peanut butter and guacamole. The peanut butter was thinned with cooked carrots, giving it a disconcerting orange hue but making it slightly sweet and far less fattening. The guacamole has all the fun stuff you expect — avocado, lime juice, jalapeno, red onion, cilantro — but is also made more virtuous with the addition of edamame and steamed broccoli. There are risottos and steaks and brownies and pizza and polenta and elk, all delicious but made less fattening and served in smaller portions.

    Miraval recognizes the advantage of sauces and aiolis and truffle oil and spices to perk up an otherwise dull dish. While tempeh scallopini doesn’t sound too exciting to me, doesn’t caramelized three-onion polenta lasagna with wilted baby arugula, goat cheese, and ratatouille sauce sound good? Blue corn crab cakes with avocado corn salsa? Pecan pie empanada?

    Although I am having a bit of fun describing the woo-woo activities and corporate interpretation of mindfulness, the fact is Miraval is a place where many people come while recovering from or dealing with cancer, coping with the death of a loved one, divorce, and other rotten life experiences. And once we’re all in our bathrobes and our “Crackberrys” have been stowed in our casitas, we are all equal on the journey to mindfulness.

    Places like Miraval are both an escape from everyday life and a place where you can learn how to better deal with everyday life. The trick is to take and keep the exercises you have learned and put them to use once you leave. For me, the ongoing quest is to make food healthier and tastier, learning tricks from these talented chefs and bringing them home to share with friends and family. Mindfulness. Life in balance. With a glass of wine.

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News for Foodies

    Fresh is the new restaurant this season in the spot on Bridgehampton Turnpike in Bridgehampton where South Fork Kitchen used to be. Todd Jacobs, who was the chef at Sag Harbor’s American Hotel before moving to Tierra Mar in Westhampton Beach, has opened a “farm-to-table” eatery billed as family-friendly as well as “affordable and accessible.” The menu includes organic, raw, gluten-free, and vegetarian options, with most dishes available in different-size portions, including, for entrees,  quarter-pound, half-pound, and one-pound servings.

    Among the “small plates” choices are a raw summer roll, fried calamari, and raw bar selections. Entrees include hemp-flour-crusted flounder with organic carrot butter infused with ginger and lemongrass, and braised boneless beef short ribs with Merlot wine sauce. A bar menu is served late, and there is a juice bar and a children’s menu. Take-out is available.

    Fresh is open for dinner Sunday through Thursday from 5 to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 5 to 11 p.m. Lunch will be served Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Barbecue in East Hampton

    The Smokin’ Wolf barbecue folks have a new location this year on Pantigo Road in East Hampton, at the store that formerly housed Pumpernickel’s deli and then Fish 27, just a bit west of where Smokin’ Wolf was found last year. There will be counter service for takeout meals at lunch and dinnertime seven days a week, and catering will be available.

At Almond

    Juan Carlos Landazuri is the new chef de cuisine at Almond in Bridgehampton, working alongside Jason Weiner, the restaurant’s co-owner and executive chef. Mr. Landazuri spent the last 10 years cooking at several New York City restaurants, including Opia French Bistro, Tao, Delicatessen, Tavern on the Green, Lugo Caffe, and Veritas Restaurant. Most recently he worked alongside the noted restaurateur Alison Price Becker at Alison Eighteen, and was invited to cook at the James Beard House.

Seasonal Openings

    In Montauk, Dave’s Grill will be opening for the season tonight, serving dinner from Thursdays through Sundays.

    OSO reopened on Saturday at the Southampton Inn and is serving breakfast, lunch, and supper from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. A new pastry chef at the restaurant this summer will prepare desserts as well as tea sandwiches, petit quiches, and Parisian-style pastries.

Farmers Markets

    The Sag Harbor Farmers Market will begin seasonal sales on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. from its location on Bay Street in that village.

    In East Hampton, the farmers market will have its opening day on North Main Street on Friday, May 24. Sales will continue weekly from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Summer Players

    BLT Steak will open a pop-up restaurant next Thursday at the Capri Hotel and Bathing Club in Southampton, where Nobu was the previous seasonal visitor. The newcomer will offer a traditional menu as well as poolside fare during the day on weekends and appetizers in the evening at the outdoor bar and lounge areas. Dinner hours until the July 4 weekend will be Wednesdays through Sundays beginning at 5:30 p.m., with service until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays.

    In East Hampton, Sienna Restaurant and Ultralounge will take the place of last year’s Beaumarchais on Three Mile Harbor Road. The spot will combine several concepts and offerings: “Sienna Restaurant by T-Bar,” based on Tony Fortuna’s T-Bar, which was previously housed at Savanna’s in Southampton, and a nightlife program, with DJs every Saturday, offered by Pink Elephant and its promoters, David Sarner and Robert Montwaid.

    The restaurant, a joint venture by Mr. Fortuna and Jonathan Rapillo, the restaurateur behind Beaumarchais and Rocco’s a la Playa, which was in Sag Harbor, will serve eclectic American fare from Wednesdays through Sundays as well as “festive brunch parties” on Saturdays and “a more serene brunch” on Sundays, according to a press release. Ben Zwicker is the executive chef.

Nick and Toni’s

136 North Main Street

East Hampton

324-3550

Friday and Saturday, 6-10:30 p.m.

Sunday, 5:30-9:30 p.m.

Monday and Thursday, 6-10 p.m.

   Nick and Toni’s Restaurant is like the ideal lover or spouse.  Of course you want one that supports you and comforts you and takes care of you, but if you can find one that constantly surprises you, that is ideal. There are no other restaurants on the East End that change their menus so frequently and creatively.  As they are in their 25th year of robust success (rare!) and have recently completed a renovation, we felt they warranted a second review.

    The changes to the interior are subtle. It is a sleeker but at the same time more comfortable space. There are beautiful grey-green-taupe banquettes, a higher ceiling, and super-cool bathrooms. (So cool, I might just order my zucchini chips to be delivered to the one behind the woodburning pizza oven.)

    The pretty bistro chairs are still in place, surrounding black walnut tables.  A temporary, but very attractive, oak bar is awaiting a zinc top. It still feels like a cozy farmhouse with lots of windows. (I can still feel Ma Bergmann’s.) An impressive collection of outsider artwork adorns the walls of all three dining rooms.

    Upon being seated you get a basket of delicious, chewy, rustic bread and some fruity Greek olive oil, along with a little dish of marinated black and green olives. If you ask for salt and pepper, they are offered in two small mounds on a slab of black slate with a sprig of rosemary dividing them. Simply charming.

    On a recent visit we began our meal with calamari salad, a pizzette, and a springtime special, a half order of sweet-pea ravioli. The grilled calamari salad was delicious, dressed in a slightly spicy, slightly sweet chili vinaigrette, tossed with frisee and a smattering of oil-cured olives. You don’t see oil-cured olives very often and they were a great addition. Their flavor is assertively salty, a tad bitter, and the texture nicely chewy with the crunchy frisee and tender calamari.

    The pizzette was a well charred thin-crust pizza with just enough tomato sauce, some slivers of artichoke, and fresh mozzarella. The sweet-pea ravioli was dreamy — tender pockets filled with pureed peas, served in a buttery mint and tarragon sauce. We also received an amuse-bouche of scallop ceviche, one spoonful each of silky scallops brought to life with a citrusy spicy dressing.

    For entrees we ordered roasted cod, the vegetarian option of spring fava and morel ragu with grilled sweet potato, and a special that evening, antelope. The cod was just right, well crusted and seasoned on the outside, cooked just enough on the inside. It was served on a bed of black barley that had delicious bits of something sweet and anise-like that I couldn’t identify because I forgot what the menu description was, duh. It was caramelized fennel. The dish was topped with bright pink julienned slivers of watermelon radish. The whole thing was pretty and delicious and seemed rich but wasn’t.

    The spring fava and morel ragu is insanely good and I have had it twice.  This time the fava beans were quite al dente. The sauce is rich from creme fraiche; it is a naughty and nice vegetarian choice.

    The antelope was also a big hit, beautifully presented with peas, fingerling potatoes, asparagus, and roasted red peppers in a sauce tasting subtly of smoked paprika. The antelope was served rare and was tender and full of flavor.

    On the night of our visit the staff was well aware that it was a review. We were barely hiding in plain sight. I had, coincidentally, dined there twice the week before, so I have to mention a few more dishes I tried.

    The arugula, kale, and grapefruit salad with avocado vinaigrette is excellent and the grilled sardines outstanding.  The Caesar salad, always on the menu, is a classic version, properly proportioned with lemon, anchovy, garlic, and cheese.  The zucchini chips are the best around, bar none, a pile of paper-thin discs of crispness without the weight of oil, served with wedges of lemon. Our waiter, Radu, was knowledgeable, professional, and very entertaining.

    The prices at Nick and Toni’s are moderate to expensive. The prix fixe is an incredible deal, as you can order anything on the menu and get three courses for $35. Appetizers are $13 to $18, pastas and risotto $22 to $28, entrees $28 to $46, sides $8 to $12, and desserts are $10 to $20, although you can get smaller portions for one for $6, two for $11, and three for $14.

    For desserts we ordered the rosemary cake, mascarpone panino, Limoncello tiramisu, and a quarter of their famous signature dessert, the tartufo. The rosemary cake was a dainty round of fragrant moist cake served with olive oil gelato and slices of blood orange. There was a hint of salt on the olive oil gelato.

    The mascarpone panino was our favorite, a gingery carrot cake topped with crunchy cashew brittle, with a baby scoop of mascarpone gelato. A toasted coconut tuile added some more glamour and crunch. The Limoncello tiramisu was a pretty, snow-white dessert, comprised of a layer of creamy sweet fiore de latte on top of moistened lady fingers. The sorbet served with it was tart and refreshing.

    The tartufo, when served whole, is huge, thus the $20 price tag. This is a dessert to be shared. It is a labor-intensive multi-layered concoction of caramel truffle, chocolate and hazelnut gelato, and almond biscotti crumbs, encased in a dark chocolate shell — basically, my favorite food groups.

    I have said this before but I’ll say it again. While Nick and Toni’s has a reputation as a celebrity clubhouse, I can assure you that the gracious and lovely ladies in charge, Bonnie and Kristen, will greet you as warmly as Alec and Hilaria. Joey Realmuto, the executive chef, continues to surprise  with creative and ever-changing, seriously seasonal dishes.

    William Hawkins, one of the outsider artists featured here, once said of his work, “You have to do something wonderful, so people know who you are.” Nick and Toni’s, you continue to consistently do wonderful things, and we are lucky to know who you are.