Salade Tourangelle

    This recipe from “The Taste of France” is more of a guideline, and does not give measurements. Each vegetable is prepared separately but served together on the same platter.

Asparagus tips, cooked and sprinkled with a vinaigrette made with walnut oil and white wine vinegar to which you have added salt and pepper, some finely chopped shallots and a little chopped parsley

Cooked artichoke hearts, with a stronger vinaigrette containing mustard, chopped fresh tarragon, chives, chervil, parsley, and salt and pepper

Cooked green beans, seasoned with same vinaigrette as asparagus

Sticks of celery, strings removed and served raw, sprinkled with lemon juice and salt

Raw button mushrooms, sliced finely and sprinkled with lemon juice, then dressed with heavy cream flavored with mustard, seasoned with salt and pepper, and sprinkled with chopped fresh chervil.

    Serve this salad with toast and fresh walnuts.

Gratin Dauphinois Madame Cartet

    This recipe is from Patricia Wells’s “Bistro Cookbook.”

    Serves four to six.

1 garlic clove

2 lbs. baking potatoes, such as russets, peeled and very thinly sliced.

1 cup (about 3 oz.) freshly grated French or Swiss Gruyere

1 cup creme fraiche or heavy cream

Salt

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rub a shallow six-cup porcelain gratin dish with the garlic. Layer half of the potatoes in the dish. Sprinkle with half the cheese and half of the creme fraiche. Sprinkle with salt. Add another layer, using the rest of ingredients. Bake uncovered, until gratin is crisp and gold on top, from 50 to 60 minutes. Serve immediately.

Pan-Fried Onion Dip

    This recipe is originated in Ina Garten’s “The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook.” I add one extra onion and reduce the fat by using Greek yogurt in place of sour cream, reducing the amount of butter and oil, and using a lighter mayonnaise. Serve this with really good potato chips and crudites.

    Makes two cups.

2 large yellow onions

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. kosher salt

1/2 tsp. ground black pepper

4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup good mayonnaise

    Cut the onions in half, then slice into eighth-inch half rounds. You will have about three cups onions.

    Heat butter and oil in large saute pan on medium heat. Add onions, cayenne, salt, and pepper and saute for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 more minutes, until onions are browned and caramelized. Allow to cool.

    Place cream cheese, sour cream, and mayonnaise in bowl of electric mixer fitted with a paddle and beat until smooth. Add onions and mix well. Taste for seasonings. Serve at room temperature.

    This week’s food news includes options for upcoming spring religious holidays.

    At Stuart’s Seafood market in Amagansett, Charlotte Sasso has her homemade gefilte fish and horseradish available. Other Passover specialties, which must be pre-ordered, include brisket, latkes, and kosher noodle kugel. Stuart’s is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., except on Tuesday.

    For those ready to make reservations for an Easter Sunday restaurant dinner, Cafe Max in East Hampton will be serving a three-course holiday meal for $30 beginning at 1 p.m. on March 31.

    At the Gulf Coast Kitchen in Montauk, an Easter buffet from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. will include a carving station with roast turkey, prime rib, and smoked ham, and stations serving pasta and omelets, as well as a raw bar. Also available will be steamed mussels, pan-seared wild salmon, antipasto, macaroni and cheese, and side dishes, as well as dessert. The cost is $39 per person, or $17.95 for kids ages 4 to 12. Those younger may eat for free.

Recipe Sharing

    Hilary Herrick Woodward, a yoga teacher and lifelong Southampton resident, will offer samples of vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes at a Memorable Meals program at the Rogers Memorial Library on Wednesday at noon. Reservations must be made by Sunday by calling the library, or going to myrml.org.

Dinner and Movie

    Also in Southampton, the Plaza Cafe is offering a dinner-and-a-movie special on Sundays through Fridays from 5 to 10 p.m., and on Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m. The $39.50 special includes a three-course prix fixe meal and a ticket to the Southampton Cinema, which can be used for any show. Tax and gratuity are extra. Among the menu items are Long Island seafood chowder and entrees such as horseradish-crusted cod, sliced flatiron steak, and lemon-herb marinated chicken.

Out on Weeknights

    At little/red in Southampton, weeknights bring specials for $22.95 beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Mondays through Thursdays. In addition, each night a la carte menu items will be offered at a discount price. The lineup includes fish and chips on Monday, rigatoni with sausage on Tuesday, moules frites on Wednesday, and hanger steak on Thursday.

Stomachs, Ready . . .

    Eaters, on your mark. Hamptons Restaurant Week begins on April 7. For a week, numerous East End restaurants will offer $19.95 and $27.95 prix fixes and specials on wine, while lodgings will offer visitors discounted rates. At certain locations, a portion of the proceeds from dinners will be donated to two local nonprofit groups, Project MOST, which offers after-school programs to kids at Springs School and the John M. Marshall Elementary School in East Hampton, and the Edible School Gardens program.

    The event is sponsored by East Hampton’s own WordHampton Public Relations. Businesses may sign up to participate, and additional information can be found at hamptons­restaurant­week.com.

 18 Bay

23 North Ferry Road

Shelter Island

749-0053

Dinner Thursday through Saturday

Brunch and early dinners Sundays

beginning April 7

   Eighteen Bay on Shelter Island is the kind of restaurant you see all over Europe but seldom in America. In tiny villages throughout France and Italy you can find little bistros and trattorias serving one menu offering whatever is seasonal and whatever the chefs found at the market that day.

    It’s the same at 18 Bay, which offers one four-course menu but happily accommodates vegetarian and vegan guests with alternative choices on that set menu. Located on North Ferry Road, 18 Bay is in a lovely restored farmhouse with big windows and a covered porch. There is a wood-burning stove at the entrance, a bar in the middle, and about 12 tables all around. It is a quiet and pretty place with shiny dark mahogany-colored floors and creamy buttery yellow walls.

    Upon arrival we decided to try a few of the specialty cocktails at the bar. The cucumber gimlet, no more than Hendrick’s gin, cucumber puree, and lime juice was light, not too sweet, and a relative bargain at $12. When we moved to our table we were served some delicious warm and crusty wheat bread with a cauliflower puree that had a hint of truffle oil in it. I decided to go for the regular set menu and my guest went for the vegan option. The first course was an antipasti platter with four mini portions nestled into four dents of a square plate. The regular menu offered handmade pizzette with mozzarella and roasted tomatoes, baby kale, blood orange, and duck confit salad, roasted beets, and baked Peconic Bay scallops. Each was utterly delicious.

    The pizzette had a chewy, slightly sweet and salty crust and the roasted tomatoes were very flavorful. The baby kale with blood oranges and duck confit was also absolutely divine. The baby kale was remarkably tender and the citrus tang of the blood oranges complimented the richness of the duck. The roasted beet salad included a few pretty and tender stems, a few leaves, and was surrounded by a wonderful pistachio pesto. The Peconic Bay scallop dish was two large scallops nestled in their shells topped with plenty of buttery breadcrumbs. The presentation of these four antipasti was beautiful. The vegan substitutions for this first course were an olive tapenade on the pizzette instead of mozzarella, and grilled fennel as a substitute for the scallops.

    The next course for me was risotto Milanese, the vegan version prepared with Swiss chard. Both were excellent, although I much preferred my more intensely flavored, ultra-cheesy, cooked ­al dente­ Arborio rice treat.

    For entrees there were two choices on the regular menu, either lamb or monkfish osso bucco. I chose the lamb which, again, was excellent. While the serving portions before were somewhat dainty, this was a good-size piece of lamb with a nice bone with marrow. It had an excellent sauce, a light jus, and had a few little potatoes and artichoke heart quarters scattered on top. The gremolata topping didn’t seem to be garlicky, it was a more subtle sprinkling of lots of flat leaf parsley and slivers of blanched lemon peel. The vegan option was a Napa cabbage caponata stuffed Japanese eggplant with maitake mushrooms. It was well seasoned and . . . virtuous.

    The service on the night of our visit was excellent. Everyone is very low key, mellow, soft-spoken, kind. Even the Cure playing through the speakers sounded uncharacteristically mellow. As this is the kind of cozy spot where people chat with each other, we struck up conversations with people at the tables nearby. One couple, local vegetarians, said they come to 18 Bay often. On the other side of us were two hipsters on a date all the way from Brooklyn.

     There is one price at 18 Bay, $55 for the four-course meal. This is a bit steep but the quality of the food justifies it. However, I would feel more comfortable if the vegan and vegetarian offerings were perhaps less. Duck confit, scallops, and lamb shanks are a lot more expensive than cabbage, eggplant, and Swiss chard. Give the vegans a break!

    For dessert there is one choice, a vegan chocolate cupcake served with whipped cream and strawberries or whipped tofu. It is a beautiful little cake with a glistening top of wonderful dark ganache. The cake is very sweet and moist, the whipped cream barely sweetened, just right. I can’t really get my head around whipped tofu, it’s okay.

    The chef-owners, Adam Kopels and Elizabeth Ronzetti, moved 18 Bay from Bayville to Shelter Island in 2011. They are truly dedicated to using local ingredients whenever possible. I loved 18 Bay and can’t wait to see what creativity pops up on the menu as the seasons progress. Bayville’s loss is most assuredly Shelter Island’s gain.

Sweet and Spicy Salmon

    You can toss together just about any combination of sweet chili sauce, garlic, and ginger and throw it on some salmon before grilling, baking, or broiling and it will be good. Serve with brown rice and a salad topped with nuts and dried cranberries.

    Serves four.

11/2 lbs. salmon, cut into 4 servings

1/2 cup sweet chili sauce

1 Tbsp. hot chili sauce, any kind will do

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp. chopped garlic

2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger

    Combine chili sauces with oil, garlic, and ginger, and set aside.

    Preheat oven to 425.

    Let salmon sit out of refrigerator for about 15 minutes before cooking.

    Grease a small casserole or gratin dish with a little bit of olive oil. Lay salmon pieces in dish, then slather with the chili sauce. Bake for about 10 minutes per inch if you like it medium to well done. I prefer a bit of pink in the center so I cook a two-inch thick piece of salmon for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Spinach Stuffed Shells With Tomato Concasse

    This recipe is easy, but requires a little bit of finesse, filling the pasta shells.

    Serves four.

Filling:

2 slices bread

4 large cloves garlic

1 10-oz. package frozen leaf spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1/4 cup pine nuts

6 large green onions, trimmed and coarsely chopped

1 tsp. balsamic or red wine vinegar

1/4 tsp. salt

Pepper to taste

Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

6 oz. fontina cheese, chilled

12 large pasta shells, whole wheat if you can find them, freshly cooked

Tomato concasse:

1 lb. cherry tomatoes

4 Tbsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped

1/2 tsp. sugar

1/4 tsp. salt

For filling:

    Break bread into pieces, then process in food processor until fine crumbs. Set aside. Add garlic and process until garlic is minced.

    Heat olive oil in heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add pine nuts and cook until golden. Drain and set aside. Next add garlic and green onions, reduce heat and cook until soft, about five minutes. Add spinach, vinegar, quarter teaspoon salt, pepper, and nutmeg and cook until hot, about two minutes. Remove from heat.

    Shred fontina cheese, then add this to spinach mixture along with pine nuts and bread crumbs. Season to taste with salt. Fill each shell with spinach mixture, be careful, you may tear a few.

    For tomato concasse, cut cherry tomatoes in halves or quarters, depending on size. Toss with two tablespoons olive oil, sugar, salt, and basil. Spread this in a nine-inch square glass baking dish.

    Preheat oven to 350. Layer shells over tomato concasse. Brush remaining olive oil over shells. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and baste with the tomato mixture. Bake another 10 minutes. Serve hot.

Ginger Fried Rice

    Here is a good use for leftover brown rice. This recipe is from Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s “Kimchi Chronicles.”

    Serves four

8 Tbsp. vegetable oil

3 Tbsp. minced garlic

3 Tbsp. minced ginger

Coarse salt

2 cups diced leeks

4 cups day-old cooked brown rice

Mild chili powder

4 large eggs

2 tsp. sesame oil

2 tsp. soy sauce

    Heat four tablespoons oil in small nonstick skillet over high heat. Add one tablespoon each ginger and garlic. Cook until crisp, about two minutes. Transfer to paper towel to drain. Sprinkle with salt.

    Heat three tablespoons vegetable oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add remaining garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds. Add leeks and cook until they begin to soften, about two minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring often, until it begins to brown, about five minutes. Season with salt to taste and between a half to a teaspoon of mild chili powder.

    Heat one tablespoon vegetable oil in nonstick skillet. Add eggs and cook according to each person’s preference. Sprinkle each egg with a pinch of chili powder. Put rice on platter, top with eggs, sprinkle with fried garlic and ginger, then drizzle with sesame oil and soy sauce.

    With Valentine’s Day a week away, choices are vast for those who want to step out for dinner with their sweetheart.

    The Topping Rose House, celebrity chef Tom Colicchio’s new Bridgehampton restaurant, will serve a “romantic” four-course dinner. The prix fixe will include menu items such as fried Montauk oysters with braised chili bacon and horseradish and molasses jus, and whole striped local bass for two. For dessert, one choice will be brioche donuts with a caramelized white chocolate filling. Service will be from 5:30 to 10:30 p.m. The cost is $125 for adults and $45 for kids ages 10 and under, excluding tax and gratuity.

    The Valentine’s Day menu at Almond, also in Bridgehampton, will include a four-course meal of seasonal dishes featuring pomegranate, as well as a la carte items. The special, at $60 per person, includes a choice of rack of lamb with couscous, saffron, and Middle Eastern fruits, or pomegranate-glazed Spanish mackerel with fennel served three ways as an entree. For an appetizer, diners may choose iced Montauk Pearl oysters or foie gras. A “middle course” features warm goat’s milk ricotta with pistachios, pomegranate, and fried sage, or Peconic Bay scallops served with pomegranate hollandaise, crispy brussels sprouts, and a quail egg.

    Dessert will be a mocha-pomegranate tart for two, espresso ice cream, or pomegranate granita.

    At the Living Room in East Hampton, a five-course “love menu” will be served on Valentine’s Day, and will include a glass of sparkling Nobless Oblige from Wolffer Vineyards. The menu begins with oysters four ways, followed by curry-crusted scallop carpaccio, a grilled half lobster with fennel and radicchio salad, and tournedos Rossini, a steak dish with foie gras and bordelaise sauce. The cost is $125 per person.

    Nick and Toni’s has suggested reservations for Valentine’s Day dinner, which it will begin serving at 6 p.m. In addition to the regular menu, the restaurant will have specials including a lobster appetizer, and, as an entree, lamb chops with Yukon Gold potatoes and a duck confit torta with broccoli rabe.

Cafe Max

    On Wednesday, Cafe Max in East Hampton will reopen for its 22nd season. A Valentine’s prix fixe will be offered for $37. Reservations have been requested.

Reopening Next Thursday

    Out in Montauk, Inlet Seafood is reopening for the season just in time for Valentine’s Day. Dinner will be served from 4 to 9 p.m., and reservations would be appreciated. The restaurant will be serving lunch and dinner, beginning at noon on Fridays through Sundays.

Chocolate Cherry Kiss Coffee

    This month’s special coffee flavor at Hampton Coffee Company in Water Mill is chocolate cherry kiss. A signature beverage for the month is creme brulee latte. The cafe will be giving out free samples of chocolate cherry kiss coffee daily until lunchtime all Valentine’s week.

Chocolate and Wine

    The Wolffer Estate vineyard in Sagaponack will get Valentine’s celebrations underway with a tasting of chocolates paired with wines on Sunday. Sessions will take place from noon to 1 p.m. and from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.

    Roxanne Browning, a chocolate sommelier, will describe the different cacao varietals and blends and the terroir, or soil, location, and climate, in which they are grown. Among the tastes will be a Chardonnay paired with a Philippino chocolate, a cabernet sauvignon paired with a Venezuelan chocolate, a cabernet franc paired with chocolate with pink pepper from Madagascar, and a late harvest wine paired with chocolate with cinnamon from Peru. The cost is $35 per person, plus tax, or $30 plus for members of the vineyard’s wine club. Seating is limited, so reservations are a must.

At the Library

    Ashley Foster, the owner of Tasty Bites Catering, which focuses on organic dishes, will present a Memorable Meals program at the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton on Wednesday from noon to 1 p.m. The program is free, but reservations must be made by calling the library by Sunday. Participants may bring a bag lunch.

Cook, Meet

    A cooking class suggested as a “meet and greet” opportunity for those 50 and over will focus on preparing Long Island duck breast, along with side dishes.

    Sponsored by the Loaves and Fishes Cookshop, it will be held at the Bridgehampton Inn on Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. and cost $165. Besides the duck, with cabernet-braised cabbage and Granny Smith apples, the menu will include spinach bruschetta with pesto shrimp, savory Tuscan cheesecake, and pear crumble with cinnamon ice cream.

Zokkon

47 Montauk Highway

East Hampton

631-729-9821

Sunday through Thursday, 5-10 p.m.

Friday and Saturday, 5-11 p.m.

   First there was Bamboo, then Shiki, now Zok­kon. The charming little building on Montauk Highway in East Hampton has been taken over by the folks at Suki Zuki in Water Mill. Not much has changed in the way of decor. The pillars gracing the entrance have been painted a carnelian red and the walls inside are a coppery hue with huge pieces of driftwood adorning the walls, kind of like free beach art.

   If you are familiar with Suki Zuki, you are probably already a fan of their chicken teriyaki salad and spicy tuna sandwich, both of which you can find here. They are outstanding dishes and are so much more than their names imply.

   The menu offers a great variety of sushi and sashimi with some items you don’t see often, such as sweet shrimp and bluefin toro. There is a good variety of rolls, with sensible names, not like some places that name their rolls after your plumber or yoga teacher, “Josh’s Gigantor” or “Veronica’s Vegetarian Roll.” There is also a specials menu that should be paid attention to, we enjoyed quite a few delicious items from it.

   We began our meal with edamame, the aforementioned chicken teriyaki salad, tuna tartare, fried whole Long Island flounder, and bay scallop carpaccio. The edamame was as it should be, simply steamed to al dente, served piping hot with a sprinkle of salt. The chicken teriyaki salad is a delicious light combination of shredded romaine lettuce, crispy-crunchy Asian noodles, and bits of chicken in a rice vinegar mayo dressing. This $10 appetizer could be a meal.

    The tuna tartare was a bore. A pretty bore, but a bore nonetheless. Attractive cubes of avocado were molded into a round mound with nice fresh chunks of tuna on top. But there wasn’t a single drop of ponzu or sesame oil or vinegar or anything to give it flavor. We weren’t sure if this was intentional or an oversight.

    The fried flounder was dreadful. It was either way, way, overcooked or had been prepared earlier in the day and reheated. The texture of the fish was powdery. After poking around one side of the fish, we flipped it over in the hopes that the other side would be better. It was a teeny bit better, flaky, but still dry as a bone.

    The bay scallop carpaccio, however, was absolutely delicious. The scallops (and plenty of them) were served in a circle atop a bed of shredded carrots and frisee, room temperature, and had a touch of heat, perhaps from a dash of shichimi togarashi, Japanese hot pepper flakes.

    Next we had a few more specials, the chicken pocket, Pink Lady, negima kawayaki, and some rolls: fried oyster and Dakota roll. The chicken pocket was excellent and creative. It was a combination of diced chicken, bits of red and green peppers, jicama, and red onion spooned into endive leaves. The sauce was a bit sweet, like hoisin sauce, which tamed the slightly bitter crunchy endive.

    The Pink Lady, we all agreed, was so delicious it should be put on the regular menu. A mixture of lobster, shrimp, crabmeat, asparagus, and avocado were bound with a bit of spicy mayonnaise and wrapped in delicate rice paper. The negima kawayaki, pieces of duck grilled on skewers, was pretty good, not terribly exciting. The fried oyster roll was excellent, fresh and retaining its crunch inside the rice. Dakota rolls are just about as white bread-mainstream as California rolls, but I love them and always order them when I see them on a menu. This version was excellent, just the right ratio of crabstick, avocado, onion, cucumber, and tempura flakes.

    Service on the night of our visit was pretty good. Our waitress was as sweet as could be, but didn’t seem very well trained.

    The prices at Zokkon are moderate. Appetizers are $3 to $16, kawayaki (grilled or broiled items) $3 to $10, soups and salads are $3 to $21, sushi and sashimi are $3 to $75, ($75 for a deluxe assortment for two), entrees are $19 to $25, desserts $8.

    As desserts are never really a highlight or focus at most Japanese restaurants we decided to try just one, the omnipresent tempura fried banana. It was good, topped with whipped cream, a scoop of vanilla ice cream in the middle, and squiggles of chocolate sauce all over the plate.

    Overall, our meal at Zokkon was very good, except for the few odd failures. We would recommend sticking with the deservedly well known Suki Zuki signature dishes and sushi and sashimi items.

    Reservations can still be made for tonight’s candlelight dinner for two at Gurney’s Inn in Montauk. In case your date misses the hint, the menu choices include heart-shaped ravioli, oysters, and passion fruit mousse. The $150 per couple tariff includes a bottle of champagne and a red rose.

    Gurney’s will also host a renewal of vows ceremony today and Saturday at 5 p.m., with wedding cake, a champagne toast, and a certificate. Former East Hampton Town Justice Jim Ketchum will do the honors, as he has for 13 years. A $10 per person donation to the Montauk Food Pantry has been requested. Advance reservations with Gurney’s have been strongly suggested.

President’s Lunch

    Inlet Seafood, which has just gotten its 2013 season under way, will be serving lunch on Presidents Day, Monday. Normal weekly hours for the time being are noon to 9 p.m. Friday through Sunday for lunch and dinner. The restaurant is on East Lake Drive in Montauk.

An Evening of Seafood

    The Loaves and Fishes Cookshop will present an Evening of Seafood cooking class on Saturday from 6 to 9 at the Bridgehampton Inn. Students will prepare and dine on oysters with horseradish and apple slaw, seafood strudel with saffron sauce, potato-crusted cod with spinach and ricotta tart, and chocolate crepes with blood orange sorbet. The cost is $165.

Baker’s Book Signing

    Kathleen King, the owner and founder of Tate’s Bake Shop in Southampton, will be at the Loaves and Fishes Cookshop on Main Street in Bridgehampton on Saturday from 1 to 3 p.m. She will sign copies of her new cookbook, “Baking for Friends,” which contains more than 120 recipes for special occasions and every day, including gluten-free and vegan recipes. Ms. King will also demonstrate how to make something from the book.

For Lobsters, Lovers

    Duryea’s Seafood Market in Montauk is offering its lobster lovers’ special for Valentine’s Day and beyond. For $39.95, it includes two 1 1/4-pound lobsters, a quart of New England clam chowder, and two pounds of mussels or two dozen Little Neck clams. By request, orders can be precooked by the market, which is open daily.

Winter Twofers

    Two entrees can be had for $25 at Felice’s Ristorante in Amagansett Sunday through Thursday and for $30 on Friday and Saturday. Options include eggplant or chicken parmigiana, the fish of the day served over pasta, and penne a la vodka.

New Truffle Salt

    Natalie and Steven Judelson, the folks behind the Amagansett Sea Salt Company, have added a new truf­fle-infused blend to their lineup of ­products. The 1.7-ounce jars cost $12 and are available at Amagansett­SeaSalt.com and frequently at the Sag Harbor Farmers Market. The company’s salts are also sold at Foragers City Grocer at 56 Adams Street in Brooklyn and at  300 West 22nd Street in Manhattan.

On Tap

    Driftwood Ale, the mainstay of the Montauk Brewing Company, is now on tap at the Corner Bar in Sag Harbor. Fans of the beer can load up with a 64-ounce growler at Peconic Beverage on County Road 39 in Southampton.

Mardi Gras

    It will be all king cake cupcakes and light fare and, of course, wine at a Mardi Gras party at the Wolffer Estate Vineyard in Sagaponack on Saturday from 8 p.m. on. The Hoodoo Loungers will play their blend of funk and Dixieland. Festive attire has been suggested. Prizes will be given for the best mask and for the person who finds a charm hidden in one of the cupcakes. The cost is $55, $50 for Wolffer wine club members. Reservations are a must.

Fat Tuesday at Highway

    Highway Diner and Bar in East Hampton is celebrating Fat Tuesday next week with a number of Big Easy-style dishes. Its chef, a New Orleans native son, is planning to serve up shrimp and grits, crawfish etoufee, red beans and rice, jambalaya, and bananas foster. The specials will be available all day. Beads and masks for all will be available.

Memorial Dinner

    Reservations are being taken for the Joshua Levine memorial dinner, to be sponsored by Slow Food East End on March 24.

    The event honors the life of Mr. Levine, who was a member of the East End farming community. Last year’s dinner raised approximately $18,000 that provided stipends to three master farmers who worked with the Edible School Garden program on the East End.

    The evening will include a two-hour cocktail party at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor featuring appetizers, sweets, and drinks made by many East End food vendors and chefs, followed by a dinner at the American Hotel, also in Sag Harbor.

    Tickets for the entire event are $150; for the cocktail party only they are $75. An additional $150 donation allows attendees to host a farmer at their table, or makes it possible for an East End farmer to attend the dinner.

    Reservations can be made online at joshualevinefoundation.org.

Silver Anniversary Renovations

    Nick and Toni’s restaurant in East Hampton, which is marking its 25th anniversary this year, will be closed until April to undergo some interior renovations designed to update and modernize the space.

    Directed by Cass Calder Smith of CCS Architecture, the project will feature new flooring, tables, seating, and lighting, as well as a new bar. Updates and sneak previews of the work will be posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page.

Chefs at SOBE

    Joe Realmuto, who is the executive chef at Nick and Toni’s as well as at Rowdy Hall, La Fondita, and Townline BBQ, is heading to Miami for the South Beach Wine and Food Festival (SOBE) this weekend.

    Along with George Hirsch, another local chef who also has a cable TV show, he will participate in “The Q,” a barbecue competition hosted by the celebrity chef Paula Deen and her sons. The two will be among 40 of the country’s top barbecue chefs who will serve up their signature dishes. Mr. Hirsch will prepare grilled fillet of beef chilaquiles, while Mr. Realmuto intends to make grilled lamb loin on a johnnycake with yogurt barbecue sauce.

    Mr. Hirsch will also be featured at two other festival events, a “burger bash” hosted by Rachael Ray, where he will be a judge, and the reggae jam closing party, for which he will prepare “George’s One Love wings.” He will also co-host, with Ty Pennington, a Sears-sponsored lounge featuring outdoor living products.

Rowdy Hall’s Annual Contest

    In advance of the Academy Awards show this weekend, Rowdy Hall is running its annual contest to see who can make the most accurate prediction of the winners. Those who dine at the East Hampton restaurant will receive an Oscar ballot form with their check, and can fill it out to enter the contest. Whoever has the most correct predictions will win a $50 Rowdy Hall gift certificate, and two vouchers to the East Hampton Cinema. In case of a tie, a drawing will be held. The contest ends Sunday, before the Hollywood awards ceremony.

Dockside Reopens

    The Dockside Bar and Grill in Sag Harbor reopened last Thursday after a winter break. The restaurant is continuing its Meat-Free Monday program, featuring vegetarian lunch and dinner specials, as well as its inclusion of “Wellness-friendly” menu selections. Seafood served at the Dockside is chemical-free, and meat dishes are made using free-range chicken and heritage-bred pork tenderloin.

    Dockside is serving lunch and dinner five days a week (it is closed on Tuesday and Wednesday) and has brunch service on Saturday and Sunday between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Pizza Deal

    On Wednesday nights, Conca D’Oro restaurant and pizza parlor in Sag Harbor offers two 16-inch cheese pizzas for $23. 

   The idea sprouted two summers ago in his Amagansett backyard with a seed planted by his ex-girlfriend, and now Brendan Davison grows certified organic microgreens at his Good Water Farms in East Hampton and hand-delivers trays of them to top-notch restaurants on the East End and in New York.

    The chefs cut the two-week-old infant greens while they are still alive in the soil from which they grew, so they’re receiving nutrients until minutes before they are eaten. An essential ingredient in Mr. Davison’s “modern boutique farm” is his inclination to “question everything,” he said — an impulse that once got him kicked out of Sunday school. Farming experience in California helped too, as did his study of shamanism.

    With the help of Marsha LaTessa, a “kindred spirit,” Good Water Farms is preparing for a major growth spurt.

    At the 1,800-square-foot “indoor farm,” there is a warm and steamy seed germination room, where life begins before the seedling trays are moved to tables below full-spectrum indoor lighting. From there, they’re moved to a 20-by-40-foot greenhouse just outside the building on Plank Road. The seedlings are watered from below with reservoirs beneath the long, stainless steel tables.

    “It’s not hydroponic,” Mr. Davison explained, because hydroponically grown plants require chemicals. For his microgreens, he said, soil is not only necessary, it’s “the most important thing.” Only certified organic soil from Vermont, which contains an abundance of nutrients including essential minerals, is used.

    Living soil is sacred and people should nourish themselves with a product of it, he said. “We are no different from these plants.” Before Christianity, shamans and pagans worshipped the earth, he said. “To plant a seed . . . this is creating life,” he said.

    A plant’s life progresses from seed to sprout to microgreen, petit green, and baby green before it is full-grown. The first leaves are four to six times more nutritious than mature leaves, Ms. LaTessa and Mr. Davison said.

    Locally, Good Water Farms microgreens can be found in a plastic “clamshell” in the produce section with a 10-day shelf life, or atop salads in the cafe at Provisions in Sag Harbor. They are also sold at the Amagansett IGA, Schmidt’s Market in Southampton, and Naturally Good in Montauk.

    The Topping Rose House, the restaurant helmed by Tom Colicchio, and Almond, both in Bridgehampton, and Sen in Sag Harbor serve Good Water Farms microgreens. In the summer, Surf Lodge and South Edison in Montauk are customers.

    Some customers purchase them through Rustic Roots, an organic home-delivery service, which offers seasonal varieties such as this week’s kale, sunflower, pea tendrils, broccoli, and arugula. The company collects fresh farm products with a goal of delivering within 24 hours.

    Mr. Davison said that the tiny greens can be used in and on salads, in soups, sandwiches, and wraps, in smoothies, or alone as a snack. His 9-year-old daughter likes greens on her pizza, recently asking, “Papa, can we sneak in some greens,” before going into a brick oven pizzeria. Because they’re sweeter than a full-grown vegetable, “microgreens could be the reason kids eat vegetables again,” he suggested. His daughter especially loves the pea tendrils, arugula, and sunflower greens, he said.

    Jason Weiner, the chef at Almond restaurants, pairs Good Water Farms micro opal basil with local tomatoes in the summer. Recently, he added micro arugula to a bay scallop dish with Old Bay hollandaise and house-smoked bacon. “I use his stuff in all three of our places,” Mr. Weiner said. “It adds life to everything I use it on.” He appreciates the “boutique operation that grows in real dirt. . . . Imagine that.”

    “Brendan’s a great guy and his product is quite simply fantastic,” said Mr. Weiner, “and the best part . . . he’s about as local as you can get . . . our kids go to the same school.”

    “Many times Brendan will grow microgreens specifically for one of our dishes based on the flavor profiles we are looking for,” said Landy F. Labadie, the director of food and beverage for the Topping Rose House. Sunday’s menu included two appetizers with Good Water Farms microgreens — one with pea shoots combined with brulée orange, honey, walnuts, and calamata olives, she said. The restaurant also uses red shiso, sunflower, micro wasabi, micro lemon basil, baby cabbage, and baby broccoli from Mr. Davison and Ms. LaTessa’s farm.

    The farm’s focus is on culinary excellence and nutrition, said Ms. LaTessa, “how clean we want our food to be for us, our retailers, our restaurants. . . . It is a lifestyle and a philosophy.” It starts with the seed sourced from reputable companies. “We would never touch anything genetically modified.” The company won’t even use corn-based compostable packaging because so much corn is genetically engineered.

    “Large-scale factory farming is the reason people get sick,” Mr. Davison said. Besides the sprayed chemicals, the percentage of available nutrients is minimal, he explained.

    It is a progressive way to think about food and business, said Mr. Davison, it’s “conscious capitalism.”

    Rick Bogush, the garden manager at Bridge Gardens in Bridgehampton, will present “Cooking With Herbs, Part Two” on Sunday at the Bridgehampton Community House. The event will take place from 2 to 4 p.m. Admission is free to Bridge Gardens members, and $15 for others. Reservations have been requested, as space is limited, and can be made by calling the offices of the Peconic Land Trust, which is sponsoring the event, or by sending an e-mail to [email protected].

Italian Cooking

    A series of Italian cooking classes sponsored by the Loaves and Fishes Cookshop in Bridgehampton begins on Saturday at the Bridgehampton Inn and will focus on traditional cuisine in various regions of the country.

    The first session, from 6 to 9 p.m., will center on dishes from Piedmont. The menu will include garlic and anchovy dip with grilled vegetables, meat ravioli, and hazelnut cake with chocolate ice cream. The cost is $165.

     At follow-up sessions on March 16 and 30, dishes from Emilia-Romagna and Umbria will be prepared.

New on the Menu

    Rowdy Hall has some new choices on its lunch menu. They include a duck confit salad with crispy root vegetables and a honey-cider vinaigrette, local cod, corned beef with grilled cheese, and a ciabatta sandwich with crispy pancetta, melted provolone, arugula, and fig jam.

Artists and Writers Dinner

    Susan Scarf Merrell, a novelist and editor who teaches at Stony Brook Southampton, will host the fifth in a series of artists’ and writers’ nights at Almond restaurant in Bridgehampton. On Tuesday night beginning at 7, the event will include a family-style three-course meal and a discussion of the life and work of the author Shirley Jackson, led by Ms. Merrell.

    Shirley Jackson is best known for her chilling short story “The Lottery,” first published in The New Yorker in 1948 and since taught in colleges and high schools across the nation as a prime example of the surprise ending. Ms. Merrell, who is the fiction editor of TSR: The Southampton Review, has written a literary thriller narrated by a woman who moves into Ms. Jackson’s house, which will be published next year. The cost is $40 in advance, or $45 at the door, which includes a glass of local wine or craft beer plus tax and gratuity.