Taste Top New Zealand Wine

    Andrew Harris and Sally Richardson of Montauk, the owners of Stonecrop, a 20-acre vineyard in Martinborough, New Zealand, will be on hand at a tasting of their sauvignon blanc and pinot noir wines at Domaine Franey Wines and Spirits on Montauk Highway in East Hampton on Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m.  The vineyard’s handcrafted 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.

Lovely Lobsters

    Gosman’s Topside and Inlet Cafe is luring lobster lovers with a $10 steamed Montauk lobster on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday nights between 5 and 8 p.m. An alternative is the eatery’s three-course prix fixe for $18, which includes a number of choices, including sushi.

Three Courses, $30

    Nick and Toni’s restaurant in East Hampton is offering a “create your own” prix fixe on Mondays, Tuesdays, and  Wednesdays. Diners may choose an antipasti or “primi,” a second course, and a dessert for $30. Pizzas are not included, and there is a supplemental charge for some items. For those looking for Nick and Toni’s wood-oven-baked pizzas, the a la carte pizza menu is available on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.

At East Hampton Point

    The new chef at East Hampton Point, Patrick Fromm, is serving up some specials every week. The $29, three-course prix fixe, which is offered on Mondays through Thursdays, comes with a complimentary glass of wine on Monday evenings. Tuesday is taco night, with a $19 special that includes seafood tacos with grilled or fried shrimp, or swordfish, and a margarita or Corona beer for $19. On Wednesday, chef Fromm creates a traditional clambake. For $38, diners may choose chowder or salad to start, followed by lobster, mussels, king crab, and corn. Thursdays bring surf and turf night: filet mignon and grilled shrimp served with sautéed spinach or corn, for $34.

Nightly Harvest

    The Harvest in Montauk, now open nightly, offers a $19 prix fixe from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

    East by Northeast in Montauk, also open now every night of the week, presents a prix fixe on Sundays through Fridays between 5 and 7 p.m., and serves a Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Pierre’s Valet

    Pierre’s restaurant in Bridgehampton is relieving diners of the burden of finding a parking place with a free valet parking service in front of the restaurant on weekends. 

    Summer specials on Pierre’s menu at present are lobster salad, tuna steaks, and tuna tartare. At lunchtime, tuna nicoise is offered.

Prime Rib

    The Harbor Grill on Three Mile Harbor in East Hampton, a sister restaurant to Harbor Bistro, has a $22.95 prime rib dinner on Saturdays and Sundays starting at 4 p.m. It includes the soup or salad of the day, a thick slice of prime rib served with baked potato, horseradish sour cream, and vegetables of the day.

    Harbor Grill is a good choice for early birds, as it serves dinner every night beginning at 4.

Summer’s Muse

    Summer items have been added to the menu at Muse Restaurant and Aquatic Lounge in Water Mill. Among them are a watermelon, arugula, feta cheese, and toasted pine nut salad, and appetizers such as mini lobster rolls, scallops with Caribbean jerk spices served with a banana mint relish and banana hummus, and tuna “ménage a trios,” which is tuna served three ways.

    New dinner entrees include chicken and waffles — herb chicken confit with caramelized sweet onion served on crisp waffle squares, Swordfish Oscar, a dish of lightly breaded pan-fried local swordfish with grilled asparagus, crab salad topped with horseradish hollandaise, and toasted almonds, and Atlantic salmon scaloppine served South of the Border style, with bean and avocado salad, grilled artichoke salsa, and baby arugula gazpacho salad.

    Muse is open Wednesdays through Sundays from 5:30 to 10 p.m., and offers a three-course $29.95 prix fixe all night on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, and until 6 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, except on holiday weekends. There is an outdoor lounge for drinks.

The Unhampton

    Cafe Max in East Hampton, which is proud to call itself the “Unhampton,” has a June special of steak and fries for $19 on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesday, and Thursdays. Other specials at the restaurant include three courses for $24 on Mondays and Wednesdays, two courses for $23 on Thursdays and Sundays, an early bird special of Fridays, with two courses for $23 from 5:30 to 5:55 p.m., and a 20-percent discount for Saturday diners who come at 5:30 p.m. sharp. Takeout orders of a la carte dishes are given a 10-percent discount. 

    Cafe Max is closed on Tuesdays.

    Tomorrow might be a good time for a jaunt east, with a couple of stops that will remind you that winter is truly over, and summer on the way.

    On Napeague, the Lobster Roll, a k a Lunch, reopens for the season tomorrow. Until later in the spring, it will be serving on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

    Navy Beach, the restaurant that opened last year on Montauk’s Fort Pond Bay, also reopens tomorrow. In honor of the seasonal event, and of that other event taking place across the pond tomorrow (the royal wedding), Navy Beach will offer $9 drink specials all weekend, including a Pimm’s Cup, sparkling Cava, and sangria. New on the menu this year will be fish tacos, Yunnan ribs, tuna sashimi and avocado salad, green papaya salad, lobster Singapore, coffee-rubbed New York strip steak, and oil-poached halibut. The restaurant will be open on Friday through Sunday, serving dinner only on Friday and lunch as well on the other days.

    Inlet Seafood on East Lake Drive in Montauk is open for dinner on Thursday through Sunday, and serves lunch on Friday and Saturday as well.

    On Three Mile Harbor in East Hampton, the Harbor Bistro reopens for the season tonight.

New at Bostwick’s

    The opening of Bostwick’s Chowder House for this season last Thursday drew out plenty of fans of the eatery and its inviting staff. New on the menu at Bostwick’s this year are a number of dishes, such as a seared tuna with soba noodle salad, fried zucchini chips, crab-stuffed flounder, a fresh tuna burger served with mango chutney and arugula, fluke Milanese, and an oyster po’boy.

    Service for now is on Thursday through Sunday for lunch and dinner.

Page at 63 Main

    A prix fixe at Page at 63 Main in Sag Harbor includes a choice from a list of “small plates,” with dishes such as farm table greens, grilled melon salad, Asian steamed buns, and carrot-ginger soup, entrees such as vegan soba noodles, pan-seared organic chicken, braised monkfish steak, and pork tenderloin, and dessert. The cost is $30 per person, plus tax and gratuity.

Arrivederci, Della Femina

    Della Femina restaurant on North Main Street in East Hampton will serve its last meals on Saturday. The space is being taken over by another eatery to be called the East Hampton Grill.

Spring Openings

    The annual springtime parade of seasonal restaurant reopenings continues this week.

    The Hideaway will show its Mexican roots by offering food and drink specials at its 2011 premiere tonight, for Cinco de Mayo. The restaurant is at the Diamond Cove Marina in Montauk.

    On Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton, the Harbor Bistro begins its sixth season tonight with complimentary appetizers at the bar, and $3 Corona beers. The waterfront bistro will once again be offering a $29 prix fixe all night at the bar, which can include a choice of three courses, or two courses plus a glass of wine. On Thursday to Sunday between 5 and 6 p.m., a three-course prix fixe is offered for $19. The menu for it changes nightly and features a choice of a pasta, fish, or meat entree, soup or salad to start, and a dessert.

    When Pigs Fly, a takeout shop on South Etna Avenue In Montauk, has reopened for the season. There is a new menu with lower prices, including 40 items that are $10 and under. Menu choices include ribs, pulled pork, tacos, wings, hamburgers, wraps, sandwiches, fried chicken, and more.

More Celebration

    Also celebrating Cinco de Mayo tonight will be La Fondita in Amagansett, with some Mexican takeout specials including chicken in mole sauce, pork or chile and cheese tamales, and tres leches cake.

Rugosa’s Bar Menu

    New dishes served exclusively for casual nibbling at the bar are on the menu at Rugosa restaurant in East Hampton. They include crispy salmon skin with aioli, fingerling potatoes served with gruyere, prosciutto, and creme fraiche, and mussels with garlic butter. Choices from Rugosa’s a la carte and prix fixe menus, as well as half portions of any of the fish or pasta entrees, are also available at the bar.

Specially Roasted

    Customers who order dessert at Townline BBQ in Sagaponack will get a free cup of coffee made with a blend of organic beans hand-roasted especially for the restaurant by the Hampton Coffee Company. The offer will be in effect through Memorial Day. Townline BBQ is open on Thursdays through Mondays beginning at 11:30 a.m.

Mother’s Day Dining

    At the Harbor Bistro, Damien O’Donnell, the chef, will prepare dishes for an a la carte brunch, including crab Benedict, omelettes, steak and eggs, and shrimp tacos. Brunch will be served from noon to 3 p.m.

    Also on Sunday, there will be a holiday prix fixe offered — three courses for $29, or two courses with a glass of wine, a mimosa, or a Bloody Mary, from 3 to 8 p.m. A la carte selections will not be offered. Appetizer selections will include coconut-golden curry steamed mussels, crispy shrimp tacos, and heirloom tomatoes with fresh mozzarella. Main courses on the menu include chicken fettuccine, pistachio-crusted tilapia, grilled salmon, and Jamaican jerk pork tenderloin. A special children’s menu will also be offered. Reservations have been requested.

    Also serving a Mother’s Day brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. will be the Gulf Coast Kitchen at the Montauk Yacht Club. The cost will be $38.95 per adult and $17.95 per child ages 7 to 13. Younger kids can eat for free. Selections at a carving table will include roasted leg of spring lamb, alder-smoked Berkshire ham, and garlic and shallot-encrusted rib-eye steak. There will also be a raw bar for seafood, eggs and omelettes cooked to order, salads, other entrees, and desserts.

    At Navy Beach restaurant on Montauk’s Fort Pond Bay, lunch will be served on Sunday from noon to 3:30 p.m., and dinner will start at 5 p.m.

    A Mother’s Day prix fixe, for $40, including a glass of Cava for all moms, will be available. Reservations have been suggested. There will be a choice of appetizers and entrees, including oil-poached halibut with rock shrimp hash, buttermilk fried chicken with cheddar cornbread and coleslaw, and a burger.

    The menu for brunch at Nick and Toni’s in East Hampton, to be served on Mother’s Day from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., will include house-cured salmon bruschetta with mascarpone, arugula, fennel, and kalamata olives, brioche French toast with Nutella and carame­lized bananas, polenta with smoked bacon, rock shrimp, and poached egg, chicken hash, and pan-roasted cod. Side dishes and a selection of pizzas will also be served.

    Nick and Toni’s will serve dinner on Sunday night starting at 6, which will include a choice of holiday specials such as soft-shell crab and Colorado rack of lamb served with sautéed fiddlehead ferns.

And Jazz, Too

    Jazz comes with brunch on Sunday at LT Burger in the Harbor in Sag Harbor. From noon to 3 p.m., the Jim Turner Band will perform. Specials to be offered will include turkey sausage and spinach soup with fresh mozzarella and oven-dried tomatoes, a salmon burger with fixings, and specialty drinks and cocktails.

    Across Main Street in Sag Harbor, at Sen, Mother’s Day will mean gifts for moms who come in for dinner — a $10 gift card that can be used at the restaurant at a later date. Beginning this weekend, Sen will be open for lunch on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 2:30 p.m.

    At Phao, tucked in next to Sen, moms who visit on Sunday from 5 to 10:30 p.m. will be given a free glass of the Wolffer Estate Late Harvest chardonnay. In other Phao news, as of the first day of May, Sen’s sushi rolls can also be ordered there.

    A new addition to Sag Harbor, Page at 63 Main will celebrate Mother’s Day with lunch and dinner service, including a $30 dinner prix fixe. Midday service will be from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with dinner commencing an hour later.

    At the Living Room restaurant at c/o The Maidstone in East Hampton, a three-course Mother’s Day prix fixe will be available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and will include a glass of rosé. The cost is $65 per person.

    Serafina restaurant in East Hampton will provide complimentary bellinis or mimosas to mothers during brunch service from noon to 4 p.m.

Wolffer’s 2011 Rosé

    A release party for this year’s Wolffer Estate rosé will take place at the winery in Sagaponack on Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. A $25 admission fee, a portion of which will be donated to the Long Island Wine Council, will include a glass of rosé, cheese, and live music. Those interested in attending have been asked to call the winery for reservations.

Montauk Eateries

    Fishbar on East Lake Drive will have an opening party tonight from 5 to 9 with free hors d’oeuvres and, between 6 and 9, drink specials. All are welcome to attend.

    East by Northeast is serving Sunday brunch each week from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. There is a $15 prix fixe offered Sunday through Thursday and entertainment on weekends. ENE is closed on Tuesdays.

    At the Harvest on Fort Pond, Mother’s Day will bring afternoon and evening service, from 2 to 9 p.m.

Primed Beachhouse

    The Beachhouse opened in East Hampton last weekend in the Montauk Highway space formerly occupied by Prime 103. Described as a “creative American steakhouse and sea grill,” its specialty dishes include, as appetizers, lobster-glazed seared local sea scallops over truffled sweet creamed corn, and a red and yellow beet and goat cheese terrine, using cheese from the North Fork’s Catapano Dairy. On the entree list are bucatini pasta with Maine sea urchin, pan-roasted tilefish, and dry-aged prime steaks. The restaurant has a raw bar, a patio for alfresco dining, and a mahogany bar with three TVs. Beachhouse is serving dinner seven nights a week.

New Mexican?

    The Bridgehampton building that Almond restaurant vacated last year, before settling down at the other end of the hamlet at the corner of Montauk Highway and Ocean Road, is reportedly to become the home of a Mexican restaurant called Agave.

Cooking Demonstration

    A free demonstration at the Loaves and Fishes Cookshop in Bridgehampton on Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. will feature a selection from “The Splendid Grain” by Rebecca Wood, a winner of the International Association of Culinary Professionals and James Beard Awards.

Backyard

    The Backyard Restaurant at Solé East resort in Montauk reopens for the season tonight. The menu, prepared by Larry Kolar, the executive chef, centers around fresh fish from Montauk’s waters and seasonal produce from local farms and the Backyard’s herb garden. It includes dishes with Mediterranean and South American influences.

    Appetizer choices include fluke ceviche prepared with red onions, lime, and jalapeno chile and Long Island duck confit with celery root and micro watercress. Among the entrees are grilled monkfish, scallops, skirt steak, a half natural chicken, and barbecued pork short ribs paired with sides such as mashed potatoes, bok choy, escarole, and French fries or rapini, and items such as baked cannelloni or cavatelli with pulled pork, oven-dried tomatoes, white beans, and broccoli rabe. Signature desserts include lavender cheesecake, chocolate espresso torte, and homemade jelly doughnuts.

    On Sundays, there is an $18 brunch served along with live jazz and bossa nova music, and on Mondays, the Backyard is planning to offer specials on Mexican food and drinks.

New at Pierre’s

    There are some new dishes on the menu for spring at Pierre’s restaurant in Bridgehampton. They include chilled pea soup with mint and rosemary, shrimp and scallop ceviche served with a passion fruit concoction and avocado, hanger steak with béarnaise sauce and arugula, soft-shell crab with a mild red pepper sauce, and linguine with shrimp and grilled artichokes.

Thai at Old Whalers

    Thai food will be on the table at Sag Harbor’s Old Whalers Church tonight, when the sous chef from Phao restaurant prepares a sampling of dishes such as summer rolls, lemongrass soup, pad Thai, and coconut ice cream. The event, part of a series called East End Chefs, will begin at 6:30 p.m. and cost $30. Space is limited. Advance reservations can be made by calling the church.

Restaurant Roulette

    There is always lots of restaurant news in the mad scramble toward Memorial Day. Here’s this week’s scoop.

    Spring Close restaurant, which returns the farmhouse restaurant on the Montauk Highway in East Hampton to (almost) its original name, is now open daily for lunch and dinner beginning at 11 a.m. Weekend brunch service will begin soon.

    The restaurant, in the roomy space that was most recently the Laundry, and originally the Spring Close House, is a collaboration between Colin Keillor, who was the manager at Nichol’s in East Hampton, and Michael Lomasney, a Cold Spring Harbor restaurateur. On the menu are appetizers such as tuna tartare, scallop and bacon sliders with apricot chutney, wings with Thai peanut dipping sauce, and lobster cocktail. On the entree list are strip steak, seafood pasta, bouillabaisse, pork T-bone with cara­mel­ized onions and apples and cider gravy, dill and Dijonaise-crusted sal­mon, and chicken breast, while lunch sandwich choices include a shrimp or chicken salad wrap, portobello burger, press­ed mozzarella, tomato, and basil, lobster roll, or pressed roast beef with arugula, boursin, and shallot.

    The space on Sag Harbor’s Main Street that previously held restaurants such as Peter Miller’s, JLX Bistro, and La Maison is to become a branch of the Pomme Cafe, an eatery in Astoria specializing in French cuisine.

    18 Bay, formerly of Bayville, has recently moved digs to Shelter Island. In the space where Planet Bliss was, Adam Kopels and Elizabeth Ronzetti, co-chefs, owners, and husband and wife, hope to open on Memorial Day. There will be a daily chef’s menu, with fresh produce and seafood from local farmers and baymen, and homemade pasta. Allergy and vegetarian-friendly, dinner will be served on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

    South Edison restaurant in Montauk, which first opened last June, reopened for the season last night. Todd Mitgang, of Cascabel Taqueria in Manhattan, and formerly of Crave Ceviche Bar, is the chef. The restaurant has a “seafood-centric” menu as well as a raw bar. Starters include chili-marinated shrimp salad with grilled rice, cherry cola-braised Berkshire pork belly with cherries, radish, spring garlic, and mashed chickpeas, and fried belly clams. Among the entree choices are Mr. Mitgang’s version of a lobster roll, served with a black garlic mayonnaise, grilled local porgy with roasted fennel and apple, chard, and crab sauce, spicy pulled pork tacos, and handmade linguine with baby octopus, leeks, tomatoes, olives, and feta. For the next month or so, South Edison will be open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday beginning at 5:30 p.m. Reservations can be made online at southedison.com/reservations, or on the Open Table Web site.

    Also in Montauk, Dave’s Grill has opened its doors for the summer, down on the Montauk docks. Dave’s is serving dinner on Thursdays through Sundays.

New Manager

    Douglas Sheehan is the new general manager at Rugosa in East Hampton. With his father, Ed Sheehan, and Bobby Thomas, Mr. Sheehan opened the Dockside Bar & Grill in Sag Harbor, which is now owned and operated by his sister. He has also worked at Robert’s in Water Mill and the former Sapore di Mare in Wainscott, as well as at Artisanal, Lever House, and the Waverly Inn in Manhattan.

Simple Appetizers

    Amy Kirwin will demonstrate how to make simple appetizers for summer entertaining at a free program at the Rogers Memorial Library in Southampton on Wednesday at noon. Samples will be passed around. Reservations must be made by calling the library, or online at myrml.org.

Farmers Markets

    Hooray, it’s that time again! The Sag Harbor Farmers Market will start the season on Saturday. It is held at Bay and Burke Streets from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

    The East Hampton market, in the parking lot of Nick & Toni’s restaurant on North Main Street, will have its seasonal premiere on Friday, May 27, also from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. That afternoon from 3 to 6 p.m., the Hayground School farmers market in Bridgehampton gets under way.

Argentinian Wine

    A wine dinner featuring Argentinean wines will be held tomorrow night at the Living Room restaurant at c/o the Maidstone inn in East Hampton. The event, co-hosted by Kelly Matis, the restaurant’s sommelier, and Jacques Franey of East Hampton’s Domaine Franey wine shop, will include an hors d’oeuvres reception followed by a four-course dinner, paired with different wines. Reservations have been strongly recommended. The cost will be $85, plus tax and gratuity.

And the Winners Are

    Long Island Restaurant News has announced the winners of its Finest Plates 2011 poll, which include three South Fork eateries. The Sea Grille at Gurney’s Inn was deemed the restaurant with the best view, while Phao won best Thai restaurant. Muse Restaurant and Aquatic Lounge took “best healthy restaurant.”

Pizza rustica, an Italian Eastertime specialty — a savory pie made with eggs and Italian meats and cheeses — is available this month at Food and Co. in East Hampton, where Pasquale’s Home­­made has set up shop and is offering all kinds of traditional homemade foods, including roast chicken and pizzas. Fans of “The Cake Boss,” the cable TV show about an Italian bakery in Hoboken, will have seen the crowds lining up for pizza rustica, a once-a-year treat, in a recent episode.

Spring Menu

    At Pierre’s restaurant in Bridgehampton, the springtime menu includes artichoke soup with bacon and creme fraiche, white asparagus with shallot vinaigrette, beef filet tartare, and rabbit. Pierre’s wine list now includes more than 360 choices. The choice of which Rosé de Provence to order for this year will be made soon, following a blind tasting by Pierre’s staff. Customers who would like to participate have been asked to contact the restaurant.

Staff Shuffle

    Carolyn Papetti, the longtime general manager of Cittanuova in East Hampton, will be taking the helm at the Grill on Pantigo. Her husband, Massimo Papetti, also known to regulars at Cittanuova, will take over as general manager there.

The Meaning of the Month

    Ah, April. Some may welcome this month as the real start of spring, or as National Poetry Month. But at Lucy’s Whey cheese shops in East Hampton and Manhattan, April means a celebration of National Grilled Cheese Month. Those on the stores’ e-mail list had a crack at winning a free grilled cheese sandwich as April began. Lucy’s Whey offers a rotating variety of grilled cheeses, including a sandwich made with melted Prairie Breeze cheddar, fig compote, and olive oil. The East Hampton store is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

Eating Local

    The Sunset Beach Farm on North Haven will begin growing vegetables on an additional two acres in Amagansett, and will be signing up members for its community-supported agriculture program for the coming growing season. Information is on the farm’s Web site, at www.sunsetbeachfarm.net.

Almond’s Return

    Almond’s new space at the corner of Ocean Road and Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton will not only bring the popular French bistro back to the hamlet, but will provide space to seat 120, including at some sidewalk tables. Almond closed at its former site, at the western edge of Bridgehampton, last fall.

    Although the restaurant’s owners plan an update to the interior of the new space, they will maintain historic details such as the 100-year-old tin ceilings, and a hand-carved bar. The eatery is slated to reopen in May, serving dinner nightly, and will add lunch and brunch service later.

Blame It On . . .

    The bossa nova is a weekly thing at Fresno in East Hampton, where caipirinhas, a classic Brazilian cocktail, are served up along with music by Ludmilla beginning at 7 p.m.

For Passover

    Homemade gefilte fish and other items for Passover are available now at Stuart’s Seafood Market in Amagansett. Orders can be called in for baked goods, noodle kugel, and full custom dinners.

Thanks, From Astro’s

    Astro’s Pizza, long a mainstay of Amagansett’s Main Street — for 40 years, to be exact — is showing its gratitude to its customers and the community with a $20 takeout deal Sunday through Thursday. It includes a choice of two large pizzas, a large pizza and a baked ziti, a large pizza and a choice of one hot hero, or a large cheese pizza with one large salad and six garlic knots.

    At Felice’s Ristorante, the family’s sit-down eatery that is attached to the pizza shop, there is a $20 prix fixe that includes a choice of baked clams, salad, mozzarella sticks, or soup to start, followed by a choice of main course — chicken or veal francaise, piccata, parmigiana, or marsala, or fish of the day served francaise-style or broiled — plus dessert and a glass of wine.

Great Chefs Program

    The next presenter of a Great Chefs cooking class at the Old Whalers Church in Sag Harbor will be Peter Ambrose, the owner of Food for Forks, the catering division of the Seafood Shop in Wainscott.

    During the class, which begins at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday and costs $30, he will prepare a portobello mushroom and sun-dried tomato tapenade, served with a fontina cheese quesadilla, along with a main course of Chianti-braised short ribs with red-onion marmalade and chimichurri sauce, “smashed” potatoes, and oven-roasted asparagus. Dessert will be Grand Marnier-flambé doughnut holes over vanilla ice cream with raspberry chocolate sauce and mint. Wine will be served.

    Space is limited; reservations can be made in advance by calling the church.

Springs Juice Bar

    DJango’s Organics, a new natural foods shop on Three Mile Harbor Road in Springs, has opened a juice and smoothies bar. Among the featured ingredients is Green Vibrance, a concentrated “superfood” used to make protein drinks. Smoothies start at $6.99 and juices at $8.99.

Estia’s Mexican Specials

    A wintertime trip to Baja California Sur with his family has resulted in a number of new menu items prepared by Colin Ambrose, the chef and owner of Estia’s Little Kitchen in Sag Harbor.

    Mexican specialties will be offered on Thursday and Sunday nights over the next couple of months, and all dishes will be under $15. First on the list this week will be a sweet corn and shrimp tamale, queso fondito with chorizo and warm flour tortillas, roasted duck tacos with rice, red beans, and guacamole, fish tacos with asparagus and sofrito rice, and potato rellenos with grilled steak and jack cheese. Tecate beers will be offered for $3.

Sake Tasting Dinner

    On Friday, April 22, Sen restaurant in Sag Harbor will have a sake tasting dinner from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Those who attend will get “sake 101” instruction and enjoy different types of the rice brew served with six courses of sashimi, dumplings, garlic steak, vegetable dishes, and dessert. The cost is $36 per person, plus tax and gratuity, and reservations have been highly recommended.

Gulf Coast Kitchen

    Beginning tomorrow, the Gulf Coast Kitchen by Robbin Haas at the Montauk Yacht Club will be open nightly for dinner, starting at 5:30. A spring prix fixe menu offered throughout this month includes choices of appetizers such as butternut squash gnocchi, clam chowder, and salads, and entrees such as grilled hanger steak, marinated organic herbed chicken, pan-seared loin of Berkshire pork, seared diver scallops, pan-seared skate, and roasted local cod. Dessert is also included.

Art and Dine at Maidstone

    The Living Room restaurant at c/o the Maidstone inn in East Hampton will feature Josh Gladstone, the artistic director of Guild Hall’s John Drew Theater, at its next Art and Dine dinner, to be held on Tuesday.

    Mr. Gladstone, who is an actor, producer, and director and one of the founders of the Hamptons Shakespeare Festival, will be interviewed by Dawn Watson, the features editor for the Press News Group.

    The evening will begin at 6:30 and include a two-course dinner served with a glass of wine. The cost is $36 per person plus tax and gratuity.

On Easter Sunday

    Easter Sunday brunch and dinner menus at numerous restaurants will feature fresh springtime fare this weekend.

    At the Southampton Publick House, a noon to 2:30 p.m. brunch will be followed by a three-course Easter dinner prix fixe for $25 plus tax and gratuity, served from 3 to 9 p.m. A la carte dishes will also be available. Entree choices will include leg of lamb, half of a roasted Long Island duck, pan-seared monkfish, shrimp tempura, and New York sirloin steak. Reservations have been recommended.

    The Easter Bunny will be hiding eggs around East Hampton Point, which will serve a brunch buffet from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The big, friendly rabbit will make an appearance to meet the kids. Reservations have been recommended.

    At the Montauk Yacht Club’s Gulf Coast Kitchen, Robbin Haas, the chef, will serve brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for $38.95 per adult and $17.95 for children 7 to 13 years old. Those under 7 can eat for free. There will be a carving station with a roasted leg of lamb, alder-smoked Berkshire ham, and organic roasted turkey, as well as eggs and omelettes made to order, pancakes and waffles, a raw bar, salads, pastas, and ice cream sundaes, made how you like them, for dessert.

    An Italian-style Easter can be celebrated at Serafina in East Hampton. Starting at noon, the holiday additions to the regular menu will include warm artichoke carpaccio with baby shrimp, baby shrimp salad with asparagus, cannelloni beans, and cherry tomatoes, pappardelle pasta with lamb ragu, oven-roasted lamb chops, and roasted sea bass.

    Out in Montauk, the Shagwong will serve an Easter prix fixe for $25 between noon and 9 p.m. on Sunday.

    A new eatery in Sag Harbor, Page at 63 Main, which focuses on dishes from healthy, organic, local ingredients, will serve brunch and lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, followed by dinner, when a $30 three-course prix fixe will be among the choices. Prix fixe menu items include a grilled melon salad, carrot ginger soup, and Asian steamed buns filled with shitake mushrooms or braised pork belly, and, for entrees, vegan soba noodles with vegetables, braised monkfish steak, and pork tenderloin. Also on the menu as an Easter special will be brioche-crusted rack of lamb served with a sweet pea and pearl onion ragu, roasted garlic potato purée, and herb red-wine sauce.

    Cafe Max in East Hampton will offer lump crab meat, smoked Scottish salmon, fried calamari, and crab cakes as a la carte appetizers for Easter dinner. A three-course prix fixe — $28 for adults or $20 for those ages 13 and under — will be on Sunday’s menu as well. Entree choices will be penne pasta with chicken sausage, grilled local fish, grilled salmon with Dijon sauce, prime rib, and, for an extra $5, roast leg of lamb.

    Muse Restaurant and Aquatic Lounge will offer its “build your own” three-course, $24.95 prix fixe on Sunday evening starting at 5:30. Diners can select choices from the starter, main dish, and dessert menus.

Avanti Culinary Market

    The chef at Muse, Matthew Guiffrida, is creating takeout dishes that will be sold at the Avanti Culinary Market, a new shop in the Water Mill shopping complex where Muse is. Owned by Mike and Sandy DeGennarro of Southampton Wines in Water Mill and Long Wharf Wines in Sag Harbor, it will also offer prime meats and poultry, seafood, organic produce, artisanal cheeses, groceries, and other products, including vegetarian and gluten-free dishes.

Bostwick’s Is Opening

    Bostwick’s Chowder House in East Hampton opens for the season today at 11:30 a.m. The casual seafood spot for now will be serving Thursdays through Sundays, although it will be closed on Easter Sunday.

La Fondita

    La Fondita in Amagansett will be open from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. today, and until 8 p.m. tomorrow and Saturday, before closing on Sunday for some spring cleaning. It will reopen on May 4.

Wine Weekend

    As part of a “wine weekend,” the Living Room restaurant at c/o the Maidstone inn in East Hampton will have a Taste of Long Island wine dinner on Friday, April 29, at 7:30 p.m. Five courses will be paired with wines selected by the restaurant’s sommelier, Kelly Matis. The menu will include a charcuterie plate, Little Neck clams with chorizo and saffron broth, beef short-rib stroganoff, Long Island duck, and dessert. The cost is $85 per person, plus tax and gratuity, or $65 for Slow Food East End members, and reservations have been highly recommended as space is limited. Proceeds from a raffle at the dinner will support the Slow Food East End chapter.

    The special event weekend will include an April 30 Soil to Cellar event, featuring lectures by East End winemakers and sommeliers on everything from organic and biodynamic farming to grapes and wine collecting. The day will include a lunch and a cocktail reception with wines from participating vineyards.

    Rugosa restaurant in East Hampton will have a wine dinner on Friday, April 29, starting at 7 p.m. The menu will include duck mousse with red pepper mango salsa, tomato chutney, and ginger vinaigrette, seared arctic char with leeks, apple, cauliflower tapenade, and curry broth, braised veal cheek and seared veal tenderloin with eggplant caviar, Swiss chard ravioli, and polenta, and rhubarb cheesecake with strawberry-rhubarb sorbet. A different wine will be served with each course. The cost is $70 per person, plus tax and gratuity.

Awakenings

    The springtime list of restaurant reopenings now includes a rash of Montauk eateries. Starting next Thursday, Surfside Inn will serve dinner nightly and a Sunday brunch. Navy Beach, which opens on Friday, April 29, will serve dinner on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays as well as lunch on the weekends, to start. In honor of the season reopening and the Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton, Navy Beach will offer drink specials on its opening weekend, including a Pimm’s Cup (British summer drink), sparkling cava, and sangria rosa, all $9.

    Also opening are two favorites at Gosman’s dock — Gosman’s restaurant, which opens for daily service (except Tuesdays) on Friday, April 29, and the Gosman’s clam bar, opening on April 30.

Wellness Challenge Approved

    The East Hampton Foundation for Wellness has joined with the Golden Pear Cafes and Gurney’s Inn to present vegan dishes that meet the nutritional guidelines of the foundation’s Wellness Challenge menus.

    New breakfast and lunch items at the Golden Pear cafes in Bridgehampton, Southampton, East Hampton, and Sag Harbor and items on the Gurney’s spa menu will be marked with the logo for the Wellness Challenge, a six-week healthy eating program sponsored by the foundation. The group’s spring Wellness Challenge, a free program open to those looking to lose weight, lower cholesterol, or reduce prescription drug use, begins on Monday. Information can be found on the group’s Web site, wfeh.org.

Cooking for Tibet

    Joseph Realmuto, the executive chef at Nick and Toni’s in East Hampton, will be cooking at the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan next Thursday at the Tibet Fund’s 30 Years of Service to the Tibetan People event. He is among a dozen chefs invited by Eric Ripert, another East End resident and the chef at Le Bernardin, to prepare a four-course meal.

 I love to cook but I also like shortcuts. I am not averse to using the occasional cake mix, envelope of Knorr sauce, cube of bouillon, or box of frozen white corn. These convenience foods deserve a place in every pantry and freezer.

A lot of convenience foods have recipes on their packages, some of which have become classics: Nestle Toll House chocolate chip cookies, Chex Mix, Argo Corn Starch lemon meringue pie, and Ritz Cracker’s mock apple pie. The Quaker Oats canister has the best oatmeal cookie recipe I have ever tried, although I do swap out the raisins for dried cherries or cranberries. Ghirardelli’s can of cocoa used to have a killer brownie recipe on its label. You can also play around with these recipes, making them lighter, healthier, and more savory.

Carissa Katz

Crack Pie has addictive qualities.

At a time when a lot of talented chefs are making dishes look like science projects (enough with the spittle and foam!), David Chang, the genius chef behind Momofuku, Ssam, Ko, and Noodle Bar, has been finding ways to utilize dried milk, cornflakes, oatmeal, and Twizzlers in thoroughly modern ways.

Convenience foods, or “tertiary processed foods,” as they are sometimes called, have evolved to such an extent that we are offered some kind of shortcut in every aspect of cooking today. Some should be avoided at all costs, such as TV dinners and instant mashed potatoes. Others, such as canned beans, tuna, frozen puff pastry, rice pilafs, and pancake mixes, are perfectly acceptable.

Couscous takes a mere five minutes to make. Try adding some diced and roasted carrots, onions, and fennel with a pinch of curry and you have a lovely side dish incorporating starch and some vegetables. You can improve stuffing mixes by sautéing onions and celery and tossing in some fresh thyme and parsley. Add a banana or blueberries and a half cup of granola to your Sunday morning Bisquick pancake mix.

Aunt Jemima’s pancake mix was introduced in 1869. The next historically significant convenience food was Libby’s canned meat, in 1890. Canned peas came in 1925, and Birdseye “frosted foods” came in 1930. Clarence Birdseye, an American living in Labrador, Canada, between 1912 and 1916, discovered the effect of rapid freezing on vegetables and developed the first “quick freezer” for fruits and vegetables.

Industrialization and the need to feed the post-World War II population led to a burst of new products in the 1940s like Mrs. Paul’s fish sticks, Minute Maid orange juice, Ragu pasta sauces, and Tupperware to keep all those nifty leftovers fresh. The iconic Swanson TV dinner made its debut in 1953 with many more frozen products to follow. Creativity has petered out over the last few decades with the only new noteworthy products being tuna kits and Heinz’s green and purple ketchups.

In 1965, close to 30 percent of American households were using convenience foods. By the 1990s, that number had doubled. Nowadays, almost every household consumes convenience (or fast) foods on a daily basis.

While this trend is alarming due to the lack of quality of some products and consumer education, you can find that some of these products have a rightful place in our kitchens. Frozen gyoza? Shelled edamame? Yes! Bottled salad dressings? Crushed garlic in a jar? No!

There is a show on TV called “Sandra Lee’s Semi-Homemade.” The philosophy from “the internationally acclaimed home and style expert” is to use 70 percent ready-made foods combined with 30 percent fresh ingredients. The show promises the viewers their dishes will taste as if they’ve been made from scratch.

Well, I am a “culinary expert” and I took a look at her episodes on money-saving recipes, and I was aghast at how fattening and ultimately not money saving they were. Scones, nachos, shortcakes, risottos, barbecue bean chili dogs, cinnamon roll French toast, spaghetti and meatball calzones, and canned peach pie. Surely there was at least one healthy sounding recipe? Pasta with edamame sounded promising. Alas, it was pimped up with bacon and sour cream.

I have to say that my cooking philosophy is far more Jamie Oliver — keep it fresh and simple — than Sandra Lee’s, who extols the virtues of Glazed Doughnut Crisps, (ingredients: sugar cookie mix, canned frosting, and artificial brandy extract, topped with drippy sugar icing and food coloring). Heavens!

Somewhere between fresh, made-from-scratch cooking and convenience foods there is a happy medium. Read the labels, use your own judgment, and feel free to whip up the occasional cake mix, Knorr hollandaise sauce, or Campbell’s soup tuna noodle casserole.

Crack Pie

Here is David Chang’s Milk Bar restaurant recipe for Crack Pie, adapted from Bon Appetit magazine.

Serves 10.

Oat cookie crust:

Nonstick spray

9 Tbsp. butter, room temp, divided

51/2 Tbsp. brown sugar, divided

2 Tbsp. sugar

1 egg

Heaping 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats

1/2 cup flour

1/8 tsp. baking powder

1/8 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp salt (generous)

Filling:

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1 Tbsp. nonfat dry milk powder (optional)

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 cup butter, melted, slightly cooled

61/2 Tbsp. heavy cream

4 large egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla

Confectioner’s sugar for dusting

Crust

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 13x9x2-inch metal baking pan with parchment paper. Spray with nonstick spray. Combine six tablespoons butter, four tablespoons brown sugar and two tablespoons sugar in bowl of mixer. Beat until fluffy, scraping down sides of bowl occasionally. Add egg, beat until fluffy. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined. Spread into pan. Bake until light golden on top, about 18 minutes. Cool completely.

Using hands, crumble oat cookie into large bowl, add three tablespoons butter and 11/2 tablespoon brown sugar. Rub in with fingertips until mixture is moist enough to stick together. Transfer to nine-inch glass pie dish. Press evenly into dish and place on baking sheet.

Filling

Position rack in middle of oven, preheat to 350 degrees. Whisk both sugars, milk powder, and salt to blend. Add melted butter and whisk. Add cream, egg yolks, and vanilla and whisk until thoroughly blended. Pour into piecrust. Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Filling may begin to bubble up. Reduce temperature to 325 degrees and continue baking until filling is brown in spots and set around edges but a bit wobbly in the center, about 15 to 20 minutes more. Cool at least two hours, then chill. Dust powdered sugar over pie before serving.

(Be warned, I have made this pie a few times and it is difficult to get out of pan. Be careful, be patient!)

Aunt Tink’s Lemon Cake

Back by popular demand, here is my Aunt Tink’s Lemon Cake!

1 package yellow cake mix

1 package lemon Jello

3/4 cup apricot nectar

3/4 cup canola oil

4 eggs

Glaze:

Juice and rind of two lemons

11/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

Combine juice, rind, and sugar and beat until thick glaze consistency.

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a springform or bundt pan. Beat cake ingredients for four minutes on medium speed. Bake 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. When cake is cool enough to handle, invert onto platter and top with glaze.

Knorr Hollandaise Made Better

Four servings.

1 envelope Knorr hollandaise sauce mix

1 cup whole or low fat milk

1/4 cup butter

1-3 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Pinch of cayenne or smoked paprika

Whisk sauce mix and one cup of milk in small saucepan. Add 1/4 cup butter and bring to boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring frequently, until thickened, about one minute. At this point, taste the sauce and add as much lemon juice as you like. Add a pinch of cayenne or smoked paprika if you like it a bit more piquant.

   Things are looking up for sure when Saturdays bring the chance to visit a farmers market. Given the season, the Sag Harbor Farmers Winter Market will be held indoors weekly from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through mid-May at 34 Bay Street, a building across from the Breakwater Yacht Club. Local vendors will be selling preserves, pastas, wine, cheese, baked good and other treats, and handcrafted gifts.