Pot Pie Mania
Loaves and Fishes food store in Sagaponack is busy making its chicken pot pie during these cold winter days. According to the store manager, Karina Forrest, the store has been making the pie -- full of chicken, butter, cream, and vegetables and topped with puff pastry -- since it opened 44 years ago. Look for it in the freezer dinner section, "because sometimes you just need chicken pot pie," as Ms. Forrest said.
Spanish Wine
On March 7 the language of wine will be spoken in Spanish at Park Place Wines and Liquors in East Hampton. Lisa Schock and Chris Miller, the store's sommeliers, will take attendees on a tour from Rioja to Priorat, demonstrating the country's grapes and styles of wine. Tickets are $35 and the class starts at 6 p.m.
Speaking of Wine
Richard Olsen-Harbich, who has been making wine on the East End for more than four decades, will speak at Sag Harbor's John Jermain Memorial Library on Sunday from 2 to 3 p.m. in a program co-presented by The Church in Sag Harbor. He will discuss his recently published book, "Sun, Sea, Soil, Wine," an examination of our region's terroir and history, and will also sign books, which will be available for purchase. The talk is free but reservations through the library are required.
And More Wine
Nick and Toni's Wine Wednesday Workshops, led by Chimene Macnaughton, Honest Man Hospitality Group's beverage director, and Luis Marin, general manager and partner at Wainscott Main Wine and Spirits, are back for a 10th season this week.
The first session will have the theme Flying Blind: Tasting Deductively and Why It Matters with Bob Pruitt, an advanced sommelier candidate at the Court of Masters Sommeliers, Americas. Classes last from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Nick and Toni's in East Hampton. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased through Resy. Students who buy the whole seven-week series will automatically be entered to win a seat at a future Wine Getaway Thursday dinner. Crystal tasting stems, tasting sheets, and small plates from the restaurant's kitchen will be provided.
Brew News
Lately, the folks at Springs Brewery have been concocting some new releases. One is a helles-style lager inspired by the owners' trip to Germany last year, and the way brewers there take advantage of the ingredients available locally. The other is a double India pale ale inspired by the Culloden Point area in Montauk where some 200 Leisurama prefab houses, sold by Macy's department store in the 1960s, were placed and sold.
Bent by Nature is 4.7-percent alcohol by volume and is made with barley grown in Sagaponack at Foster Farm and hops grown at Hoppy Acre. The makers describe it as "super clean" with a "traditional lager fermentation profile with aromas of jasmine tea, lemon blossoms, and satsuma orange with a rustic bready backbone."
Leisurama has a bracing 8.5-percent A.B.V. and is made with Nelson, Motueka, Rakau, and Amarillo hops, along with American and English barley malt, and malted oats. The tasting notes on this one are a "cascading medley of aromatic tropical fruit flavors across the palate: ripe pineapple, coconut, lime, banana, and sweet brioche."
Small Bites
Marilee's Farmstand in Sagaponack will not offer a spring community supported agriculture program this year. The farm stand will open sometime in May during asparagus season.
After some renovations, Highway Restaurant and Bar in East Hampton will reopen on Wednesday.
L&W Market in Bridgehampton is now selling rendered duck fat for use in home cooking. Chinese five spice, curried, and shawarma are the current flavor options.
Kate Fullam, who has been the executive director East End Food for several years, is leaving to become food systems team lead at the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, where she said she will remain committed to supporting the farming and food industries on Long Island. A search has begun for a new East End Food director as Bob Hatton serves as an interim leader of the organization and Miranda Capriotti will become development director there.
This article differs from the print version by adding an entry about the Wine Wednesday series at Nick and Toni's restaurant, which came in after the section had gone to press.
