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Perhaps it’s because of the approach of the holiday most closely associated with gustatory overindulgence. Or maybe it’s because autumn is the season of the harvest, from the ripe fruit and veggies of farm fields and vineyards to the striped bass and scallops of the surf and the bays.
Then again, it might be a simple matter of responding to the atavistic urge to stockpile nutrients for the less bountiful season of hibernation ahead.
Whatever the reason, there is a surfeit of fine-dining and tasting opportunities on the horizon, including a winemaker’s dinner, a chef’s tasting dinner, a brewmaster’s dinner, a slow food celebration tied to a book launch, a cooking class designed to help home chefs shake up their Thanksgiving menus, extensions of Restaurant Week prix fixe specials and other enticements designed to encourage diners to step out and exercise and educate their taste buds while celebrating all the East End food scene has to offer.
On Thursday, November 12, at 7 p.m., Chef Palmer of Four Seasons Caterer (formerly John Duck Jr.’s) at 15 Prospect Street in Southampton will offer a Winemaker’s Dinner featuring the chef’s culinary creations paired with wines from Duck Walk Vineyard.
The dinner menu features a first course of Asian snapper followed by an intermezzo and a second course of butternut squash and crab soup. The entrée of seared duck with bing cherry sauce will be followed by a salad of fennel, frisée and escarole with red wine vinaigrette; and dessert will be a spiced pumpkin waffle topped with cinnamon ice cream and caramelized pears.
Cost of the dinner is $50 per person, and reservations are required. For details, call Four Seasons at 283-3354, e-mail jean@fourseasonscaterer.com or visit www.fourseasonscaterer.com.
A five-course autumn Chef’s Tasting Dinner will be held at Copa Wine Bar and Tapas Restaurant on School Street in Bridgehampton on Thursday, November 12, at 7 p.m.
Cost of the Chef’s Tasting is $55 per person, and reservations are requested. For information or to make reservations, contact Kristy at info@copawineandtapas.com, call 631-613-6469 or visit http://www.copawineandtapas.com.
The Plaza Café off Hill Street opposite the Southampton Inn will host a “Brewmaster’s Dinner” on Friday, November 13, with a pre-dinner reception beginning at 6 p.m.
For starters, Southampton Cuvee de Fleurs and Southampton Christmas Ale will be poured during the reception with hors d’oeuvres. A first course of pumpkin lobster bisque with butter poached lobster will be paired with Southampton Pumpkin Ale; and a second course of sautéed local Peconic Bay scallops with cauliflower-white truffle purée and clementine picatta will be served with Southampton Saison.
Grilled lobster-shrimp sausage with braised Napa cabbage and lobster sauce will be the third course, served with Southampton Double White; and the fourth course of Jurgielewicz Farms duck “three ways” with sweet potato purée will be served with North Fork Hops.
For dessert, a chocolate bread pudding with peanut butter mousse will be served with Southampton Imperial Porter.
Cost of the Brewmaster’s Dinner is $95 per person; call 631-283-9323 for reservations.
Nick & Toni’s on North Main Street in East Hampton will host “Slow: Life in a Tuscan Town—A Celebration of Slow Food in Restaurants Across America” on Wednesday, November 18, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Offered as part of a collaboration between the restaurant, Slow Food, Zagat and Welcome Books, the Slow Food dinner and book launch will include a copy of the book, “Slow: Life in a Tuscan Town,” for all diners.
The cost of the dinner is $95 per person; for information or to make reservations, call 324-3550.
Cooking classes will resume next week at Muse Restaurant off Montauk Highway in Water Mill as chef Matthew Guiffrida offers the first class of the season, on non-traditional Thanksgiving side dishes, on Wednesday, November 18, at 6 p.m.
For further information or to make reservations, call 726-2606.
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