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It’s that time of year again: Some restaurants are in winter hibernation; some are just catching their breath for a few weeks; others are offering mid-winter specials and a number of other incentives—wine tastings, chef’s tables, movie ticket vouchers or discounts, book clubs, to name a few—to encourage hardy souls to venture out and sample their fare.
This week, Dining Out takes a look at some of what’s being offered now, and some of what’s coming up.
Advanced sommelier Chris Miller and Paul De Verna of Hamptons Wine Shoppe will be hosting one of the Wine Shoppe’s complimentary wine tastings on Friday, January 22, at 6 p.m. at Robert’s restaurant on Montauk Highway in Water Mill. The next tasting will be at Stonewalls restaurant on Reeves Avenue in Riverhead on Thursday, January 28.
The goal of these tastings is to showcase the top 10 to 15 labels that have impressed the two men over the last 30 days and to share them, and some of their expertise, with other wine lovers, who are invited to stay for dinner. Each restaurant offers a prix fixe menu following the tasting for those who attend. Registration for all the wine tasting events with Hamptons Wine Shoppe can be found at Meetup.com/hamptonswineclub.
Robert’s has offered to extend its three-course, $33 prix fixe menu for all who attend January 22 event.
For more information or to make a reservation, call 726-7171.
WordHampton Public Relations, headquartered in East Hampton (www.wordhampton.com) and Skoop! (www.skoop.com) have teamed up to launch LIFoodies (http://www.lifoodies.com), a new program that allows users to receive Long Island dining discounts on their mobile phones.
LIFoodies subscribers will be notified of new dining coupons via text message. To receive the exclusive deals, subscribers must show the text message to their server; some special offers may require subscribers to call the restaurant directly.
Each discount will be unique to that restaurant, and is exclusive to LIFoodies subscribers. All deals will be tailored to such common themes as: significant savings; deep discounts; two-for-one offers; giveaways; and reservations at restaurants typically booked to capacity, among others.
LIFoodies does not charge its members to use the service, but standard text messaging rates apply. Mobile phone users who would like to subscribe but need a text messaging plan should check with phone service providers.
To become a LIFoodies subscriber, visit www.lifoodies.com to enter phone number and zip code and select the region of interest for LIFoodies deals: Nassau County, Suffolk County, the East End or any combination of the three. Subscribers will start receiving deals around February 1 and will never receive more than two deals a week.
For further information about LIFoodies, visit www.lifoodies.com.
Executive Chef and Co-Owner Jason Weiner of Almond on Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton and Almond NYC at 12 East 22nd Street in Manhattan will be in the kitchen at the James Beard House (167 West 12th Street, New York; www.jamesbeard.org) on Sunday, January 31, at noon for a mid-winter brunch. The cost of the brunch is $75 for members of the James Beard Foundation and $90 for non-members.
The menu will include hors d’oeuvres of house cured pastrami with sauce gribiche, classic shrimp cocktail, cauliflower panna cotta with prosecco gelee and American caviar, and Jerusalem artichoke veloute. Other menu offerings include house smoked bluefish with Greek yogurt and dill; Peconic Bay scallops with hash of salsify and house-cured lardon, poached egg and oysters Rockefeller coulis; grilled quail with a warm salad of kuri squash, pomegranates, ricotta salata and pistachios; and banana bread French toast with candied walnuts, dried cranberries, and malted anglaise.
For more information or reservations, call the James Beard House at 212-675-4984.
The eighth annual “Hamptons Restaurant Week,” slated to begin the last week of March and running from Sunday, March 21, through Sunday, March 28, is now accepting participants at www.hamptonsrestaurantweek.com.
Not restricted to restaurants, the joint regional marketing campaign is designed to create a surge in business during a quiet time of year and invites all local wineries, lodging and spa properties on the East End to participate.
For eight days, all participating restaurants offer their own unique prix fixe menus all night except Saturday, when the promotional prix fixe is offered only until 7 p.m. New in 2010, restaurants will have the option of offering three-course prix fixes for $19.95 or $24.95, or different dinner choices at both prices, $19.95 and $24.95.
Diners may try discounted bottles of wine from participating vineyards for $19.95 or $24.95 per bottle at select restaurants. Vineyards may offer discounts in tasting rooms: 15 percent off bottles of select wines, 20 percent off cases of select wines, or a flight of five tasting wines for $5.
Diners may rest between meals at East End lodging properties offering 15 percent off accommodations, stay two nights and get the third night free, or stay one night and get the second at half price. Spa participants will help diners rejuvenate before meals with 15 percent off any spa service, 50 percent off pedicure with any manicure, or coupons redeemable on their next visit.
Any business interested in signing up as a participant is encouraged to visit www.hamptonsrestaurantweek.com and click the Business Sign Up icon. For further information, contact the Hamptons Restaurant Week executive committee at WordHampton Public Relations at (631) 329-0050.
Rugosa on Montauk Highway in East Hampton (www.rugosarestaurant.com) is waiving its corkage fee for all wines purchased at Domaine Franey Wines & Spirits (459 Pantigo Road, East Hampton; www.domainefraney.com) throughout the month of January. Diners need only present their receipt from purchase and present it with the bottle when dining at Rugosa.
For reservations or further information, call Rugosa at (631) 604-1550 or visit www.rugosarestaurant.com. For press inquiries contact WordHampton Public Relations at (631) 329-0050.
Almond on Montauk Highway in Bridgehampton has announced a new five-course prix fixe every Saturday night from 6 to 7:30 p.m. for $35, with the menu changing weekly.
Almond is open Thursday through Tuesday and closed on Wednesday. For more information, call 537-8885.
Rowdy Hall in the Parrish Mews in East Hampton is now offering $8 movie tickets with lunch and dinner served Sunday through Thursday.
The Rowdy Readers book club schedule for January through March has been announced. Offered in conjunction with BookHampton, Rowdy Readers meets every Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. at Rowdy Hall.
The theme for this session will be European and American authors and 19th century writers such as Chekov, du Maupassant, Henry James, Balzac, Hawthorne, Melville, Eliot, Wharton, Joyce and others. Each week there will be an hour-long discussion on the author and the writing. Lunch is available for purchase while the readers group meets.
The schedule is as follows: January 26, Gustav Flaubert (1821-1880), from “Three Tales,” “A Simple Heart”; February 2, George Eliot (1819-1880), “Janet’s Repentance” from “Scenes of a Clerical Life (chapters I – XIII); February 9, George Eliot, “Janet’s Repentance” (chapters XIV – XXVIII); and February 16, Anton Chekhov, “Disturbing the Balance.”
Current hours are seven days a week, serving lunch, a midday menu, and dinner. For further information, call Rowdy Hall at 324-8555.
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