Where The Locals Know To Go To Have Their Minds Blown

When summer comes, the places to be are obvious — on the water, at the beaches, the parks and preserves, eating at the outdoor restaurants. But until summer arrives, locals and weekenders enjoy the relative quiet in some other choice spots. They know to look up high, under the surface, in barns and farther out east for their fun.

You’ve heard about the Sag Harbor Cinema — how it rose, phoenix-like, from the ashes of a devastating 2016 fire to serve as a state-of-the-art triplex showing a wide array of vintage films and new art-house releases. But have you been to this nonprofit’s Green Room?

This bar with rooftop views to the harbor is open to all moviegoers the day of their screening, and it’s open to cinema members every day.

To turn the fun up a notch, there’s movie-themed Trivia Night every Monday; Close-up Magic with amazing magician Allan Kronzek every Tuesday; and Wine Club (promoted as “boozy not boujee”) every Wednesday.

You think you know what to expect at a “trivia night” — tension. But the cinema’s version is “no stakes,” relaxed and fun. The winner of each of the four rounds of multiple-choice questions takes home a free movie ticket.

If you’re wondering what “close-up magic,” is, it’s best to just relax and prepare to have your mind blown. One-on-one card tricks and sleight-of-hand maneuvers performed by Kronzek from the next barstool is intense. Best to drink before, during, and after the magic unfolds.

Wine Club has found a ready, and growing, audience. Bartender Deborah Lee led the group for the first time recently. She announced, in a voice that betrayed traces of an Irish accent, that she was “very nervous,” as she launched into a talk about the perceived differences between Old World and New World wines. Noting that, typically, Old World wines are “drier, less intense” due to geography, climate, and traditional vs. modern methods.

She poured multiple examples of each, unlabeled, and invited attendees to guess which was “Old” and which was “New.” Of course this Irish trickster mixed things up by passing out some samples that turned this notion of distinctive differences upside down.

No one remembers the specifics, but minds were blown, again. Past Wednesday Wine Clubs have included a saké tasting led by Jesse Matsuoka of nearby Sen Restaurant; and a tasting of Italian sparkling wines. Wölffer Estate Vineyard Winemaker and Partner Roman Roth will be hosting a Wednesday night Wine Club at the cinema soon.

Speaking of Wölffer Estate Vineyard, Thursday evening typically finds a wide range of people enjoying the Sagaponack vineyard’s expansive tasting room inside and out. About 20 oenophiles may be in the cellar below. You’ll find them lapping up Wölffer wines before anyone else has tasted them and noshing on local cheeses. The cellar is where the action — the fermentation — is, after all.

Sommelier Pam Topham and hospitality manager Vanessa Karali recently led a tasting of three reds Wölffer expects to release this autumn. Why drink wines before they’re “ready?” When “their tannins are babies,” as Topham put it, their structure not yet complete? It’s a wine geek thing. It’s exciting to taste things as they’re developing, to imagine the bright, bold future.

But it’s far from the only thing “on the menu.” Winemaker Roman Roth often leads the charge into the cellar, explaining everything from why some barrels have extra pieces of wood on them, to why he chose to add 4 percent Pinot Gris to an otherwise purely Sémillon bottle of orange wine (“it helped to elevate this wine’s elegance”).

Hopefully, Wölffer will soon be able to return to hosting 50-person lunches in the cellar. The only thing better than drinking wine and snacking in the cellar is drinking wine and eating a whole meal in the cellar.

You probably know where the other South Fork wineries are located — Channing Daughters Winery in Bridgehampton, and Duck Walk Vineyards in Water Mill. If you find yourself in an old dairy barn where drinks feature “seed-to-glass” spirits grown on the property, with a different food truck parked outside every weekend, you can only be in the Sagaponack Farm Distillery’s tasting room.

Here you can gaze through large windows to watch the beautiful German still glistening in the adjacent distillery works, where barrels of aging rye, gins, liqueurs, vodkas and potato-based hard stuff are stored floor-to-ceiling.

You’ll often find resident farmers and siblings, distillery owner Dean Foster and manager Marilee Foster, pouring. And you’ll frequently find the Fosters’ cousin-by-marriage, master distiller Matt Beamer, holding court.

This special place is not a “bar.” The distillery’s uniquely locavore cocktails — such as the Greener Pasture featuring their aquavit and the Poxabogue Pony featuring their potato vodka — are made intentionally small, and food must be ordered with drinks.

This not-a-bar, which closes at 7 p.m. at this time of year, has become the regular Friday night hangout for many locals, even some who don’t drink. The tasting room has offered interesting mocktails from day one. This is particularly appropriate since they opened their doors on December 5, 2019, to mark the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution on the same date in 1933, which repealed Prohibition.

When asked if the Fosters’ forebears, with their many barns on the East End, were bootleggers back in the day, Marilee consistently avers, “No! They were all teetotalers!”

Drinking and bootlegging always brings to mind the little fishing village of Montauk. It’s had to make its own fun for centuries. In years past, the Nappeague Stretch was prone to flooding, leaving “The End” something of an island state. Until the 1920s, Montauk didn’t even have many “summer visitors,” apart from the cattle that were herded there along the beaches — from across the South Fork — to graze on the point all season.

The Algonquin placename “Shagwong” refers to a village and sacred site northeast of Indian Fields in Montauk, according to Shinnecock scholar (and artist) Jeremy Dennis. The Shagwong Tavern has been enchanting East Enders since 1936.

It’s the rare drinkery that has kept much of its dive bar vibe intact. (Though there is Veuve Clicquot Champagne and Whispering Angel Rosé on offer, and its original collection of taxidermy animal heads has been 86’d.)

The tavern’s bar and kitchen are open seven days a week. Possibly “the most East End of dinners” can be had here — a bowl of Shagwong clam chowder followed by “Montauk Fish & Chips” — which is beer-battered cod atop fries. Wash everything down with a Montauk Brewing Company Summer Ale and there definitely won’t be room for even one slice of key lime pie. That famous clam chowder — frequently a winning entry in Montauk’s annual clam chowder contest in the “white” category — is also available by the quart to take home.

Right now, Saturday nights feature a DJ playing danceable sets that begin at 10 p.m. So it feels like an English “local” — where pub culture and the disco life have long co-existed in groggy harmony.

You’ll often find local bands here in the summer months. That’s when local bands, and the rest of the locals, “go back to work.”

Stacy Dermont is co-author, with Hillary Davis, of “The Hamptons Kitchen” (W.W. Norton & Co.), the cookbook and guide that features over 100 of Dermont’s wine and beer pairings. More info on StacyDermont.com.