Fall is a favorite time for many East Enders. Weather is beautiful, beaches are perfect and you don’t have to wait on a half hour line for your morning coffee. All those restaurants you struggled to get seated at in August, not only have tables, they’re offering deals.
Last weekend, there wasn’t a reservation to be had at Nick and Toni’s, where the tony crowd gobbled up $40 whole fish by the boatload. Paul McCartney, Roger Waters and Ron Delsener huddled in the middle of the front room, Alec Baldwin had a lively conversation with a group of friends and Ethan Hawke dined on the famous roast chicken. But in a few weeks, the cozy spot will begin a $30, three-course prix fixe dinner, including many of the restaurant’s signature dishes.
Navy Beach in Montauk will introduce “Sixy Sundays’’ for fall, beginning this week, and continuing through October 9th, offering 60 cent Jerk Wings, $6 Navy Dogs, $6 Draft Beers and $6 Bacon Bloodies. New seasonal dishes like Duck Leg Tacos with Hoisin BBQ and Mango Chutney ($13) and Lamb Osso Buco with Israeli Cous Cous and Harissa ($26) will also be added.
The packed crowd may have thinned, but the sunset on Three Mile Harbor is just as dazzling at The Boat House, which is offering a fall special of a dozen clams for $5 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., and a lobster dinner from 5 to 7 p.m. for $25. On Thursdays, margaritas are $5 and there is free pizza at the bar all night long.
M and E snuck under the radar, opening quietly over the summer, but it will serve seven nights per week all year, and institute a bargain prix fixe. Check out the artichoke flatbread with mushrooms, manchego cheese and white truffle, or the short rib flatbread with caramelized onion and horseradish cream. Grilled swordfish from Montauk is fresh and flavorful with mango salsa, and Long Island duck breast is spiced and served with ginger rice pilaf.
One dining hit of the season was East Hampton Grill, which took over the space long occupied by Della Femina. The large fireplace looks particularly inviting as we head into autumn and so does the more affordable menu. “We will be adding some lower cost items,’’ promises chef Brian Stefano, who will be serving up local striped bass in September, paired with fall vegetable risotto and butternut squash, as well as dishes with corn and tomatoes, which he says are best in September. Among his new heartier entrees is a cioppino, brimming with local catch. “The fish stew is one of those warming, homey dishes that is excellent for colder weather,’’ he explains.
A short ride to Shelter Island can transport you to another time. Just minutes from Sag Harbor, it hasn’t changed much in decades. “My grandfather used to summer in East Hampton, but one day he couldn’t find a parking spot, so he upped and moved here,’’ explains Alec Walker, a young preppy waiter at the Vine Street Café. “The ferry creates a buffer, and we have very little crime. It may be a little frustrating to be separated by a boat ride, but it also makes it romantic… you travel back 50 years when you set foot off the ferry.’’ For fall, the focus is on the new Vine Street Café Market, which will offer the full menu as take-out, as well as bottled sauces and dressings.
La Maison Blanche, the charming Shelter Island hotel that opened in a Victorian house at the beginning of this summer, is adding an autumn three-course $24.95 prix fixe, including options like a simply baked calamari starter and hangar steak with shallot sauce and frites. Head over on Sunday, September 24th, and you can watch staff from local restaurants compete in a pétanque competition on the hotel’s front lawn.
And you thought the fun ended Labor Day?
Tune in next week, as we continue to bring you coverage of New Yorkers at play in other sunny locales.
Photo: East Hampton Grill
