Embracing the Spirit

These South Fork restaurants are all dressed up for the holidays

There may be no place like home when it comes to the holidays, but you can still get a healthy helping of holiday spirit while dining out in the Hamptons. Even if the majority of your December meals are eaten at home with family, there’s no reason not to go out and enjoy the holiday restaurant scene. And, in the Hamptons, many restaurants are really taking the holidays to heart. This means festive decorations in addition to festive foods.
In Southampton, the iconic Shippy’s Pumpernickels is always festooned with lights and decorations during the last month of the year. The cozy interior, paired with the restaurant’s cozy German food, is the perfect place to while away a late fall afternoon or evening. The bratwurst, knockwurst, and weisswurst are all delicious choices — hearty fare to accompany a warm, inviting atmosphere. But you also won’t want to miss out on the Black Forest cake, a symphony of chocolate, cream, and cherries that certainly invokes the month of special occasions.

East Hampton’s Rowdy Hall does its best to embrace the holiday spirit. A roaring fireplace, front and center in the dining room, sets the mood, as do holiday ornaments, which are strung from the ceiling with fishing line. Sitting inside of Rowdy at the holidays feels like sitting inside of a decorated Christmas tree. A crock of superlative onion soup, which arrives still bubbling, is just another reminder of why it’s always a good idea to eat out in the colder months.
Speaking of fireplaces, you’ll find one of the coziest, most holiday-appropriate ones at East Hampton’s The 1770 House, where, in the low-ceilinged, comfy tavern, you can enjoy a holiday cocktail. The restaurant’s exterior is trimmed with white lights that beckon from Main Street, and, on a snowy evening (or even a not snowy one), The 1770 House feels like it stepped right out of a holiday card.
Just down the road, The Maidstone Hotel and Restaurant also boasts a picture-perfect fireplace, along with a towering, multi-colored Christmas tree at the hotel’s entrance. The restaurant’s dark, brooding interior is best enjoyed in the winter months. And in early December, the hotel hosts a tree-lighting ceremony, welcoming East Enders to watch the magic of the holidays unfold.
In Bridgehampton, Pierre Weber decorates his Main Street restaurant, Pierre’s, with an emphasis on the spectacular. The restaurant’s front is always host to large toy soldiers, suspended from the second floor windows. Garland and white lights complete the scene. Inside, the all white restaurant interior is definitely holiday white — and if the décor isn’t enough to make you feel spirited, the food certainly should be. Weber’s decadent French menu features culinary classics that don’t miss a beat.
No matter which restaurant you choose, though — and you should definitely choose them all! — you’ll find no shortage of holiday spirit on the East End restaurant scene this year. So raise a glass to December and enjoy the Season of Giving. It’s the most wonderful time of the year.