A Pop of Color

Beat the Winter Blues at These Colorful South Fork Haunts.

Winter can be the drabbest time of year in the northeast. But what if you could approach the season of no color outside a little differently? The South Fork’s restaurants are peppered with stunning dining establishments that embrace bold colors, integrating serious interior design with — you guessed it — color. One need not venture too far from the confines of home to find the full spectrum this year. 

For a refreshing jolt to your winter palette (and palate), start in the east, in Amagansett, at Coche Comedor. Coche Comedor — which is Spanish for dining car, an apt name for this restaurant, which was once itself a sleek dining car that was rehabbed a few summers ago — offers colorful Italian tile, a graffiti-style mural, and primary-colored tables that speak to the country that inspired the cuisine: Mexico. Color dominates the menu and the drinks list (frozen margaritas come bolstered by a selection of flavors, including a vibrant red sour cherry floater). 

East Hampton’s veteran Nick & Toni’s offers more subdued shades. Co-owner Toni Ross, an artist herself, has made the three-decades-old restaurant a place to showcase her ever-growing collection of fine art. On any given night, guests can find diverse, unique, and, yes, colorful works hanging in the warm (and highly coveted) dining room. 

In neighboring Sag Harbor, colorful sea foam green tile at the taco joint K Pasa provides a stunning accent wall that may help you forget about the cold outside (and, if that doesn’t do the trick, direct your eyes toward the incredible black and white mural that occupies the back wall). K Pasa’s sibling restaurant, Sen, a sushi place that has held court across the street for over a quarter century, recently underwent extensive renovations. Today, an extended bar glows in the back, a colorful antidote to the winter blues.

Almond, in Bridgehampton, has always been famous for its local take on bistro fare. Just ask co-owner and executive chef Jason Weiner, who has integrated South Fork farms into his menu verbiage. But they may be just as famous for their House of Scalamandre zebras wallpaper in Masai Red, which provides an accent wall in the restaurant’s rear. It’s a famous pop of color in a restaurant famous for so much: its food, its lively bar scene, its personable presence on the corner of one of the Hamptons’ most visible corners. Stop in for a drink, for a plate of Korean-style short ribs, or for a look at the wallpaper on a dreary January afternoon. You’ll be rewarded either way.

A tour of the South Fork’s most colorful spots would not be complete, of course, without a trip to Bamboo, in Southampton. This space been many things over the years, but these days it boasts a cerulean bar that will brighten even the dullest mid-winter mood. The restaurant is not currently serving alcohol, but don’t let that dissuade you from sidling up and tucking into a plate of crispy pork gyoza. Outside, the leaves may be gone, but inside, the South Fork won’t let you forget the many colors of the rainbow.