Fade to Black

Where to eat during the Hamptons Film Festival 

With the Hamptons Film Festival in town, it’s time to catch up on the best filmmaking of the year. But once the fade to black, where will you curb your hunger? Even in the shoulder season, the East End is teeming with options, when it comes to lunch and dinner. For some of our favorite fall picks — places that will impress when you’re out for the Festival — read on. 

This season’s new East Hampton pizza joint, a Bleecker Street import called Little Charli, will remain open through December, covering plenty of Film Festival attendees’ needs in the meantime. Offering up Roman-style pizza while highlighting fresh ingredients, the restaurant cooks its pizzas in a wood-burning oven. Pizzaiolo Salvatore Olivella cut his teeth in New York and abroad before heading Out East. The result of his years of craftsmanship: a menu of family recipes and dough that undergoes a 34-hour fermentation process. Pizzas are long and shareable, in the traditional Roman style. The arresting Godfather is a meter long in total, and arrives beneath layers of prosciutto and arugula, shallots, ample burrata, and fresh shavings of truffle. 

At the well-established Page Sag Harbor, which is open to visitors all year long, diners can enjoy a view of the village’s bustling Main Street, either from inside the cozy restaurant or from the busy back porch, if the weather suits. The all-encompassing menu truly does offer something for everyone. There’s local Long Island duck breast and leg confit, served with Himalayan red rice shaved asparagus, and sautéed spinach; handmade cavatelli with jumbo lump crab, snow peas, fava beans, and cherry tomatoes; and seared sea scallops, served atop a kombucha and red cabbage purée and alongside chanterelle mushrooms and a jalapeño coulis. 

Also in Sag Harbor is the near-perfect American Hotel, a dignified and old-fashioned space that lends itself to long and drawn-out lunches and dinners. The intimate barroom is ideal for a post-festival apéritif, but the brick-walled dining room — formal and bright, thanks to a solarium-esque ceiling — is a dining must for anyone traveling through. On a brisk fall evening, there may be no better joy in all of the Hamptons than a bowl of the Soupe à l’Oignon Gratinée. American Hackleback, Osetra White Sturgeon, and Beluga Hybrid Kaluga Caviar are all sold in 28-ounce servings, for those looking to add a bit of luxury to an evening out. (To that end, there’s the Foie Gras Sauté au Porto Branca, too.) 

Or head to Amagansett, for a visit to Il Buco al Mare, the Hamptons outpost of the Noho restaurant that opened in the summer of 2021. With a vast selection of tinned fish imported from the Iberian Peninsula and Italy, Il Buco is dedicated to small plates and breads. Focaccia is made in house, with imported flour that is driven by a sense of place. A wood-burning oven is a central feature of the restaurant, imbuing breads and entrées — like the whole-roasted fluke with caper and anchovy brown butter — with just a wisp of smoke.