Winter Eats

We are fortunate that more and more popular summer restaurants are serving up their fare all year long. Here is a trio of new eateries that have kept their doors open this season.

Fill ‘er Up
I’m not one to miss the bygone Nichol’s, a pub-like eatery that anchored the spot now occupied by Service Station. But those who loved the comfort food and generous drinks served there will not be disappointed by the new boite, which by the way is named after the filling station that once graced the location.

Bartender Alex Lehnen, who presides over the always-happening copper bar with its flickering big screen TVs, caters to both beer guzzlers and cocktail sippers. Born in Germany, the lumberjack lookalike who sports a thick beard and woolen cap, serves up an impressive array of rare imported beers on tap. The revolving selection includes many from his native land. On the night we visited he was pouring a golden libation from the world’s oldest brewery, Bavaria’s Weihenstephan, whose roots can be traced back nearly a thousand years.

Lehnen, who moonlights as a private chef and prefers to be called by his moniker Alex Von Salad (from the days when he was a vinaigrette entrepreneur), is also a deft mixologist. A self-avowed mescal aficionado, he concocted a smoky miracle with that liquor, fresh pineapple puree and pickled jalapeno. He has no name for it yet, but promises to put it on the winter menu. One he does have a name for is his “Stolen Sidecar,” a variation on the classic made partly with Stolen Smoked Rum. Divine. No wonder it just won a major competition.

Chef Matthew Chappele, who was recruited from the East Hampton Grill, dishes up people pleasers from Mac ‘n’ Cheese to a clever take on Oysters Rockefeller featuring the fried mollusks over a tasty mix of spinach and artichoke. There are also veggie options like the Namaste with quinoa and a black bean rice sauté. His menu has a Southern flair with such plates as the popular Lee Roy’s Southern Fried Chicken Sandwich, layered with white cheddar and served with kale slaw. The Smoky Baby Back Ribs are swathed in a thick coating of barbecue sauce and accompanied by a creamy scallion slaw. “Everything here is sweet with a bite,” gushes my dinner mate. “It’s food from the heart.”

South of the Border
I like a margarita as much as the next person (probably more). But it never occurred to me that I would not only like sipping straight tequila, but actually love it. My epiphany took place at Union Cantina, the new Mexican restaurant on Bowden Square (the former Publick House). Helmed by French-style chef Scott Kampf, executive chef at Union’s sister boite, Southampton Social Club, the new spot is known for its upscale south-of-the-border fare. And for its huge selection of tequilas.
After I ordered the spot’s tasty seasonal margarita (made with apple cider), my dinner companion mentioned that she—a prodigious rosé drinker—was switching from wine to tequila. Huh? It turns out that tequila has many health benefits from aiding digestion to fighting osteoporosis. More important to this New Yorker, it contains several factors that aid in weight-loss. Not, of course, if it’s loaded with juices and sugar.

So I studied Cantina’s top-shelf tequila menu, which lists dozens of varieties, salivating over the descriptions of each one’s special flavor profile. A shot of Partida on the rocks was velvety smooth and tasted of almonds. My friend’s Casamigos had a caramel finish. We were hooked.
While we didn’t have any, the chef is known for his “deconstructed enchiladas,” feasts of toasted tortillas and meat or fish layered with such touches as guacamole, queso blanco, rojo chile sauce and black bean salsa.

Our meal standouts were the Mexican Sweet Corn, a cob whose charred kernels were softly spiced with chipotle crema and sheathed with a quinoa-cheese crust, and the hearty beef short rib doused with a sweet mole sauce and accompanied by a dense corn bread pudding. It went down very well with another round of tequila.

Topping Rose
I’ve been a fan of the restaurant at Topping Rose House since it opened despite its carousel of chefs. And I’ve been a fan of uber chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten since dining at his first American outpost, Manhattan’s JoJo, way back in the early ‘90s. (By the way, the still-extant JoJo is temporarily closed but will reopen in January with a “fresh concept and newly designed interior.”)
In 1997 I swooned at the fare at his newly opened Asian-inspired eatery, Vong, atop Hong Kong’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel. It was named, the “Best Restaurant in the World” by the Robb Report the following year. That same year I was treated to a chef’s dinner at his latest contribution to culinary excellence: Jean Georges at the Trump International Hotel and Tower. It was one of the most memorable meals of my life.

So naturally I was looking forward to experiencing the Alsatian chef’s new venue at Topping Rose, a post vacated by his predecessor Tom Colicchio in 2014.

We had a couple of ginger margaritas at the bar accompanied by a dish of addictive spiced almonds while we checked out the design changes Vongerichten made. The chic space was given more warmth with grass-woven pendants and a dose of casual comfort with upholstered banquettes. In the dining room Billy Joel and Howard Stern were sitting at the next table with their wives.

We started with a superlative pear endive salad, built like a raft – its tiers of crisscross endive spears acting as crisp packages for dabs of blue cheese and pecan nuggets. Our advice regarding the wafer-thin pizza? Run, don’t walk, to get a taste of the version layered with Fontina and an explosive burst of black truffle: a testament to the power of few ingredients when married well.

The mint-scented, grass-fed grilled lamb chops served with a bracing Aleppo pepper sauce were melt-in-your mouth. And the accompanying broccoli spaetzel was so scrumptious we briefly flirted with the idea of becoming vegetarian. Did we mention the incomparable pumpkin crème brulee? In short, in this reviewer’s opinion, the Topping Rose continues to be the best gastronomic adventure the Hamptons has to offer.