PX This.

Welcome to: Where I Spent My Day Off —by a NYC Restaurant "Insider"

So, what do you do in the industry?
I’m a restaurateur/operator for several F&B enterprises in [downtown/midtown Manhattan] NYC.

And you have how many days off a week, generally?
I usually take a half day on Saturday, and on Sunday I try to limit work to about an hour or two.

What did you do for breakfast yesterday?
We had breakfast at Sunset Beach. We normally stay with friends whenever we visit the Hamptons (I sold my own house ages ago), but this time we decided to try something different. Even though the weather forecast wasn’t great, we figured we’d get out of the city anyway. I’d called Sunset Beach at the last minute, and (presumably due to the forecast) I had no trouble booking a room the night before.
Breakfast was good— nothing too fancy, but a nice eggs benedict with spicy hollandaise and a mushroom frittata with a side of apple-smoked sausage. The coffee could have been better, though. I have noticed this before— even awhile back when I used to stay at The Raleigh in Miami Beach, the coffee always sucked. Not an AB Hotels strong point, I guess.
But the service was good and friendly, especially for so early in the morning (by young NYers in the Hamptons).

Lunch?
Silver’s in Southampton. My Hamptons lunchtime staple. It’s hard to get there sometimes, because they close at 3:30PM, and obviously, if you’re on the beach, it isn’t easy to get there on time. If Garrett [Wellins] is around, he’s usually more accommodating to the regulars, and you can get a seat closer to 4PM. But if not, forget it; it seems the staff starts turning people away at 3:15.
Normally I go for either the lobster roll or the lobster salad, which are the best I’ve had anywhere, but this time I opted for the crabcake and was not disappointed— it was excellent. My wife had the burger, which is also one of their specialties (it’s the size of your head) and that was really delicious too. It’s not hard to imagine how Silver’s manages to stay in business working 3 hours a day 6 months out of the year. The quality of the food is truly superb.

And afterward?
Just walked around and did a little window shopping… and stopped in for a gelato cone from Sant Ambroeus.
Then back to Sunset Beach for a sunset drink. It really turned out great that the weather forecast was so bad, because it was unusually serene— normally it’s a madhouse. But the weather actually turned out okay; by 6PM the sun was peeking out and the temperature was perfect. We had a chance to chat with all our pals who are running the place this year; generally the staff is running around like chickens without heads it’s so busy. So it was really very nice lounging relaxedly with a nice bottle of rosé and a very good platter of crudité. I liked the olive tapenade so much, I’m stealing the idea for the crudité I serve in my own places. Between all the locations, we must have barrels of tapenade, but nobody ever thought to serve it with the crudité.

Dinner?
We hadn’t planned on leaving the island again, but then we got a call from friends who happened to be staying in Sag Harbor for the weekend. So we decided to meet them for dinner at B. Smith’s on the marina.
Ugh, it was horrible. The service was OK, but the food was awful. Since I’d missed my usual lunchtime lobster roll at Silver’s, that’s what I ordered, and my wife chose the "special" lobster salad. Plus we had Blue Point oysters to start.
Well, the oysters were pretty bad; they have a terrible shucker. He let all the natural juices drain out and there were shells shards everywhere. And the lobster was a joke. Overcooked, over-refrigerated, tough, and chewy like rubber— which for the Hamptons especially, is a real travesty; you’d think there’d be great fresh seafood everywhere. And don’t even get me started on the wine by the glass.
The waffle fries were good though.

And afterward?
Just back to the hotel, and by this time the bar seemed to really be pumping. Not nearly as packed as usual, but definitely pretty crowded. We were tired so we just went back to our room, which was essentially pretty nice. Simple and unadorned but clean and cozy and comfortable. The bathroom is small, but everything else is pretty good. And the balcony is spacious and pleasant.

How much did you blow today?
Including the room? Probably about a grand.

yesterday i got another one of those e-mails where peoples ask me random things like i actually know what the hells i’m talking about. (it’s really flattering!) so i decided every now and again i should answer a question out loud so i don’t have to answer it repeatedly, thereby admitting my ineptitude merely once instead of multiple times. yay!

Q: "what’s the deal with the hamptons? …is it really all that or is it all hype?"

A: i have no idea.

oh okay, some if it is “all that” and some of it is “hype.” there are nice houses in the hamptons so if you get to stay in one of those, the hamptons are pretty awesome. and the beaches are good. and it’s relaxing to get away sometimes— you have to jump in the ocean to get rid of evil spirits, you know. plus there’s an andre-balazs hotel there and who doesn’t love those?

the rest is eh. all the restaurants are kinda overpriced (i don’t know about the stores cuz i’ve never shopped there and i don’t also don’t know anything about the clubs— get serious). and there are only a few good ones at that. i think i have maybe been to about a dozen or so restaurants in the hamptons in my lifetime and there are only two i like: SantAmbroeus and Silver’s.

obviously you already know alls about SantAmbroeus. it’s pretty much the same at the beach, but the one at the beach has a gelato/dessert stand too. and everybody gets all dolled up after their day on the beach to go there. it’s expensive— more expensive than the one here in the city. and it’s pretty much the same type of crowd as you would expect (they even have some of the very same staff). i saw barbara-walters there once.

Silver’s is this great bistro type joint that serves delicious lobster rolls, and the bestest crab cake i have ever tasted in my life. they also have these monster sized burgers and BLTs and whatnot, but i’ve never tried any of those cuz i always order the same things (that other stuff looks good though). they have a good decently priced rosé by the bottle from provence too.
the only annoying thing about Silver’s is they stop seating at 3:30pm and they’re not open for dinner at all! what the hells.
the owner/chef is a really nice guy named gavin-ellins (?) oh geez i forget now i’ll have to ask again next time i’m there. his son works as a waiter in the dining room and he’s sweet too. sometimes the staff gets a little abrupt around closing time, but overall i think Silver’s is really great.
i guess they must do just fine only opening like three hours a day so good for them. but it is kind of a bummer.

that’s pretty much all i know about the hamptons.

[ from now ons, you can ask any questions you like in the brand new "just ask. just tell." section of The Forum @ PX This. membership/registration is not required for this section, so hopefully somebody out there will be able to answer your question better than i. hooray! ]