Channing Daughters Winery & Townline BBQ

Now that the summer is over *sniff* I thought I’d give you an idea for a day trip to the Hamptons that is cheap, fun, and will leave you full and warm. 

First let me say that the Long Island Railroad advertises itself as a way to see the Hamptons while leaving your car at home. They have pretty pictures in the subway cars of Manhattan showing pictures of Jones Beach, the Fire Island Light House, and another that says something like “Market Hopping.” Something that gives the impression that you can get on the train, get off at your destination and walk around and see stuff. This is absolutely untrue. The best case scenario is that you get left off in the middle of a town, not a pumpkin patch, or “market.” This happens east of the Hampton Bays stop on the Montauk line. West of HB, however, you’re basically dropped off in the woods with a couple of cabbies looking to make some money off a tourist who fell for a poster. Sure, I’ll take you to a pumpkin patch. That’ll be 50 bucks.

So? Drive. Take your car, or a zipcar, or borrow a car. You’ll have more fun because you’ll actually be able to see some of those pumpkins from the pictures.

Assuming you have a car, head to the east end of Long Island aiming for Route 27, also known as Sunrise Highway. Route 27 starts in Brooklyn, though and it will be a really long drive if you get on there. I take Southern Parkway to the Robert Moses Causeway, south, and that will meet up with Sunrise.

Head east through the lovely Pine Barrens, Southampton, and Water Mill. Drive through the quaint town of Bridgehampton, and at the light on the east side of town, turn left onto the Bridgehampton-Sag Harbor Turnpike. Turn left again onto Scuttlehole Road, about 2.5 miles. You’ll see the sign for Channing Daughters Winery out on the road. Turn left into the driveway and slowly roll up the driveway through the grapevines, which are immaculately groomed by hand and depending on the season offer a beautiful view of the origin of Bacchus’ favorite drink.

Leave your cell phone and dog in the car and head in to the tasting room, admiring the wood sculptures along the way. Out in the vineyard beyond the parking lot are the upside-down trees you’ll recognize on some of the wine labels inside, that make you think “how did they do that?” There’s whimsical sculptures (look for the asparagus, the pencil and the octopus) sensual ones, and one of hanging grapes that again will make you wonder how they did that.

At the counter work the most friendly, knowledgeable and approachable wine lovers around. Let anyone of them walk you through a flight of tastings, and provide detailed information on the heritage of each bottle. Want to know which grapes from the driveway are now in your mouth? They can tell you. Why should you love the funkiness of the Blaufrankish grape, renamed by my mother Frau Blankish? They can tell you something about that too. Make sure you get a taste of the Mosaico. This is the Gourmand’s favorite wine, ever, from anywhere. I think its the lilac gentleness of Muscat Ottonel, but the folks at Channing will let you come to your own decision. Just remember to let someone draw the short straw and drive you home safely.

In addition to the tastings, you can purchase a glass of wine and sit outside on the patio and watch the sun set off to the west of the vines. You can also join their Wine Club. In exchange for permission to charge your credit card, you’ll receive 2-bottle shipments six times a year, have access to purchase new releases before the general public (especially important when the tre rosati are released in the spring,) invitations to members-only events, like the annual sculpture garden walk, and best of all, you get to do the wine tastings for free, and so do your guests. Non-wine club members pay a small fee.

Feeling warmed up? Head to your car, designated driver in place and listen to your palate. Did you like the whites or the reds? The tart or the sweet? The oaked or the minerally? Have a zen moment of reflection. This is how you start to learn how to taste wine. Resist the urge to talk out loud and spend a moment meditating with your tastebuds. Enjoy the view while you are chauffeured to Townline BBQ. 

Let me preface my review by saying that I just ate at Dinosaur BBQ in Rochester (yes, yes, I know I promised a review) and that place for me is the barometer of good ‘que. However, Rochester is far cry from Sagaponack and while its no Dinosaur, its worth the drive. To get there, leave Channing Daughters, turn right out of the driveway, head back south on the Turnpike. When you get back Route 27, turn left. You’ll see Townline on the right about a mile east.

The building is new and the restaurant is part of an East End eatery dynasty that includes Nick & Toni’s and La Fondita. The architecture is classic Hamptons rustic. You feel like your in a BBQ shack, but its a million-dollar shack. 

There is no table service so you have to decide if you want to order from the food counter first, or should you go to the next room to get a drink over which to contemplate your meal options. At first this was fine. We got our drinks, then went back to order food. About halfway through the meal though, when another round was in order, a cocktail waitress would have been awesome so that those who remained at the table didn’t feel obligated to stop eating while the others went to procure drinks.

About those drinks, I broke up with tequila a long time ago, but I hear that the margaritas are delicious. The key to a great margarita is no sour mix. (I once went to a bar in NYC and asked the bartender if she used sour mix in her margaritas. She said, “How else would I make a margarita?” Doh! With lime juice and a splash of simple syrup. Sour mix is chemically goodness at best and should be consumed only at… I was going to say sorority keggers, but even then, I’d stick to beer.) I had an MTO glass of sangria. That’s what it says on the menu and you get, for $9, a tall, Made To Order cocktail that I swear had a splash of Duckwalk Vineyards Blueberry Port in it, but I can’t be sure.

Drinks in hand, we returned to the main room to order food from a menu that the Gourmand described as “limited, without missing anything.” There are sandwich classics (pulled pork, brisket,) ribs (either 1 short rib, or rack or 1/2 rack of pork ribs) house-made keilbasa, (which I will order next time) and an array of sides that are the stars of the meal. Prepare your arteries for a serving of deep fried macaroni and cheese, collard greens braised with pickled peppers, fried onions (reminiscent of the onion rings served at the now-defunct Shnack in Brooklyn) and baked beans that inspired me to buy a bean pot at a nearby garage sale on the drive home, in order to try to recreate the flavor. Was it sorgum that offered that caramel sweetness and color?

Finally, dessert. Normally, I skip dessert. I consider the calories from the aforementioned meal to be quite plentiful and since exercise isn’t my favorite past time, I survive on small tastes of other people’s sweets and finish my drink. When something called “Deep Fried Cherry Pie” is on the menu though, all bets are off. And since there was five of us, one dessert wouldn’t be enough, of course, so we got the Ice Box cake as well. 

Unlike the mac & cheese, the pie wasn’t breaded. Instead, a round of pastry was piled with the cherry filling, folded over, edges crimped and dropped into the fryer. Then, the finished pie was dusted generously, on both sides with confectioner’s sugar. The Ice Box cake was a plastic cup filled with a chocolate pudding and graham cracker parfait, topped with fresh whipped cream. If you should know anything about me, it is that I am powerless against graham crackers. Especially when they are paired with chocolate.

All of this food, drinks all around, at a restaurant in the Hamptons for the grand total of about $140 for five people! No need to wait for restaurant week to enjoy this joint. If you’re looking for three-star service and tablecloths, you won’t find them here. However, if its paper boats of fried things and smoked meats, and lots of sticky fingers you seek, look no further.

Lucky for you both Channing Daughters and Townline are open year round. Don’t wait for Memorial Day to spend hours on the road in a long line of cars. Go off season and enjoy having the Hamptons virtually to yourself.

Oysters Three Ways

There are few things as awesome as gathering your own food for your own meal. Gardeners know this, so do people who hunt mushrooms or game. It’s even awesome-er when you can get somebody else (The Peasant’s father & The Gourmand) to do the hard work for you.

This weekend we spent in the Hamptons. Our hopes of flounder fishing were dashed by unseasonably cold, grey, rainy weather – until the sun came out after we decided it was too inhospitable to fish. I, The Peasant, decided to go shopping with my mom and my father and The Gourmand (my husband, for you new to the blog!) decided to try catching some oysters. My dad is a seasoned bayman so, he stakes out the good spots and waits for us to arrive from the city.

I gathered new sunglasses and beach towels for our upcoming trip to the Caribbean (stay tuned for restaurant reviews) and the men folk gathered a bushel of oysters. For those of you numerically inclined, thats about 300 mollusks.

These oysters came from brackish water, meaning a place where the salty and fresh water converge. Oysters, like wine, reflect terroir – characteristics of the place where they grow. So, oysters from brackish water are not (relatively) salty. This isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing. Sometimes you want a really salty oyster. But these were milky, creamy, silky deliciousness.

Course #1: Served Raw
Purists like myself require very little accoutrements for good, raw shellfish. A lemon was almost too overpowering for the delicate oyster. Think about cooking – if you’ve accidentally overdosed a dish you a making with salt, one solution is a squeeze of lemon juice. But, these oysters weren’t salty to begin with, so lemon was a bit heavy handed. Cocktail sauce provides a sweet-hot compliment but I literally dolloped the size of a miniature chocolate chip on each oyster. Also, there is a lot of glamour around eating oysters; slurping them right from the shell. I find that this practice invites awful pieces of rogue shell into what should be a sensual experience. So, I pick the flesh out between my fingers, place a tiny splash of cocktail sauce and place it on my tongue. No shell allowed.

Cocktail sauce in my house is a big deal. Each of us has our own recipe, own take on proportions, but the ingredients are essentially all the same: a base of ketchup, add in horseradish, worchestire sauce, lots of hot sauce and a pinch of sugar. Some have been known to add vinegar or lemon juice. Sorry I can’t provide proportions. Its a family secret.

Course #2: Fried
Shuck the oysters and allow the meat to drain in a colander. Reserve the liquor for some other devilishly good use, like Caesar dressing. Dredge each oyster in a mixture of flour and black pepper. Dunk into an egg-milk mixture. Dredge in panko breadcrumbs. Fry in very hot vegetable oil that is deep enough so that each oyster floats until golden – about 2 minutes, flipping halfway through. Serve with chipotle mayo. You can usually find chipotle (chi-POTE-lay) powder in the spice section of the grocery store. Scoop an amount of mayonnaise into a dish. Add the chipotle powder and stir in between each addition until the mayo turns light pink. Let it sit for a half hour or so – the chiptole flavor will bloow in the oil of the mayo. Yum!

Here’s what it should ultimately look like:

Finally, Course #3: Oysters Rockefeller
Oysters Rockefeller looks, sounds and tastes like something served in a hotel in the 1940s. Here’s the recipe:

1 package frozen creamed spinach
swiss cheese slices cut into pieces small enough to fit on each oyster
oysters

Open the oysters and place them on the halfshell on a backing sheet lined with foil. Scoop a teaspoon of frozen creamed spinach onto each oyster. Place a piece of cheese on top of the spinach.

Broil until the juices are bubbly and the cheese is well melted.

red bar brasserie

Tomorrow is the last night of restaurant week in the Hamptons. We made the trip out (I in my car and he on the Long Island Railroad) last night to go to red bar brasserie in Southampton to dine for $23 apiece. On any other night, I think that’s what the average appetizer runs you.

This restaurant has been open for years and has lines of cars parked along Hampton Road every night. Surprisingly, I was able to get a reservation with no problems and five of us arrived promptly at 8 o’clock.

When I eat out in the Hamptons, generally speaking, at some point in the meal I realize that I (or someone else at the table) is paying an extraodinary amount of money that we could have made ten times better at home. That’s a frustrating feeling because, snobby as it sounds, I expect to eat well when the food costs what I’d spend on a week’s worth of equally decadent meals prepared at home.

Not to worry, if you are headed to red bar. The service was perfect and the food was killer good. When we were seated, the maitre d’ described the soup of the day as ‘pureed wild mushrooms with cream.’ The server called the same soup ‘cream of mushroom’ which reminds me of something that comes out of a can. Whatever the title, the soup was piping hot, perfectly seasoned and intensely mushroom-y.

There were a generous five entrees to choose from on the restaurant week menu. Impressive! I had looked at other restaurant week menus from other participating places, and the fish selection in more than one joint was skate wing. (Snob Alert: I don’t like skate wing.*)

A red bar, I had a choice of parpadelle with lamb ragu, served with ricotta and fresh mint; horseradish crusted salmon, which the Gourmand enjoyed; a chicken dish, a duck dish, and I ate the pork tenderloin with butter beans, spinach, and romesco sauce.

All of our plates were set down at the same time, all hot, and my spinach was still refreshingly crisp, an indicator that it had just come off the fire and hadn’t sat around even a minute before being plated up and brought out to serve.

We drank a bottle of Lieb Pinot Blanc ($24) from the North Fork of Long Island and Channing Daughters Rosso Fresco ($29) from the South Fork with our meals. Those prices are per bottle! Nigh unheard of in the Hamptons.

Dessert was a more limited selection, so we ordered multiples to share: Chocolate Mousse with Huckleberry Sauce, White Chocolate Cheesecake, and the table’s favorite, Lemon Tart with Fresh Berries.

You have two more nights to hit up restaurant week if you are out east, or willing to make the drive.

I hope you can make it, tonight on the cheap or any other night at Hamptons prices, to red bar. It will not disappoint.

*My father was a commercial fisherman as I was growing up so I feel entitled to be a seafood snob. Hope you still love me!