August 9, 2004 |
Ask Gael
I’m in the Hamptons and need a reality check.
Crank down a few decibels with lunch at The Fish Farm. Get Marie Valenti to dish up her marvelous, peppery swordfish chili (a pint is perfect for two) and a couple of honest lobster rolls, barely mayo’d and sporting a big chunk of tail meat on top. Coleslaw is a must. Potato purée and just a dab of cream thicken the New England clam chowder and the lobster bisque. Marie cooks salmon farmed or wild, served with local corn. A crab cake on a bun is skinny but full of crabmeat. Husband Bob does the Key-lime tart. Thirty years ago, the Valentis came here to raise pan-size striped bass. “But no one was eating whole fish back then,” she says. They switched to stocking local lobsters and fish, then started cooking eight years ago. Pick up to go, or settle at an umbrella’d picnic table overlooking the water. BYOB if you wish. You’ll forget you ever heard of the Hamptons. Noon to 7:30.
429 Cranberry Hole Road, Amagansett 631 267 3341