Foodstuffs: New Chef At Almond, Holiday Eats And Winter Specials

Almond Restaurant Has A New Chef de Cuisine

Jason Weiner, executive chef and co-owner of Almond Restaurant has announced a new member to his culinary team, Andrew Mahoney who has joined the restaurant as its new Chef de Cuisine. Mahoney is no stranger to Almond’s kitchen having filled many roles on and off at the restaurant and at Almond’s sister operation L & W Market since 2016.

“I am excited to be back in the kitchen at Almond,” Mahoney said. “Jason and I work well together and have a very similar philosophy regarding food. I am excited to be back in a restaurant kitchen experimenting with all of the local bounty the East End has to offer.”

A native of Seymour, Connecticut, Mahoney grew up in a rural area surrounded by farms and wildlife. His childhood was filled with days in the kitchen with his mother and hunting outings with his father, both led to his desire to create food.

He earned a culinary arts degree from Lincoln Culinary Arts in Connecticut and hit the ground running at Bay Burger in Sag Harbor in 2012. After four years of learning the ins and outs of the restaurant business, he partnered with a friend to launch a catering company which operated the concession at a private beach association in Amagansett.

In 2018, he joined former Almond colleague Jeremy Blutstein to launch the much acclaimed Showfish Restaurant at Gurney’s Star Island. After a season of cranking out high end farm to table cuisine, he took a break from the restaurant business and took a position as a private chef for a family in Water Mill. For two years he prepared meals for the family and several notable guests.

In 2021 Jason Weiner reached out to him to assist on some showcase events where he was headlining, including Outstanding in the Field and Quail Hill Common Table. Reconnecting with Weiner led him back to the Almond kitchen, where he is now the Chef de Cuisine.

“Man are we lucky to have Andrew rolling with us again,” Weiner said. “Besides being a super talented chef, he’s also just a wonderful guy. Don’t take my word for it, ask anyone. He also lives and breathes Almond creed — local, seasonal and artisanal.”

Almond Restaurant is located at One Ocean Road in Bridgehampton. The restaurant also has locations in Manhattan and Palm Beach, Florida. For more information visit almondrestaurant.com.

Greek-inspired Winter Specials

North winter has arrived, dinner specials abound across the South Fork. For lovers of Greek dishes, Elaia Estiatorio in Bridgehampton is offering a three-course prix fixe menu for $39. Appetizer selections include grilled octopus, Greek-inspired salads, braised lamb and beef meatballs, steamed mussels in a white wine tomato sauce and saganaki, which is pan fried sheep’s milk cheese with oregano and lemon. For mains, offerings include grilled chicken skewer, grilled branzino, beef patty with tzatziki sauce and pita, and manitaria saganaki (mushrooms, feta, tomato sauce and grape leaf rice). For dessert, options include orange and yogurt phyllo cake with syrup or Greek yogurt with cherry preserves.

Elaia Estiatorio is at 95 School Street, Bridgehampton. For more information visit elaiaestiatorio.com.

Enjoy The Holidays At Highway

Highway Restaurant and Bar is offering a special Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve menu with festive dishes including an appetizer of roasted foie gras and a main course of lobster bouillabaisse. Other starters on the holiday menu are Jerusalem artichokes, spicy salmon tartar, tuna crudo, watercress salad and smoked mozzarella. Additional mains include pan-roasted halibut, veal chop, roasted chicken. Dessert offerings include chocolate tart with pear sorbet and Milk Pail apple crumble.

Highway Restaurant and Bar is also available for holiday private dining. The restaurant is located at 290 Montauk Highway in East Hampton. For information, visit orders.highwayrestaurant.com.

Main Street Tavern Offerings

Main Street Tavern in Amagansett is offering daily happy hours and after 10 p.m. bites for late-night indulgence, both indoors and in the outdoor beer garden. In addition to the late-night Tavern burger, also available are new items like steamed dumplings and chicken bites. For the holidays, the Tavern is offering an $80 buffet-style menu with starters like roasted squash salad, beet salad, radicchio and endive salad and mushroom risotto. Main choices include beef tenderloin with mashed potatoes, broccoli with sauce, chicken or eggplant parmesan and grilled salmon, roasted pork chop, the Tavern burger or fish and chips. For dessert, there is seasonal pie or cake. Also available is a canapé menu with open bar options.

Main Street Tavern is at 177 Main Street in Amagansett. For details, visit mainstreettavern.com.

Gurney’s For End Of Year Fun

Out in Montauk, Gurney’s is gearing up to offer New Year’s Eve weekend activities for adults and children alike. The offerings include a journaling and fire ceremony designed to teach guests how to elevate their journaling skills and create a vision for the year ahead, a four-course New Year’s Eve dinner for the whole family at Scarpetta Beach, the resort’s signature New Year’s Eve bash starting at 8 p.m. featuring live music by The Rakiem Walker Project, passed hors d’oeuvres and a premium open bar.

Family-friendly activities include arts & crafts, bingo and cookie decorating with chef on New Year’s Day, where children will learn all the steps to making their own holiday cookies and take home delicious treats. A New Year’s Day disco night will be held at The Regent Cocktail Club where guests can sip on signature craft cocktails with entertainment from DJ Markciano, known for his harmonious sets blending house, disco and funk. In addition, a boozy brunch at Scarpetta Beach will feature a poetry station from the Poetry Society of New York where a typewriter poet will write a custom poem on the spot for each individual.

Tickets for the New Year’s Eve dinner are $125 first seating (5:30 to 7 p.m.), $175 second seating (9 to 10:30 p.m.), and for the New Year’s Eve party, beginning at 8 p.m., $180. If guests of the dinner want to attend the party they can for an additional $75 for first seating guests and $50 for second seating guests.

Here’s the schedule of activities

December 24: Kids’ arts and crafts, holiday cookies, milk & hot chocolate from 2 to 4 p.m., bingo from 6 to 8 p.m.

December 25: Cookie decorating class with Chef 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Kids’ arts and crafts, holiday cookies, milk & hot chocolate from 2 to 4 p.m., bingo from 6 to 8 p.m.

December 26: Kids’ arts and crafts, holiday cookies, milk & hot chocolate from 2 to 4 p.m., bingo from 6 to 8 p.m.

December 30: Mixology class at The Regent Cocktail Club 6 to 8 p.m.

December 31: Kids’ arts and crafts, holiday cookies, milk & hot chocolate from 2 to 4 p.m., bingo from 6 to 8 p.m. New Year’s Eve dinner for the whole family, 5:30 or 9 p.m. Adults-only New Year’s Eve bash starts at 8 p.m.

January 1: Cookie decorating class with Chef 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Kids’ arts and crafts, holiday cookies, milk & hot chocolate from 2 to 4 p.m., bingo from 6 to 8 p.m. A New Year’s Day disco night 8 to 10 p.m.

January 2: Boozy brunch 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Gurney’s is at 290 Old Montauk Highway, Montauk. For details visit gurneysresorts.com/Montauk.