Sure, you can spend your days in the Hamptons lounging on the beach, but come night you've got to eat—or nibble, if you want to keep up that bathing suit body.
This season the area is filled with a bevy of new options, from stylish haunts that will be popping champagne for their first ever brunches to a few old favorites that are back with new-and-improved decor and menus.
Click through our slideshow to see what's new on the scene this summer (note: this article makes for excellent reading while on the Jitney).
SEE ALSO: The Coolest Hotel Amenities In The Hamptons
Nick and Toni’s
136 North Main St., East Hampton
After 25 years of playing host to high-profile diners like Mick Jagger, Paul McCartney, Steven Spielberg, Gwyneth Paltrow, Richard Gere and Martha Stewart, the restaurant upped its own glamour with an interior overhaul. The house’s charm remains intact, but it gained panache in the form of new black-walnut tables, leather banquettes and high-tops by the bar. New dishes include salad with breakfast radishes and toasted hazelnuts in an herb vinaigrette; arugula and kale salad with grapefruit and avocado vinaigrette; sea scallop crudo with ramp aïoli, pea vines and black salt; and seared Broken Arrow Ranch antelope with spring vegetable hash, enhanced with produce from Nick and Toni’s garden. Who knows - you may be in the bathroom line next to Alec Baldwin.
The Living Room at c/o The Maidstone
Chef Mathais Brogie arrived from Stockholm to take the reins at this Scandinavian-accented restaurant this summer. He's kept standards like lamb meatballs with sheep ricotta gnudi, and herring three ways with pickled red onion, sour cream, Vasterbotten cheese and potato. New offerings range from iced watermelon soup with feta cheese, sage and mint to Long Island chicken with summer bulghur, pistachios and curry caper butter to marinated lamb with spicy carrot and fiddlehead ferns.
Babette's
The health-oriented spot in the middle of East Hampton has always been packed for breakfast with regulars like Bon Jovi, Paul McCartney, Jay-Z and Ron Perelman. Bill Clinton celebrates his birthday there every August with an organic carrot cake. Current owner Barbara Layton has broadened her dinner offerings, and the nighttime scene is gaining momentum. Check out pan-roasted, sesame-crusted tofu or tempeh with steamed edamame, shiitake mushrooms, and red quinoa, or savor the grilled organic salmon with asparagus, oyster mushrooms, crisp polenta and a tomatillo sauce. Organic cocktails like the cucumber-lime margarita or pomegranate martini are made with fresh juice, and when the lights go down and the candles glow, the dining room becomes surprisingly romantic.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider