The best thing about my gig writing twice weekly for
Hamptons Magazine is the opportunity to
go explore this area I spent a good part of my teenage years in. Of course,
many things have changed since that time, but some things will forever remain
the same.
I was on my own for day one so I decided to take a ride all
the way to “The End.”
Montauk is the end of Long Island, the approx. 100 mile
piece of land where the sound is to the north and the ocean is to the south. At
the Montauk Light House the island comes to a peak and it’s quite the sight.
Unfortunately, the day was a bit gloomy, but I decided to
venture out to the lighthouse and walk on the beach anyway. It had been too
many years since I’d been at this spot. I walked the rocky path down to the
beach and watched the waves for a while. I have to say that’s one of the things
I have missed in the Midwest, not being able to stroll on the beach.
My one bedroom duplex at the
Surf Club was just perfect for
me. It lacked the frills of a five star resort, but made up for it with a
perfect location on the beach. I had a small patio that was just yards from
ocean, a bedroom with an ocean view window (there’s nothing like falling asleep
to the sound of quiet and waves) and a short walk into downtown Montauk, a
quiet beach town.
Dinner was set up at
Andrra, a brand new restaurant in East
Hampton that overlooks Three Mile Harbor. From what I could see it would be the
perfect spot for a sunset on a day that wasn’t so cloudy. I met with their
public relations rep, Lindsey, who had already managed to get to this place a
few times and loved everything she had.
One of the restaurants partners, Rich Silver, explained that
Andrra is Albanian for “the dream.” The other owners are Sami Krasniqi and Noti
Krasniqi. Sami is also the restaurant’s executive chef and he makes pita from
mom’s recipe (served with parsley garlic butter).
The lounge and restaurant are both upscale, but have a
contemporary décor that is very relaxing. The menu is Mediterranean. As with
many restaurants on eastern Long Island the menu was mostly seafood, but I
still had quite a few options.
I started with a delicious salad of baby red and yellow
beets, with tomato and cucumber in yogurt vinaigrette. Lindsey had the Toskan
BBQ Shrimp. She raved about them, trying to explain how they are both spicy and
sweet at the same time.
For a main course, she had the lamb chops, served with an edamame
roasted garlic puree and was thrilled with the choice. I went for the Pappardelle
with Braised Beef Barolo. It was a wine braised beef shoulder with root
vegetables and shaved parmesan, mixed with the long thick noodles. The combination
was excellent and I wished I had someplace to take it home to for leftovers. We
also enjoyed flavorful sides of spinach and asparagus.
We were pretty full, but took a while to digest so we could
try some dessert. The Key Lime Pie and Warm Flourless Chocolate Cake were
definitely worth the wait. Both were fresh and fortunately not too heavy.
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