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Irish Times
09-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Times
The ‘exclusive' Hamptons is a glorified cattle mart with mansions
Jackson Pollock was not the first artist to flee the mayhem of the city to the far end of the Hamptons and rugged Montauk – Winslow Homer and his crowd were there with easel and paint in the late 1800s. But the cottage near Amagansett provoked an antic, celebrated burst of creativity that catapulted Pollock into the celebrity glare until he crashed his car while drunk on a curve on Springs Fireplace Road and was killed in August 1956. The modest house Pollock shared with his wife and fellow artist, Lee Krasner, now exists as an extraordinary, breathing museum, as if the couple stepped and might return any time. When they moved there the place lacked basic amenities, which was part of the point. The home John Steinbeck shared with his third wife, Elaine, who lived until 2003, is now a writer's centre in Sag Harbour. Fifty or sixty years ago the narrow strip of land jutting into the Atlantic was teeming with artists and writers. And that became part of the attraction for the new-money set who can buy anything and everything except for creative imagination and so arrive to be close to it. The plebeian way to reach Montauk Long Island Rail Road is a $20 fare from Penn Station followed by a 2½-hour crawl through the storied, distinctive Hampton townships into which New York's old society and nouveau riche have been pouring their money for well over a century. In high season travelling by road is not much faster, and so the sight and sound of sea planes and helicopters has become more common. John Steinbeck and his third wife, Elaine, at their Sag Harbor cottage in 1962. Photograph: Bettmann Archive 'Exclusive' is the word most commonly attributed to the Hamptons even though the briefest visit here makes it apparent that it's a glorified cattle mart with mansions and painstakingly composed wine lists in high season. There are too many humans. READ MORE Montauk earned its nickname, The End, through its geographical extremity, right at the eastern tip of Long Island, where the land mass narrows to narrow single forks, as though giving two fingers to Ireland. And there is a familiarity about Montauk's landscape. On Wednesday the sky was overcast and salty-aired and had that about-to-rain summer melancholy of Gaeltacht summer evenings. The arriving crowd in Montauk was mainly young and sceneish and almost, well, exclusively white. The sturdy, tasteful blue sign announcing the town itself declares that it was settled in 1686, and in racial profile it hasn't changed much since. The villages are run by separate councils, which try to impose regulations and prohibitions to preserve the integrity of an area that is changing at pace. Census reports showed that the populations of the prestige East Hampton and Southampton locations jumped by 35 per cent and 22 per cent respectively in little over a decade. The summer population in these villages can multiply by five, from the winter lows of 30,000, when the windows are shuttered and a skeleton staff maintains the society homes through the bleak months. Those unable to afford to buy needn't fret; July rental listings in Southampton ranged from $75,000 to $125,000. And the hordes keep coming. For years Montauk, although never lacking for wealth, preserved its surf and clam-shack carefreeness by virtue of its geography. It was just that bit too far over from Manhattan. But the fintech titans need to conquer if not new worlds then at least new dinner reservations and panoramic vistas. Last August, Mark Vandavelde and Sujeet Indap of the Financial Times wrote a sad and wonderful piece under the headline: 'A billionaire bought a lobster shack in the Hamptons. Then the trouble began.' It contains a perfect paragraph describing the social and geographical sections of the entire preposterous summer charade. 'Only 40 miles separate the East End of Long Island from the Shinnecock Canal, where the Hamptons begin, but the drive on NY State-Route 27 can easily take two hours. Making it means passing through an elaborate social order etched on to this congested spit of sand. The road begins just after Westhampton, a suburb of million dollar houses that is also known as Wronghampton, because it is on the cheaper side of the canal. It passes through Southampton, were magnificent coastal estates built by New York's earliest English settlers have long since been carved up to cater to the Wall Street nouveau riche (Rowan paid $27 million for a beachfront 'cottage' here, on Gin Lane). Next comes Bridgehampton, with Long Island's only Kmart. Then showy East Hampton, home to Jerry Seinfeld and Steven Spielberg. After Amagansett, where Sarah Jessica Parker spends her summer, lies what is sometimes called the anti-Hampton, a hamlet of rickety wooden houses that wants no part of this gilded hierarchy. This is Montauk.' Ostensibly, it was an account of how Marc Rowan, the billionaire private equity titan, bought the beloved Duryea's fish shack, a Montauk fixture since the 1920s which dished up seafood and coleslaw on Styrostyrofoames. It was reimagined as a destination spot: the piece reports that Jay-Z and Beyoncé sometimes moor their yacht at the refurbished dock. It could also be read as a metaphor for how wealth, it all its guises, eyes and covets authenticity and gobbles it up. All well until the realisation comes, too late, that there is nothing left.
Eater
16-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Eater
How to Spend a Food-Filled Weekend in Portland, Maine
Nationally acclaimed dining destination Portland, Maine, is about two hours from Boston, whether you take Amtrak's Downeaster from North Station, the Concord Coach bus from South Station, or drive, making it the ideal getaway for a food-packed weekend. If you only have a weekend to spend in Portland, the following itinerary serves to complement our list of essential restaurants, providing a choose-your-own-adventure insider's guide to painting the town lobster red. Friday 11 a.m.: Begin with brunch Portland's brunch game has never been stronger, making it the perfect meal to start a weekend of ambitious eating. At Ocotillo, the West End sibling to the East End's popular barbecue spot, Terlingua, find solace on the quiet back patio or grab a comfy circular booth upholstered with rust red velvet. Ocotillo channels Tex-Mex into brunch standouts like a smoked brisket hash with poached eggs and house hollandaise and buttermilk-masa pancakes decked with caramelized pineapple syrup, hibiscus sugar, and maple sea salt butter served alongside refreshing morning beverages like the bright green, herbaceous Verdita-rita. As you move on, grab something for the road from James Beard Award-winning Zu Bakery next door. Alternative: Start your day at Dutch's, whose cafeteria-like space belies the quality of crispy hash browns and housemade baked goods that elevate hits like chicken thigh biscuits smothered in sausage gravy and bluebarb pie doughnuts. Securing a ham and cheese croissant from Zu Bakery. Erika Adams/Eater Boston Once you're temporarily sated, it's time for some culture. Head to the Maine Historical Society and the Wadsworth-Longfellow House for thoughtful exhibitions like Stitches, an exploration of 19th-century Maine quilting traditions; the Victoria Mansion for a tour of an elaborate pre-civil war home; or the Portland Museum of Art for the state's oldest and largest public art collection, including works by American landscape artist and former Maine resident Winslow Homer. 1 p.m.: Get cultured Along the walk, shop for art and vintage finds at dozens of local storefronts like Weekend Vintage, the Merchant Company, and Soleil, a gift shop that houses a vending machine for collectible $1 mini food prints by Portland's Anastasia Inciardi. 4 p.m.: Take a lobster break If you come to Maine, you've got to eat lobster. Dive into a new favorite like Highroller Lobster Co.'s Lobby Pop TM — a cornbread-battered lobster tail on a stick — or chef Mimi Weissenborn's rich yet airy lobster popover at Sur Lie. If you're in the mood for a more traditional lobster roll experience on the working waterfront, head to Luke's Lobster for rolls with a captivating view, or have a seat at low-key institution Becky's Diner for a fresh-shucked quarter-pounder — there's nothin' finah, as the local saying goes. While in Maine! Jenny Bravo Photography/Luke's Lobster 6 p.m.: Get a pre-dinner drink At Jewel Box, bartender and owner Nathanial 'Nan'l' Meiklejohn creates an atmosphere of comfort and delight that attracts a crowd of artists, queer folks, and bon vivants — people with open minds and good taste. Amid curated grandma-core and a dreamy wall mural, the creative cocktails and playlists always hit. Order a drink like the Lovers, a blend of fenugreek and coconut rums, lime juice, cane sugar syrup, and Bluet, Maine blueberry sparkling wine. Alternative: Hit up Cuties, a new all-day spot from the cunning minds behind renowned high-low cocktail dive Room for Improvement. Cuties focuses on low-intervention wines by the glass or in some cases as a sidecar, like the pet-nat that accompanies the Pornstar Martinez, a clarified passionfruit number featuring Old Tom gin and vermouths. 7 p.m.: Go to dinner Portland's bakery and brunch darling Bread & Friends is now a winner for dinner as well. Expect a tight menu with seasonal dishes like grilled radicchio with black vinegar XO sauce and Bayley Hazen blue cheese on housemade marble rye crostini, consommé with collard greens and mascarpone tortellini decked in country ham and peas, and dry-aged duck with plum chutney. End the meal with a dreamy orange creamsicle soda made in-house, or a glass of A7 Americano, an aromatized wild Maine blueberry wine infused with herbs and fortified with brandy, from R.A.S. Alternative: Opt for an evening of pizza and natural wine at cool, casual Friends & Family. Start the night with a jamón tower for the table, of course. A brunch plate at Bread & Friends. Erika Adams/Eater Boston 9 p.m.: Post-dinner games After dinner, it's free to enter Arcadia National Bar's Skee-Ball tournament, or you can pump quarters into retro pinball and arcade cabinets while enjoying late-night bites like mushroom-topped pizza and beers from Oxbow and Sacred Profane. The cocktails here, crafted by co-owner Nicole Costas-Rosa, are some of the city's sleeper hits — try the mezcal- and watermelon-forward Pink Pony Club. Alternative: Have a nightcap at the Scandinavian-style cocktail bar that helped launch Portland's cocktail scene in the mid-2010s: Portland Hunt + Alpine Club. The spicy, smoky Bone Crusher is a perennial favorite. Saturday 9:30 a.m.: Grab a bite before the farmers market 11:30 a.m.: Get out on Casco Bay One of the easiest, most cost-effective ways to get off the Portland peninsula and out on the water is with the Mailboat ferry, a scenic ride to the islands of Casco Bay. Get off at Peaks Island for BYOB wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizza served al fresco at Il Leone, or head to Great Diamond Island's Crown Jewel, a bright and airy bistro that nods to the tropics with dishes like corn agnolotti featuring Maine crab and seared whitefish with salsa verde. Alternative: Board the 74-foot-tall ship Frances, a historic replica built and captained by Megan Jones, for a Wine Wise Wine Sail with curated tastings led by gregarious sommelier Erica Archer. Portland's downtown waterfront. Erika Adams/Eater Boston 3 p.m.: Shop the waterfront and have a little treat 5 p.m.: Break for happy hour At Papi on Exchange Street, the cocktail and food menus sing with Puerto Rican flavors. For a late afternoon pick-me-up, try the Carajillo — Licor 43 and Italian espresso shaken over ice — and don't miss food specials like the jibarito, a panko-crusted chicken cutlet dressed and sandwiched between fried green plantains. Alternative: Head to the intimate, 20-seat Argentine Bodegón-influenced Franciska Wine Bar, whose menu highlights small-grower South American producers. 7 p.m.: Have dinner On Congress Street, check out Benny's, the buzzy new restaurant from Josh Sobel of Philadelphia-style sandwich shop Ramona's. Here, Sobel again wins hearts and stomachs with his homage to Philly's Italian American heritage, from the portraits of celebrities like Sylvester Stallone on the wall above the long banquet to menu classics like eggplant parm, cheesesteak, and linguini and clams with long hot peppers alongside cocktails like the Balboa, featuring bourbon, amaretto, and citrus topped with a pink Lambrusco-Scotch foam. Alternative: Go for well-seasoned garlic greens and dry-aged pork katsu sandos stuffed with fried Brussels sprouts and slathered in charred scallion mayo at family-owned izakaya Mami. Benny's. Heidi Kirn/Benny's Sunday 9:30 a.m.: Coffee time Stop into Speckled Ax Wood Coffee Roasters for an Early Riser medium roast. Try it with a Grand Trunk breakfast sandwich stacked with housemade hash browns, green tomato chutney, kewpie mayo, Gruyère cheese, and an egg on a Portuguese muffin made by chef Carlos Duarte, previously of Prentice Hospitality. Alternative: Grab an olive oil brioche sticky bun swirled with brown butter and cinnamon and glazed with orange cream alongside an iced malt cold brew at Tandem Coffee. 11 a.m.: Check out the East End The East End used to be a quiet area populated largely by under-the-radar neighborhood spots like pupusería Tu Casa and old-school Italian goods purveyor Micucci Grocery Co. That changed in the 2010s with the arrival of food and beverage perfectionists like Rising Tide and other craft breweries in East Bayside, Maine & Loire, a pioneering natural wine shop on Washington Avenue, and the Portland Food Co-op on Congress Street for largely local groceries and snacks. Now, you could spend all day bopping from one banger to another without breaking a sweat: Onggi Ferments for all things aged and preserved; Root Wild for unbeatable kombucha; Rabelais for antique food books; Oxbow for funky beer and fries via Duckfat Frites Shack; Anoche for hard cider; Sissle and Daughters for cheese, wine, and everything else you'd serve for girl dinner; and the list goes on. 1:30 p.m.: Slip over to South Portland Formerly an underwhelming collection of strip malls, Knightville has finally glowed up into one of Portland's buzziest neighborhoods. (Okay, it's technically in South Portland across the Casco Bay Bridge, but regardless, it's a Portland-area hot spot.) Stop here on your way back south for Japanese-style bar fare and beers from a Maine Brewing Co. alum at the Send Brewing Co., impeccable breads from Night Moves, a glass of Maine's own Oyster River Winegrowers Morphos pet-nat with views of Portland proper from across the water at Lambs, and some of the country's best seafood at SoPo Seafood market and raw bar. Where to Stay Get a good night's sleep at the 48-room Longfellow Hotel, Portland's first independently owned full-service hotel in decades. Longfellow highlights neighborhood contributors such as Ugly Duckling for pastries, and Siobhán and Mike Sindoni of Wayside Tavern run the bar program. Alternatively, check into the 135-room, six-story Canopy by Hilton Portland Waterfront, home to Luna, the city's only indoor/outdoor rooftop bar and restaurant overlooking Casco Bay. Make sure to enjoy the view while sipping a slushy cocktail featuring housemade granita and Prosecco. If you want to spend extra time on the islands, stay at the Inn at Diamond Cove. This charming, family-friendly escape offers 42 rooms and suites in the former Fort McKinley military complex for easy access to the tranquil, car-light island with a semi-secret beach rich with seaglass. Eater Boston All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
