Great news for us Hamptons old-timers: the Old Stove Pub is back! The 200-year-old farmhouse with the red horse in front* has been purchased by Joseph DeCristofaro, who intends to keep it open year-round. (We’re happy for our own selfish reasons: our entire life, we’ve driven past that sign on our way to Montauk and we’d be sad if it went away.)
The original restaurant opened in 1967 as an Irish pub, thus the name. But within a few years it turned into a Greek steak restaurant. DeCristofaro has redone everything beautifully, just about the way it always was, including the LeRoy Nieman prints; the gorgeous old wide-plank floors are freshened up for a new century. The piano has been moved to the porch, though. Right now, the pub is offering tables outside as well as in, with appealing live music playing as well.
Now, as to the food. Good news is that the menu includes old favorites like the Sagaponack steak and Greek favorites like saganaki (bubbling hot Halloumi cheese topped with olive oil and lemon), Greek salad and stuffed eggplant. My companion, cookbook author Stacy Dermont, and I enjoyed a light snack of a dip trio (baba ghanoush, tzatziki, and hummus) along with chips and pita, as well as melon with prosciutto and spiralized zucchini chips. All were delicious. I had a spicy margarita with a jalapeno coin and edge rimmed with chili sugar, while Stacy enjoyed a paloma.
We sat outside, while a cellist and a saxophonist played modern tunes; it was a wonderful evening in the Hamptons. Highly recommended.
*Can anyone tell us if this is the actual red horse that used to be in front of the hippie Levi’s store in East Hampton, which is now known as Red Horse Market? Based on our memories from the early 1970s, that horse was rearing high on its back legs.
- Old Stove Pub [FB]
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