Dining in the Hamptons

By David Lion Rattiner

Michael’s at Maidstone Beach in East Hampton, is a restaurant that serves good food at a good price with a wonderful, friendly feel. We walked in on Sunday after hearing about the great brunch. The restaurant is a tradition in Springs, and is as much as a part of the community there as fishing off the jetties at Maidstone Beach.

When you walk into Michael’s at Maidstone, you get that same feeling you get when you walk into a family gathering. Everybody is extremely welcoming and the décor is very non-Hampton. The restaurant is charming with its own style. Owners Richard and Debbie Gehardi don’t want a trendy place that comes and goes. They want to keep that community feeling alive and they are more than successful at doing that here.

The food, as with all restaurants, is really what is the most important part, and at Michael’s, executive chef Michael Meehan keeps you very, very happy. Michael has the restaurant business in his soul, having worked nearly all his life as a cook on the North and South Forks.

After a brief encounter with the oak-wood bar, our friendly hostess brought us to our table where we were greeted by our waiter, Joe, who lives in Water Mill. As we glanced at the menu, the first things that I noticed were the reasonable prices, and the second thing I noticed was the variety. For brunch at Michael’s you can get a light dish such as a chicken Caesar salad, a medium dish such as their large flour quesadillas, frittata or eggs benedict, or a heavy dish such as their steak and eggs and half rack of barbecued baby back ribs. Almost everything on the menu is under $12.

I was hungry, so we decided to get steak and eggs and a roast prime rib of beef sandwich. We also ordered a round of hot chocolates.

Now I almost never mention drinks in a restaurant review; however, if you are at Michael’s for brunch, order a hot chocolate. Joe makes it himself and it is some of the best I’ve ever tasted, and I’m a pretty serious hot chocolate drinker. He adds a secret combination of milk, sugar, chocolate pieces and chocolate powder that comes out so rich and delicious you will be happily impressed.

Michael’s also serves water with fresh orange slices, as well as a fantastic array of pastries before your meal arrives. When my roast beef sandwich came out, I was happy I hadn’t filled up too much on pastries. This is simply an amazing sandwich and if you are a meat lover, I highly, highly recommend it. I will be back for this. It comes out stacked high, with roasted potatoes and fresh cooked onions and a dipping sauce that is sensational. The steak and eggs is also wonderful. This is not a dish with small pieces of steak mixed in with eggs. No, at Michael’s they give you a big sirloin steak cooked to your liking along with eggs cooked any way you want. They don’t make anything fancy of this dish and they don’t have to, because the quality of the meat and the technique speaks for itself.

Of course, being dessert people, we had to opt for some dessert. We decided to share a dish, and it was a difficult decision between the fresh, homemade ice cream with cinnamon biscotti or the warm pecan squares à la mode. We went for the ice cream, which is always a good indicator of how the restaurant feels about food quality. The vanilla ice cream we shared was fresh, homemade vanilla that tasted better then Ben and Jerry’s World’s Best Vanilla. There are a lot of places that cheap out on ice cream quality. Michael’s at Maidstone Beach is not one of those places.

When we left, we felt so pleased and contented that it seemed nothing could make it better, except perhaps a walk down the jetty at Maidstone Beach looking out at the frozen sea. I could not help but think how many other people have shared this wonderful experience after a meal at Michael’s.

Michael’s at Maidstone is truly a real tradition. It has been there since 1978 and many of the current diners grew up eating there. It reminds you why you like East Hampton so much and why you came here in the first place. Do not miss out on this gem for a Sunday brunch. What a great place.