I started my week staring at an empty Shelter Island port on the traditional start to the scalloping season: the first Monday in November. (No connection to the first Monday in May.) For over a hundred years, bay scallops were the lifeblood of this area, with commercial scalloping beginning on Shelter Island in the late 19th century and peaking in the 1960s, when they were served at chichi New York City restaurants like Sardi’s and the 21 Club. Then, in 1985, a brown tide algae bloom killed them off. The warming sea floor hasn’t helped matters.
None of the fishermen I called were going out for scallops on Monday. It just isn’t worth it anymore. Despite restoration efforts, it’s not a business. When I chatted with Schuyler Needham, the general manager of Coecles Harbor Marina, he said, “It used to be very fruitful around here with boats going up and down, but it’s been a while since that was the case.” He said he didn’t see any fishing boats at all on Scallop Monday.
You know what is fruitful out in the Hamptons these days? Baking fancy croissants. Lucie Eloi of popup bakery La Famille, one of the best bakers in the Hamptons, began a residency at Marder’s in Bridgehampton this past weekend. She’ll be there every Saturday starting at 9:30am, but get there right when it opens. The first week, she sold out within an hour. I missed out.
In today’s newsletter, for my treasured paid subscribers, the case of a purple Lamborghini owner vs. Gurney’s in Montauk; a Justin Timberlake docuseries, a rabid bat; and a feature on Scott Murphy, the Hamptons design-build king who owns one of the summer’s most Instagrammed houses.
I’m hard at work polishing my holiday print issue, out the week of November 16th. Through the end of this weekend I’m offering 20% off an annual subscription, and I’ll send you a copy when it’s out if you subscribe via this link.
