Much Ado About Eight Clams

Plus: an investigation into the secret, no-storefront local food scene; everything you need to know about Authors Night; and Jamagansett's $80 pie goes head-to-head with Stop & Shop's $13 version.

I’m spending a few days out in Montauk, where everyone is in full hustle mode. Even in the rain, the waterfront restaurants are filled to the brim with red-faced groups of friends using Splitwise to divide four-figure checks. Waiters from Uruguay, Jamaica, and Ireland roll their eyes patiently as they turn away from groups full of tiny dogs and tiny skirts. I met a superstar valet who commutes two hours each way from Bay Shore every night. The money he makes in three months parking cars out east supports his lifestyle year round.

Today’s newsletter, for paid subscribers, is bursting with news you’ll read later in other publications. And you’ll think, thank god for THC, keeping me ahead of the curve on local happenings with global import. In today’s edition: a roundup of the best Hamptons food with a cult following and no storefront; a comical clam “crime”; our Elite Events section including the perfect Authors Night itinerary from Robert Caro to Neil deGrasse Tyson; a Sag Harbor institution returns; and a shocking blind taste test of Jamagansett’s $80 pie.

Damn Clams!

On July 30, a young man called 911 to report a pile of smashed clams on the pavement near Georgica Beach. Moving shellfish from one area to another, and dumping shellfish waste are both forbidden. The East Hampton police department reported “what appeared to be roughly eight crushed clams in the area.” (This may very well have been the work of a seagull.) The police report concluded: “Negative signs of commercial dumping at this time.”