Emily Wilson's Amagansett
The spots I frequent all summer long + LINKS
East Coast Summer is a seasonal Saturday column that serves as an alternative to Plugs. It’s where someone of note (with great taste) shares their go-to spots in the town or region where they summer. ECS will run every Saturday through August (save for monthly L.A. editions of Plugs), featuring destinations such as the Western Catskills and Cape Cod. It’s for paid subscribers of The Angel only; upgrade your subscription for all-access! I’m kicking it off.
#1 is Emily Wilson, yours truly, founder of The Angel and a food writer with bylines in T Magazine, Bon Appétit, the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, and New York Magazine, among other outlets. Switching to first person now: my family has been summering in Amagansett, on the east end of Long Island (aka the Hamptons), since 1999. I’m biased, but I also know it’s the coolest Hampton. That said, we pretty much never eat out, except for lunch, and only at the few spots we truly love. Otherwise, we cook, we go to the beach, and it’s all very beautiful—mostly because we skirt the horrendously behaved crowds and the overpriced, subpar food. (One casualty this year: Amagansett Seafood, our go-to fishmonger, where Mike O’Rourke sells exceptional tuna salad, smoked mussels, and local fish, is closed for the summer. Support Mike if you can. I’m leaving them off this list as a result.) Here are my go-to spots to eat, shop (for bagels, cheese, produce, and clothes), and exercise.
Bonus: I shared this link last month, but I’ve also got a more in-depth guide to the Eastern East End on Rec League. It includes everything below, plus more in East Hampton, Napeague, Montauk, and the Springs. A few of the recs are free, but most are only unlocked when you buy the guide; paid subscribers get a discount code at the bottom of this letter.
Doubles
Full transparency: My brother is an owner of this Caribbean-inspired eatery in Amagansett Square. But ask anyone else who spends time in the area (or in Sag Harbor, where there’s another outpost), and they’ll tell you that Doubles rocks. Crowd favorites include the breakfast roti, the Island Blue smoothie, the Freddie bowl, and the Mahi cutter; my order is market crunchy greens with grilled jerk chicken, plus a side of sweet plantains (or a roti wrap). Don’t sleep on the house hot sauce, charged with scotch bonnet peppers. In exciting news (a scoop!): Doubles is opening in Brooklyn Heights soon, hopefully later this year…
