July 6, 2008
By Joanne Starkey
FIRST there was Alison on Dominick Street, which opened almost 20 years ago in Manhattan. Later, Alison Price Becker added Alison by the Beach on Townline Road on the western border of East Hampton. Then, after closing both spots, she opened Alison Restaurant in Bridgehampton. In May, Ms. Becker moved it farther east to the Maidstone Arms in East Hampton.
It’s a perfect pairing: Alison’s elegant food and the gracious 1740 inn overlooking a pond. The dining room is decorated in the signature navy blue and white used in Ms. Becker’s previous restaurants. Walls are white, as are indoor shutters and napery; cushions on the bentwood chairs are navy. Numerous black-and-white photographs are by Ms. Becker’s brother, Jonathan Becker. Votive candles dot the tables and adorn a working fireplace (in use when the restaurant opened in early May).
There is also a separate bar called the Tavern, which serves its own menu of casual fare including burgers, pâté, shrimp cocktail and chicken paillard. This seemed to be the preferred dining place on a quiet weekday evening.
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By Peter M. Gianotti
June 27, 2008
Gurvich, whose most recent Long Island show was Four Food Studio in Melville, prepares a delicate and delicious crayfish fricassee, refined even more with morels, ramps, peas and crème fraîche. Its cool competitor: a salad of lobster and spring vegetables, with a supporting cast of fava beans, fennel, haricots verts, cherry tomatoes and herb-flecked aioli. A delectably irreverent pasta puttanesca interrupts the culinary calm with anchovy and caper, olive and tomato. Half-order as an appetizer? Impossible - would you take a spire from Chartres? But the "crispy skin" Murray Farms chicken delivers a roast worthy of Don Rickles. And that sirloin Bordelaise comes with white asparagus; the sauteed foie gras, with 50-year-old balsamic vinegar. The chocolate cake: just as rich.
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By Laura Donnelly
06/03/2008
In some cultures marriages are arranged and all those who participate in or witness them have to stand by and hope for the best. With fingers crossed. The recent arrangement of Alison Becker moving her eponymous restaurant, Alison, from Bridgehampton to the Maidstone Arms in East Hampton feels like such a marriage. You really hope it will work but you’re just not sure.
The Maidstone Arms has had a revolving door of names and chefs over the last few years, and nothing seems to stick. It is a lovely old building. A nice porch in front looks out on Town Pond, the swans and their six cygnets, and the beautiful cemetery. Inside to the right is a blue and green lounging area, to the left a small bar.
The main dining room, straight ahead, is a pretty, low-ceilinged room, rather Colonial feeling. It used to be Williamsburg blue or Greenbriar green. Not sure. Now it has been “Alisonized,” as Ms. Becker calls it: The walls are a beautiful cream color, the lighting is good, the floors dark wood, black-and-white photographs adorn the walls, and the music is younger.
The menu is short and has some tempting offerings, but not much in the way of local fish. Yet.
We started with the spring lettuces salad with shaved radish, fresh herbs, and sherry vinaigrette; the crayfish fricasee with morels, peas, ramps, and creme fraiche, and the sautéed sea scallops with caper-raisin sauce, herb oil, cauliflower purée, and chervil. The salad was delicious, a dainty mound of leaves delicately dressed with a very high quality sherry vinegar and lots of nicely sprinkled-about herbs. It was the kind of salad you’d have in France or at a friend’s house — a friend who is a really, really good cook.
The crayfish fricasee was also good. Any time crayfish are available, I’m all over it. The spring-like adornment of morels, peas, and ramps seemed like an odd combination, but it worked. Each flavor came through — the earthy morels, fresh, barely cooked peas tasting very green, and the sweet, swampy, salty taste of the crayfish in the rich creme fraiche.
The sautéed sea scallop dish was recognized as an homage to Jean-Georges Vongerichten, cauliflower, caper-raisin sauce, and all. It was a beautiful dish to behold, pure white cauliflower purée topped with three nicely caramelized slices of scallop. And there’s my gripe. If there are three slices of scallop on your $16 scallop appetizer dish, that means you are getting one and a half sea scallops. I’d like to eat the other one and a half...
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August 12th, 2007
Entertainment
Artistic license, Spitzer style
George Rush and Joanna Rush Molloy Star Talk
Hillary and Bill were together last Saturday
at, among other places, Ronald Perelman's estate and the home of Nicholas
and Julie Sakellariadis, where beloved
Alison Restaurant chef Robert Gurvich feted
the crowd, despite having done so
the night before at Schwartz's.
July 13, 2007
Alison is a lovely epicurean respite with a long
copper bar, and award winning wine list (including a selection of Spanish wines),
and an impressive tapas menu by chef Robert Gurvich. Enjoy the understated décor which
features candlelit tables and banquettes
in the sunroom or take advantage of Alison's
new To Go option. The sirloin and sautéed striped
bass are amond the restaurant's best dishes.
July 6, 2007
DINING LOG
ALISON - Clients
are delighted with the flavorful Mediterranean menus of returning
chef Robert Gurvich. Elegant candlelit
decor & copper bar.
July 5, 2007
END NOTES
Birthday Platt-er
Campion Platt, the noted architect
and interior designer, gave a birthday
party for his chic wife, Tatiana at Alison
in Bridgehampton.
Read
the Article (.pdf)
BY JOAN REMINICK
Newsday Staff Writer
October 4, 2006
One reason to plan a drive out to the East End this time of year is that several
dining spots are offering price breaks for the fall season. Alison, 95 School
St. , Bridgehampton, is featuring a plat du jour every Tuesday to Sunday from
5:30 p.m., with a different special running every day. On Tuesday, for example,
the dish is a lobster potpie for $27. Included is a green salad or a glass
of wine. For information or reservations, call 631-537-7100.
7.25.04
"Her staff is a young and caring one, trained to make a meal; progress like
clockwork the food is as good as it was at Alison by the beach, and that says
a lot…the success rate was impressive."
7.11.04
"Alison Becker Hurts new restaurant arrives in achingly good taste…the
food can be fine, the staff is genial. The dining room is meticulously well
mannered."
7.08.04
"'Triple A' Delicious surf-centric dishes”
September 2004
"Imaginative? Definitely.
Dining at Alison provides an opportunity to experience truly creative
cuisine fueled by unparalleled instincts."
Hamptons
Guide Summer 2004
"lovely little
epicurean respite"
8.13.04
"Simple and Stunning"
7.07.04
"
The wonderful food, décor and service remains
the same. Alison Becker has once again created the
perfect environment
for enjoying
some of the best
food on the East End."
11.24.04
"Next time you’re
in the mood for an impeccable meal, visit
Alison."
09.30.04
(Sheridan Says)
"
Pricey but Nearly Perfect…The new Alison is a warm, welcoming,
and attractive place. The prices are high but the food is excellent."
