Back for its third season, Nick & Toni’s of East Hampton will kick off their thoroughly transportive wine dinner series, Getaway Thursdays, on November 2.
First up in this season’s dialed-in, region-centric line-up is “A Tale of Two Tuscanies,” an enotrian love-letter to the land known for its outstanding wines. Yes, there will be Tuscany’s famed Chianti, but guided by beverage director Chimene Macnaughton you will discover so much more, like the juicy but grippy charms of rosato di Ampelaia made from grenache and carignan, and the beauty of a racy, minerally glass of Tuscany’s undersung white, vermentino, among the surprises in store.
Each dinner in the series kicks off with a fun, walk-around nosh-and-sip session in the bar area, featuring a wine thoughtfully paired by Macnaughton to go with a half-dozen, give or take, regional bites to whet your appetite. Next, wine-curious diners move to the main dining room for a four-course meal to remember created by chef Joe Realmuto and his team, led by chef de cuisine Courtney Sypher-Barylski and executive pastry chef Kelsey Roden.
The first dinner will feature such craveble dishes as chestnut gnocchi in a rich rabbit ragu, porchetta and cannellini beans and a dark chocolate pistachio torta. Sign us up!
“Experiential hospitality is my favorite kind,” said Macnaughton in a press release for the event series. “‘Getaway Thursdays’ are tasting dinners designed around wine-themed escapes. From the A in Austria to the Z in indigenous Sicilian [grape varietal] zibbibo, we explore the world’s wine regions paired to delicious one-night-only menus crafted by the skilled team at Nick & Toni’s.”
The upcoming monthly dinners, which run all winter through early spring, are as follows:
- November 2, A Tale of Two Tuscanies
- December 7, Feast of the 7 Fishes
- January 25, Indigenous, Wild and Rare: the Island Wines of Sicily, Corsica and the Canaries
- March 21, España: from Rioja to Rias Baixas, Our Favorite Producers’ Stories
- April 25, France: Tour de Terroir Deux — the Rhone Zone
Reservations for all dinners, starting with A Tale of Two Tuscanies, can be made on Resy and booked here. Nick & Toni’s is located at 136 N. Main Street, East Hampton, 631-324-3550.
