Thanks for bringing Donohue’s to the East End, Maureen Donohue Peters! (Photo credit: Madison Fender)
I love a good comeback story. Or, better yet, a story that’s about an institution finding new life but still being its good, ol’ self.
My good friend and fellow booze journalist, Robert Simonson and his outstanding human of a wife, Mary Kate, were visiting my husband and me on Shelter Island when, over a meal, he piped up: “Hey, did you hear that Donohue’s is opening in Westhampton Beach?” I had, I said, and we were planning to cover it but… as he is a devotee of the Manhattan original, would he please write it for me? Indeed, he said, he would.
Robert did such a great job giving both the background of the original and capturing the spirit of third-generation owner Maureen Donohue. It’s the kind of place my dad would take me and our fam; it’s the kind of place where you feel comfortable and welcome and well-fed. There are no airs or fussy fashionable flourishes. It’s traditional pub-ish comfort food, good steaks, cold beer and kind people. My kinda place. Robert’s, too. Read the story here. And if you’d like more of Robert’s wonderful way with words, hit up his substack “The Mix” here.
Amy Zavatto is the Editor-in-Chief for southforker, northforker and Long Island Wine Press. She's a wine, spirits, and food journalist whose work appears in Wine Enthusiast, InsideHook.com, MarthaStewart.com, the New York Post, Liquor.com, SevenFifty Daily, Imbibe, Men’s Journal and many others. She's the author of The Big Book of Bourbon Cocktails, Prosecco Made Me Do It: 60 Seriously Sparkling Cocktails, Forager’s Cocktails: Botanical Mixology with Fresh, Natural Ingredients, and The Architecture of the Cocktail. She is a respected judge for the American Craft Spirits Association’s annual small-production spirits competition, and has moderated numerous panels on the topics of wine, spirits, cocktails, and regional foodways. She is the former Deputy Editor for the regional celebratory publications, Edible Manhattan and Edible Brooklyn, as well as the former Executive Director of the Long Island Merlot Alliance. She is a member of the New York chapter of the international organization of women leaders in food, wine, and spirits, Les Dames d’Escoffier. The proud daughter of a butcher, Amy is originally from Shelter Island, N.Y., where she developed a deep respect for the East End’s natural beauty and the importance of preserving and celebrating it and its people.
