It’s been a bit quiet ’round this blog over the past few days, thanks to a mini-holiday Brad an I snuck away on late last week. I was booked to spend Friday on the set of a photo shoot in Southampton with one of our wonderful Bad Feather clients. Since we’ve been working like crazy around here, we headed out a day early to spend some time recharging in Montauk.

Brad and I arrived Wednesday evening in time to stroll on the beach with Francine (who we dragged along with us) before heading to dinner. We decided to try one of the trendier restaurants to see what kind of dishes the local chefs are creating with seasonal ingredients. We had a great cocktail and some Blue Point oysters to start and enjoyed a great meal, even if we did break the date night rule and talk business most of the time. The most unique and memorable dish was cod, seared to a crisp and served in a light tomato broth with cherries and crispy kale. It was pretty outstanding.

On Thursday we hit the beach, relaxed and caught up on some reading. That afternoon we took a break from the sun and headed back out Montauk Highway to lunch at a roadside joint on some more oysters, Blue Point beer and some beach delicacies – a lobster roll and a fried flounder sandwich. My other motive for this afternoon jaunt was to hit up a farm stand and a seafood shop for dinner supplies.

After a short (thanks to the mosquito onslaught) hike at Montauk Point with Francine, we headed back to the beach for sunset and eventually back to our cottage to prepare a satisfying summer meal with the day’s treasures: local scallops – pan seared and tossed with chives, a simple ‘Caprese’ salad of cherry tomatoes, fresh ciliegine mozzarella (cherry sized balls) and basil leaves, some local sweet corn and a bottle of crisp white wine.

These are the simple dinners I dream of when we’re bundled up and bearing New York City winters. Sunned, tired and content, I would have done it all again the next day.