Beach lane
New Hope, Léon 1909, Sagtown, Selene, MiniMax Big Green Egg, Weekapaug Inn, MORE
REAL ESTATE • First Mover
Three for-sale properties that came to market in New Hope, PA, in the last 30 days.
→ 2033 Aquetong Rd (New Hope) • 2BR/2.1BA, 3378 SF house • Ask: $2.75M • ‘A long, winding driveway carries you through lush forest, the woods closing in tighter the further you go. Then you cross a quaint stone bridge over Dark Hollow Run, the trees fall away, and the landscape opens onto a secluded midcentury-modern retreat.’ • Annual taxes: $13,497 • Days on market: 14 • Agents: Farzad Nejad & Rose Presnell, Compass.
→ 6214 Saw Mill Rd (New Hope, above) • 5BR/5.1BA, 6037 SF house • Ask: $3.775M • on two parcels totaling 10.6 acres backing up onto protected conservation land • Annual taxes: $24,674 • Days on market: 17 • Agent: Lavinia Smerconish, Compass.
→ 6020 Atkinson Rd (New Hope) • 5BR/7.2BA, 9871 SF estate • Ask: $4.995M • gathering area with stone fireplace, wine cellar, theater room, billiards room, wet bar & full bath • Annual taxes: $33,074 • Days on market: 18 • Agents: Jay & Julianne Spaziano, Jay Spaziano Real Estate.
REAL ESTATE LINKS: Manhattan and Brooklyn sales listings trend in opposite directions • Amid confusion, NYC extends pied-à-terre tax exemption deadline by 4 weeks • The cloudy water torture at 220 Central Park South • Supertall 520 Fifth Ave wraps construction in Midtown • On Lower East Side, former Essex St. Market building to become 99 rental units • Plans revealed for lot where East Village church burned down in 2020.
CULTURE & LEISURE • Paradise City
My Chemical Romance • Citi Field (Flushing) • Sun @ 6p • sec 110, $194 per
Mumford & Sons • MSG (Midtown South) • Tue @ 730p • sec 107, $342 per
Guns N’ Roses • MetLife (East Rutherford) • Wed @ 625p • sec 113, $226
CULTURE & LEISURE LINKS: Arrival of Bat Lord marks new era at the Cloisters • Inside Joe Jonas’s art-filled, for-sale apartment • 15 outdoor art shows to see this summer in NYC • The great estate rush reshaping the art market.
WORK • Friday Routine
Island life
VALERIE MNUCHIN • owner • Léon 1909
Neighborhood you work in: Shelter Island Heights
Neighborhood you live in: Wainscott
It’s Friday afternoon. How are you rolling into the weekend?
I wake up and start my day with my favorite iced latte at Sagaponack General Store, then I head to New York Pilates in East Hampton. After that, it’s straight to Shelter Island and Léon 1909 for a day of meetings, tasting new dishes, and labor schedules. I’m fortunate to have such a talented and experienced team, including chef Armond Joseph and Chris Clark, our GM, who keep everything running smoothly. By Friday evening, I’m back at Léon for service and dinner with friends (with a lot of driving in between). This is a busy time of year on the East End, but there’s a great energy to it that I really love.
Where are you drinking or dining this weekend?
Léon, Léon, Léon. Not only am I working, but it’s actually my favorite place to be. For brunch, you can find me at Carissa’s or at Sagtown for a smoothie. Sunday nights, my husband cooks — we love to stay home and decompress after busy weekends. Sometimes we sneak off to Monte’s in Montauk and John’s for ice cream after dinner.
How about a little leisure or culture?
My daughter does ballet, so we’re always chasing her classes or shows at Guild Hall. I love seeing her perform, and it’s become such a big part of our weekends. We also walk the beach every day with the dogs, usually Townline or Beach Lane. Padel and hiking are definitely part of the weekend too. Anything outdoors and active makes me happy.
What was your last great vacation?
We went to Pine Cay in Turks and Caicos in February, and I’m obsessed. It’s dead quiet, with the most beautiful beach and water for miles. There’s something so special about a place that feels completely untouched and peaceful. We spent our days swimming, reading, and completely unplugging, which is very rare for me.
What’s a recent big-ticket purchase you love?
I recently bought a vintage rose-cut flower pendant on a leather choker cord. It’s from my closest friend and favorite jewelry go-to, @elishtolizzie.
What store or service do you always recommend?
My Beachy Side for all summer fashion — I always find something effortless and fun there. And I love Golden Pear Café in East Hampton.
Where are you donating your time or money?
ARF, Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons. Animals have always been close to my heart, and I really admire the work they do for rescue and adoption.
RESTAURANTS • First Word
Aegean spirit
The Skinny: Coastal Greek restaurant Selene opened this spring in Soho, with fresh seafood, multiple mezze, Mediterranean wines, and a lot of spirit.
The Vibe: Walk in, and the room splits in two: a darker, moodier bar area up front, beyond which is an airy, light-filled dining room. The decor is neutral stone, light wood, and whitewashed walls, and the noise level lands somewhere between lively and loud.
The Food: Start with the hummus and pita, then order as much fish as the table can handle. A tuna crudo dotted with tobiko and fennel pollen, then drizzled with lemon and olive oil is wonderfully delicate. Selene chips — paper-thin fried zucchini and eggplant slices — are perfectly crispy and oily, and the standout main of tsipoura fish is flaky, and juicy. Nothing you wouldn’t see on your average Greek taverna menu, all done well.
The Drink: A fairly well-distributed wine list — covering North America and western Europe, in addition to a few Greek wines — is succinct and well-rounded. Cocktails are also worth a look. The Salt Air (tequila, fermented cucumber and dill, and Aegean tonic) is refreshing, as is a more laid-back Coastal Spritz of Montenegro amaro, Vidiano wine, and fig.
The Verdict: Between the fresh fish, the whitewashed room, and that cocktail list, Selene is a new bright slice of the Aegean on a Soho corner. –Lauren Harano
→ Selene (Soho) • 23 Grand St • Mon-Wed 5-10p, Thu-Sat 5-1030p • Reserve.
GOODS & SERVICES • FOUND Object
Over easy
The tool my husband and I use most during summer in the Hamptons is our forest-green Big Green Egg. The iconic ceramic grill and cooker turns out absurdly juicy meat from live-fire cooking (we often use locally foraged wood as fuel). Over the years, we’ve used it to make everything from Peking duck and baby back ribs to thin-crust pizza and pillowy pita.
We love ours so much that we recently added a MiniMax Big Green Egg to the patio of our Brooklyn apartment. Designed to be portable and compact enough to sit on a tabletop or ledge, the MiniMax still packs plenty of cooking real estate. Its 13-inch stainless steel grid has enough room for two generous ribeyes or a steak alongside a pile of vegetables. Like its larger counterparts, it’s user-friendly, holds temperature exceptionally well, can reach up to 750°F, and delivers perfectly grilled and smoked proteins and vegetables just like the rest of the Big Green family. –Kat Odell
→ Shop: MiniMax Big Green Egg, $850.
GETAWAYS • Rhode Island
Sharing in the groove
As far as Rhode Island locales go, you could do far, far worse than a couple of serene days at the Weekapaug Inn, with its timeless red cedar shingles and red shutters on the shores of the saltwater Quonochontaug Pond.
Three Fenway Suites overlook the pool from large furnished decks with outdoor soaking tubs. Last time I visited Rhode Island, I stayed at Weekapaug’s sister resort Ocean House, 15 minutes away in Watch Hill. Weekapaug Inn is smaller and quieter. A complimentary house car shuttles guests between the two resorts, so you can still get out to the ocean and dip your toes in the Atlantic waters, no matter which property you opt for.
Inn guests can zip around the pond with complimentary paddleboards and electric boat tours, spotting ospreys, piping plovers, herons, and terns. The original inn, built in the 1890s, was destroyed in a 1938 hurricane, but the water was perfectly calm during my stay. I enjoyed a salt marsh walk with the resort’s resident naturalist, but honestly wished I could have joined the driftwood art class for children.
At dinner, meaty king trumpet mushrooms were neatly scored and caramelized, while kombu-cured whole black sea bass was served butterflied and head-on. Chef de cuisine Cameron Gray is a native Rhode Islander, who will proudly show guests the garden he’s planted with tomatoes, peppers, and herbs just beside their room. Complimentary warm sourdough and rye breads comes from local bakery Nana’s Westerly, and were so good that I stopped by the following morning to pick up a loaf to take home.
After dinner and a brief soak in my tub, I drifted off to a vinyl record soundtrack of poems, music, and field recordings from The Birdsong Project, an unusual but effective meditation.
Why It’s FOUND: Peaceful pond life at its best, with remarkably great food and quintessential New England charm. –Amber Gibson
→ Weekapaug Inn (Westerly, RI) • 25 Spray Rock Rd • Rates from $1500/night.
GETAWAYS LINKS: In Sag Harbor, Corner Bar successor The Corner opens tonight, lunch coming next week • Compass invades Shelter Island • At the Airports: Delta cutting JFK routes to IAH, MEM, STL… JetBlue names forthcoming first class service BlueFirst… wins auction to bring flights back to LGA’s Marine Air Terminal… and why JetBlue wants out of LGA’s gleaming Terminal B.
LOST & FOUND • Behind the Paywall
Dispatches by FOUND subscribers, for FOUND subscribers.
→ A handful of favorite NYC restaurants from new subscribers: 4 Charles Prime Rib (Greenwich Village) • Anton’s (West Village) • Avra Madison (Upper East Side) • Agnanti Meze (Astoria).