All-American Dining at Nichol's of East Hampton

Before Team GofG Hamptons hopped on the HJ earlier this week to attend our non-Internet Week party in the city, we decided to satiate our ravenous appetites with a little grub. Having read Real Housewife of NYC Kelly Bensimon's interview in Hamptons Magazine, we thought we'd try out one of her favorites: Nichol's of East Hampton. We learned that the girl's got taste. Who knew!

Our lunch experience was lovely. While the Hamptons seems unable to produce decent high-end cuisine, they've got casual dining down to a rather expensive tee. The decor at Nichol's is a bizarre mix of vintage Hamptons photos and random paraphenalia - a four-foot wooden giraffe, a road-sign that declares "Parking for Cubans Only," a shot glass collection, a large metal fish - but it works in the cute little Montauk Highway outpost. The place is not nearly as refined as its yacht-flagged sign would indicate, and that's a very good thing.

Not many people were there (2pm on Wednesday in the Hamptons: not exactly Times Square) but the service was excellent. To start, we shared sesame chicken wings and fried zucchini chips. The wings came with American-flag moist towelettes, so I decided to make an American montage (see photo). Both dishes were extremely delicious.

For our main courses, Britta had the crab-cake burger and I had the stuffed avocado salad (half an avacodo stuffed with lobster salad over a bed of mixed greens with a dijon dressing). The entrees were nothing to write home about but, to put it one way, they both got eaten.  And the kitchen automatically put my dressing on the side! We will definitely be back.