The buzziest new bars and restaurants are built on unsavory rivalries
Rigatoni rivals
Mamma mia! Hamptonites are buzzing about two rival Italian restaurants.
In July, Gabby Karan de Felice (daughter of Donna Karan) opened an outpost of her Tutto il Giorno in Sag Harbor, just down the street from its original location and now Dopo la Spiaggia, a popular eatery run by Karan’s former business partners, Maurizio Marfoglia and Larry and Maria Baum.
“They are both hot, so it’s a constant debate,’’ says Xavier Merat, who owns Sag Harbor’s chic Salon Xavier and says his clients are always gabbing about which restaurant to go to.
Marfoglia is vocal in his disapproval of Karan de Felice moving into his territory. After they parted ways in 2016, she signed gned a two-year non-compete agreement, but was quick to make a move once it expired.
“All we need is another Italian restaurant in town,” Marfoglia tells The Post. “I think [the agreement] ran out in December, and in January they were popping Champagne and toasting the new space.’’
Larry Baum says seeing many of the same dishes, such as spicy tuna tartare and burrata with organic tomatoes and fresh basil, was a shock. “Not only did they open 275 steps away, but they used a lot of Maurizio’s menu,’’ says Baum.
Don Evans, producer of the food events Taste of Two Forks, GrillHampton and MonTaco, says he experienced a bit of déjà vu visiting the restaurants.
“I ate at Dopo one night and Tutto the next and had exactly the same rigatoni preparation,” he says. “It was a little surreal.”
Karan de Felice says that many Italian spots have similar dishes.
“These are staples that we all love; we are not reinventing the wheel,’’ she says. “My husband grew up in Southern Italy, and these are his mother’s recipes.” Some locals are vocal about which spot they prefer. “My friends and I are loyal to Dopo because we’d rather feel like we are sitting at a cafe by the water in Capri than on busy Main Street in Sag Harbor,” says Compass real-estate agent Diane Shifman. Others are happy to remain neutral. “Both have great food,” raves veteran publicist R. Couri Hay. “My circle of friends used to go to Dopo all the time, but now we divide our time between Dopo and Tutto,’’ says Andrea Warshaw-Wernick, who lives on the Upper East Side and has a home in Wainscott. “We went to Tutto Thursday and loved that the place is so elegant and the crowd is so glamorous, but Friday we were at Dopo and everyone at my table was blown out of the water by the food.’’ Neither establishment is suffering for business at the moment. “You need to have a connection to get a table at either place right now,” says Park Avenue cosmetic dermatologist Howard Sobel. Baum is philosophical about how it might all play out. “I have done a massive amount of personal reflection, and I believe in karma,” he says. “I am thankful to them for pushing us to be better.”