Easy, breezy East Hampton transplant Bay Kitchen Bar—known at its new Upper East Side home as BKB—flung open the portal doors last night to begin service of seafood and such to Hamptonites stranded in Manhattan during the off season. Father son duo Eric and Adam Miller are doing gourmet seafood and its land-based kin in an airy space on East 73rd Street; there's no water view here, so they're letting the flavors of the ocean do the heavy lifting instead.
The raw menu features Little Neck clams and East Coast oysters, which also show up in the Montauk Pearl Oysters Crisp ($24) with potato puree and caviar. There's a snack-sized Crab Cake dish ($18) with Carolina rice salad and Green Goddess Dressing, plus a Greek meatball dish called Keftedes ($14) with stewed tomato, peas and mint and a Czech bread dumplings called Knedlik ($16) with short ribs and shallots.
A simple Fisherman's Soup ($14) redolent with fennel, garlic and other aromatics channels the salty sea air; a mound of chickpea-crusted Fritto Misto ($18) doused in Meyer lemon with herb ailoi stands in for the requisite seaside bowl of fried fish. Larger fare include a Sea Bass ($34) on a potato-arugula cake and their version of a Lobster Roll ($26) on a potato bun. There are also Sirloin Cheeseburgers ($18), Herb-Stuffed Chicken ($28) and an Aged Sirloin ($42) for more land-minded diners.
321 East 73rd Street, 212-861-1038; website
