Hamptons Chatter: Ralph plays a new game of Polo... Old Stove gets a few searing reviews... plus snapshots from Parish Spring Fling!

Ralph Hampton! Polo's new street Position

In spite of the Arctic blasts we are currently experiencing, summer prepping is in the air. One of the more notable changes happening right now is the overhaul of the old Ralph Lauren Rugby store. If you thought for a second the King of East Hampton would be relinquishing any of his main street real estate, you would be wrong! It turns out the site will not become a home furnishing store as long suspected but rather a Polo store. The designer is keeping his location across the street where he'll continue to sell his higher end wears such as "Purple Label." Look for the new POLO store to open by the end of this week!

So just in case you forgot just HOW many stores Ralph owns in town, let's count these together; the original store, the children's store, the vintage store and now the polo store... oh and let's throw in his daughter Dylan's Candy shop and according to some rumors he actually owns the historic village hall?!?!? One man single handily keeping the Hamptons economy strong. The only problem I have with all of this is that it's not me. The least he could do is give the whole town a friends and family discount!

Meanwhile, I'm always looking for a great new place to chow down on the
East End. Well, recently I said to some friends, "how about the Old Stove Pub in Wainscott?" Well, after four personal and blistering critiques, my friend Simon said to check out the Yelp reviews for the restaurant. Normally I have to go to the police blotter in Dan's to get such entertainment. So what is the consensus? I'm now highlighting some of my favorite comments for you. Now, mind you I've not yet been to the new Old Stove Pub and I'm hoping to try it myself sometime before the summer. Here's hoping I have a better experience and they get it together. Now for those too lazy to read their own reviews of the restaurant, the cliff notes version.

"The good-the host was friendly and the spanakopita was fantastic.... The bad they killed the cow twice!" Krystyna H

"Just close Old Stove Pub, it would make a cute antique shop." Scott S.

"I wish there was a choice of zero stars... the veggie side dishes were covered in parsley, after our dinner mate had clearly told the server that we had a major parsley allergy at the table. Fun times!" Lisa H.

"How can you serve a salad that is still frozen the center? It took 2 hours before our food was served." Allan G.

"Just before our food arrived they served us one piece of random something in a dish that looked like a pig ear." Hampton E.

Wow, I haven't seen these kind of reviews since Sylvester Stallone did King Lear on Broadway. Anyway, there's still time to fix this before the season starts guys. I'll see you soon but remember, I didn't write these reviews!!

Meanwhile, the Parish Art Museum held their sold out annual Spring Fling this Saturday. So I took my camera and snapped a few of the merry makers at the event!