Ice & Instinct / The HamptonsFriday
A quiet bar for the arrival dinner - drinks that say the weekend has started, served without theatre after a long drive.
Out east, the standard holds.
From a pool house in Southampton to a deck above the dunes in Montauk, the summer calendar fills fast and forgives nothing. We bring the studio to the house - professional clear ice transported cold, real technique, a bar team that scales - so the evening holds its standard a hundred miles from the city.
From $650 USDFour tiers · Summer dates book first · Southampton to MontaukReserve a summer date
Memorial Day to Labor Day.
The Hamptons run on a calendar of their own. The season opens by Memorial Day and closes by Labor Day, and inside those fourteen weekends an entire year of hosting happens - the welcome dinners, the birthdays moved to the beach, the wedding behind the privet, the firm's summer party. Those dates fill before anything else we hold. The hosts who write in spring choose their evening; the ones who call in July take what remains.
The houses are built for it. An estate kitchen with more counter than most bars in Manhattan, a pool house waiting to be staffed, a lawn that takes a tent without complaint. The bar goes where the house wants it - the kitchen island, the pool-house counter, a long table set for golden hour - and the service is sized to the room, from a quiet dinner for twelve to a full team for a weekend house that somehow holds a hundred by dusk.
A wedding out east - vineyard, club, or a ceremony on the lawn - runs under our wedding service. The offsite that migrates to the beach in June is built on our corporate page. Everything else - the house weekend, the anniversary, the dinner that earns the drive - begins here. And for the season weekends that need only a bartender, the studio's vetted bench is on call - see Event Bartenders.
Fourteen weekends. One standard.
Southampton · Water Mill · Bridgehampton · Sag Harbor · East Hampton · Amagansett · Montauk
How a night actually runs.
The distance changes the logistics, not the result. What happens between our studio and your last guest's goodnight, in order.
- 01
The drive, planned
We load before the Friday crawl on Route 27, not into it. Arrival time is agreed in advance and held - the bar is built and dressed before the first car comes up the gravel.
- 02
The ice, transported cold
Professional clear ice is cut in our studio and rides out in insulated transport, finished on site. The cube in the last glass of the night is as flawless as the first.
- 03
The setup
Estate kitchen, pool house, or tent - we build the bar where the house wants it. A standard outlet and running water cover nearly every setup; anything beyond that is flagged at the walkthrough, not on the day.
- 04
The service
Thirteen signature cocktails refined in private service, the classics poured correctly, and a zero-proof program carried with the same care - for the guests pacing a long summer day.
- 05
The close
At last call the station is broken down and the kitchen returned to order. The house wakes to a quiet counter, not to evidence.
More than one evening.
Out east, guests rarely come for a single night. Multi-day engagements are quoted as one program - one brief, one team, one standard across the weekend.
01
02
Saturday
The evening the weekend is built around. The full menu, the full team, golden hour to last call.
03
Sunday
An unhurried send-off - lighter pours, the zero-proof program forward, the house easing toward the drive home.
04
One booking
One conversation covers all of it. The menu arcs across the days instead of repeating, and the quote arrives as a single written figure.
IV · Investment
Four tiers. One standard.
Choose the rhythm that fits the house. Every tier scales with a full bar team for larger evenings, quoted per event. Spirits are not included - you provide them, or we purchase on your behalf at supplier cost.
AThe FoundationUp to 15 guests · 3 hoursFrom $650BPerfection in SimplicityUp to 12 guests · 4 hoursFrom $900CBespoke Design & ArtistryUp to 30 guests · 4 hoursFrom $1,800DOmakase ImprovisationOpen-endedFrom $3,000+
A flat $500 deposit reserves your date - fully refundable until 14 days before the evening.
Beforethe drive.
What hosts out east ask, answered plainly.
Do you travel to the Hamptons, and what does it cost?
Yes - through the season we serve Southampton, Water Mill, Bridgehampton, Sag Harbor, East Hampton, Amagansett, and Montauk. Travel is included in your written quote as one figure, stated before you commit, and the clear ice rides out cold from our studio in insulated transport. No surprise line items after the fact.
What kinds of venues do you work in out east?
Estate kitchens, pool houses, tented lawns, rented summer houses, and the occasional deck above the dunes. We build the bar where the house wants it - a standard outlet and running water cover nearly every setup, and anything beyond that is flagged before the day, not on it.
When should we book a summer date?
Before the season opens. The Memorial Day to Labor Day calendar fills first, and July and August Saturdays go earliest. A flat $500 deposit holds the date - fully refundable until 14 days before the evening, transferable for 12 months if plans move.