By Tessa Raebeck
Known for artisanal pizzas and authentic Italian cuisine, Doppio Artisan Bistro will be opening a new location in Sag Harbor this spring, at the 126 Main Street spot previously occupied by Madison & Main.
The restaurant, Doppio East, will offer a raw bar, small plates and pizzas fresh from the dining room’s new brick oven.
As roommates at Fordham University, executive chef Louis Barresi and partner Thomas Pescuma dreamed of opening a restaurant together. While Pescuma worked in financial services, Barresi and his brother Joseph founded Doppio Artisan Bistro in Greenwich, Connecticut three years ago.
Following the first restaurant’s success, the duo joined with Harry Armon, Pescuma’s partner in a financial consulting firm, to found The Timeless Hospitality Group. The group opened Doppio Huntington in April 2013 and a French bistro, Barrique Restaurant in Stamford, Connecticut, two months later. They bought a Hudson Street location in New York City in the fall and are opening Doppio NYC this month.
Their latest venture into good food, Doppio East is a casual bistro set to open as early as March. Having visited the area every summer, Pescuma “got the urge” to open a location on the East End.
After purchasing the space occupied by The Paradise last year, Madison & Main co-owners Michael Gluckman and Eric Miller performed extensive renovations to the building’s interior. Pescuma said the new owners plan to keep many of the layout changes, such as leaving the bar by the restaurant’s front entrance. A brick pizza oven will warm the room from the back left corner.
Not yet finalized, the Doppio East menu will have many of the Italian staples from the restaurant’s other locations, with added seafood options and a full raw bar. It will feature pizzas, 10 to 12 piattini (small plates), appetizers, soups, salads, Panini, meat and seafood dishes, and, of course, pastas. All Doppio East dressings, breads and pastas will be made in house.
Coming straight from the brick oven, the selection of 10 to 15 artisan pizzas will include the signature Doppio pizza: butternut squash puree, mozzarella di bufala and pancetta finished with the finest extra virgin olive oil.
Large groups at Doppio typically order several pizzas and small plates. Ranging in price from $6 to $25 at the Huntington location, the dishes include: Clams Al Doppio, top neck clams, fresh herbs and panko bread crumbs; Polenta E Funghi Al Tartufo, a mixed wild mushroom polenta with truffle oil; and Polpo Alla Griglia, a “very popular” char-grilled octopus dish with fennel, arugula and citrus.
The fresh pastas are done “Carpaccio style,” Pescuma says, meaning the house made pasta is baked in tinfoil and hand rolled. In addition to classic dishes like fettuccini Bolognese and meat lasagna, Doppio offers high-end dishes such as Pappardelle al Ragu D’Agnello, or house made pappardelle with braised lamb shank ragu, and Fusilli in Cartoccio, which features hand rolled pasta, porcini mushrooms, baby heirloom tomato, truffle oil and mascarpone cheese and is “the biggest seller as far as pasta goes,” according to Pescuma.
On bread baked in house, the Fiorentina Panini has skirt steak, caramelized onions and melted Gorgonzola dolce, while the Salsiccia Panini is filled with sweet Italian sausage, broccoli rabe and fresh mozzarella.
The partners are looking forward to adding several new dishes to the Sag Harbor menu; including a new chicken Chianti and at least one lobster dish.
“The plate size, despite the name, is actually pretty big,” Pescuma says of the piattini, adding that they may scale the size down and lower the prices for the Sag Harbor spot, although nothing has been finalized.
Doppio East plans to have regular live music and nightly bar specials on drinks and small plates and is “definitely going to be open year-round,” Pescuma said, adding the venue is ideal for private events.
Doppio East is opening this spring at 126 Main Street in Sag Harbor. For more information, visit timelesshospitalitygroup.com.
