By Cristina Cuomo
The latest in steakhouses to hit the Hamptons is Buttero, the name for Italy’s cowboys, specifically from the coast and Tuscany. It is also the new iteration of elevated dining from co-owners chef Maurizio Marfoglia and Larry and Maria Baum, pictured here. Buttero’s spacious Race Lane restaurant in East Hampton is casual yet well appointed, from the fireside banquets to the vine-covered brick terrace. The Dopo family of restaurants includes Dopo La Spiaggia (“after the beach”) in Sag Harbor, the family’s original cozy eatery, Dopo Argento in Southampton and Bridgehampton’s Dopo il Ponte (Italian for bridge) pizzeria. At the latter two you’ll find house managing partner Vlad and chef Fabio.
Buttero is this carnivore’s new favorite summer feasting ground, because chef Marfoglia’s passion for steak is evident in every morsel. Having perfected the art of cooking a steak with his new steak-searing double broiler, Marfoglia’s carefully curated (Colorado grass-fed and grain-finished for flavor) Florentine porterhouse was sublime. I’m a lifelong foodie, and this steak tops them all—buttery, tender, fresh. The rib-eye side of the porterhouse was flavorful and fatty, and the filet tender to perfection. Peppercorn, Buttero’s steak sauce and bearnaise were all savory and sweet. Other steaks on the robust menu are local—from Acabonac Farms—like the beef burger, beef filet, bone-in rib-eye, rib-eye and New York strip.
Other honorable guilty pleasures include the homemade fettuccine with truffles, mushrooms and prawns; shishito peppers with a buttery miso sauce; and burrata with caramelized figs, topped off with flavorful, locally sourced honey.
“Wellness is so important to me,” says Maria Baum, whose passion for Italian food, creation of a high-phenolic olive oil on their family farm in Tuscany, investments in countless wellness-focused businesses, and philanthropic dedication to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation Board, has lead her to this—“food is medicine.” butterohamptons.com
