Horse Trading
Another big name real estate feud has been resolved by time. The former Red Horse Market on the Montauk Highway between Wainscott and East Hampton has been empty for two years because Jerry Della Femina and Ben Krupinski were not getting along. They were once partners in the ownership of the Red Horse shopping center and other commercial real estate, and Jerry held the lease as a tenant on the market space. He chose to keep it vacant after the demise of the partnership, undermining the value of the real estate.
That’s history now, and the present is much more appetizing. Joe Gurrera, the owner of Citarella, is opening Tutto Italiano, a Hamptons version of a salumeria, one of those teeming and fragrant Italian grocery stores. Salumeria specialize in cold cuts, usually many kinds of salami and proscuitto, as well as cheeses, olives, tuna, anchovies and sardines, and mushrooms, eggplant, onions and peppers preserved in oil or vinegar. Gurrera will no doubt expand on that basic theme. For one thing, he is putting in a pizza oven. You’ll find the classics but also unexpected regional foods from every area of Italy.
There’s parking, which alone will guarantee plenty of shoppers. Tutto Italiano is good news for neighbor Wines by Morrell, which managed to stay afloat but lost significant business after the Red Horse Market closed. The two stores are a good match for coordinated food and wine shopping. We expect Wines by Morrell to stock up on their Super Tuscans and Barolos.