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Locally-grown, organic food is what makes Barbara Layton, the owner of Babette’s in East Hampton, smile these days.
As the owner of a restaurant that features a wide selection of vegetarian and vegan dishes, she sees it as her job not only to create a menu and fine-dining experience, but to raise awareness about the global importance of healthy eating and locally grown fare.
“To a huge extent, we are what we eat,” Ms. Layton said in a recent interview. “I want to know that the piece of chicken on my plate is hormone and antibiotic-free, I want to know the produce I am eating is not genetically modified. I want to support the farmers who maintain integrity and are using sustainable methods for production. It is a matter of health for ourselves, our children and the entire planet.”
When Ms. Layton first opened Babette’s on Newtown Lane in 1995, her original vision “was to make healthy eating elegant and glamorous,” she said. So she and her then husband, who was the chef, created a fine-dining cafe with a funky, yet refined ambience that featured vegetarian dishes that would be as delicious as any meat dish.
Ms. Layton developed her love of good, healthy food while growing up in Brooklyn, where she spent much of her childhood cooking with her Italian grandmother, who lived to 99. She worked as a Montessori school teacher and then became involved in managing health food restaurants in the city and also became a vegetarian. She moved to East Hampton in 1993.
Over the years, she said, her idea of healthy eating and so, Babette’s menu, has evolved to include more vegan and raw dishes, predominantly certified organic ingredients and local sourcing whenever possible. Some of the vegetables served this summer will come from Ms. Layton’s home vegetable garden, as well as EECO farm and the Green Thumb.
She and the chef of the past five years, Michael Stokes, recently remade the menu for all three meals, with influences derived from Italian, Asian, French and Mexican cuisine. Breakfast, which is served until 4 p.m., offers 12 varieties of omelettes including the “Great White,” with five egg whites, sauteed onion and tomato, and the “Olympian,” with spinach, tomato and feta cheese, all served with homemade organic whole grain bread for $16.95.
There are other familiar options, like whole grain pancakes for $16.95, and less familiar options, like new foo yong, described as a healthy cousin to egg foo yong, which comes pan seared with scrambled tofu, mushrooms, organic brown rice, gingered carrots, scallions, cashews and spinach served with Asian sauce over udon noodles, for $18.95.
Lunch offers 10 salads, such as the “Vagabond Salad” with grilled free-range chicken breast, blood orange and balsamic glaze over herb dressed penne and greens topped with Gorgonzola and candied pecans for $19.95. There are free-range turkey burgers or lentil vegetable walnut burgers that are meat and dairy-free for $17.95.
One very popular lunch and dinner plate is the “Proud Dragon Bowl” of steamed seasonal vegetables simmered in Thai peanut sauce served over organic greens and brown rice or udon noodles for $17.95. It can be topped with grilled free-range chicken, grilled shrimp, line-caught tuna, grilled marinated tofu or smoked tempeh.
“We have the best tempeh this side of Bali,” said Karen Eckardt, a server.
The dinner menu features a variety of tapas-like selections, with numerous small plates such as barbecue tofu or skewered grilled seitan for $12, side vegetables such as braised artichokes, barley and quinoa or sweet potato fries for $7, salads and grilled breads that can be ordered to share. The “large plates,” run from $23 to $28 and include house specialties such as Thai barbecue seitan with rice noodles, bell peppers, carrots, asparagus, broccoli, scallion and ground peanuts for $23.
There are also specials every day, such as the Moroccan spiced burger or falafel for $18.95.
Babette’s is also family-friendly with a kids’ menu that includes a free-range turkey burger for $12.95 and a free-range turkey or tofu hot dog for $11.95.
Many of the dessert offerings are vegan, dairy-free and/or organic, such as the carrot cake for $9 and a chocolate cake with chocolate ganache frosting, also for $9. There is even a simple bowl of non-dairy vanilla ice-cream for $8.
Babette’s offers a prix fixe menu for $24.95 from 5 to 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights that includes three appetizer options, four entrée options and five dessert options.
Ms. Layton plans to feature local music and salon events with speakers at night this summer, ideally to discuss topics like sustainable farming and climate change.
“I don’t know about you, but I prefer buying chicken or vegetables right from where it’s grown when possible, rather than eating something that is shipped from 1,500 miles away,” she said. “It’s that thing about looking into the eyes of the person you are buying from and knowing it’s all good and it’s all right.”
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