Le Chef

My wife and my «go to» place in Southampton. We have honestly never been disappointed eating here. The staff is friendly and highly capable. The food is ALWAYS right on point. A must if you are spending any amount of time in Southampton.

Great little spot for lunch. We had the chicken Caesar salad with grilled chicken which was excellent — the dressing was okay not great but the Portion was good. Decent lunch food price.

I took my family here on what is our 2^nd night of vacation. The service has been excellent. My wife and I both throughly enjoyed our appetizers and our entrees and we were treated to champagne on the house. I would write this review whether we got that or not. I now can say I love this place after one visit and will come back in the future. Even if I have to wait until next summer for vacation! Our server knew the menu and specials and had recommendations ready. The price was what I expected for our location and I feel it was a great value.

Delicious lobster salad and gazpacho, and excellent service. Le Chef also has a great summer wine selection!

Very good French food. I loved the soup (complimentary with entrée for lunch). Also this month they have the special dinner for 30 $. Great dish is the salmon. Wow. Nice flavor.

A good value restaurant which is a rarity in the Hamptons. Reliably good food and courteous staff. Recommended.

I had the best crab cakes I have ever tasted and the pomegranate martini was very delicious. Me and my friend felt very taken care of by all friendly the staff — server, bartender, and supporting staff. We sat outside where there was a nice breeze and we could watch the people go by, it was very nice.

Place was amazing. Had a table of 15 for a 30^th birthday party– for a $ 30-​$ 40 fixed plate menu, food was worth every penny, was absolutely superb! Great service, good wine selection. Will definitely come back.

Special little place I go to with my mother. Quiche & wine. Superb.

Went to Le Chef last night looking forward to a great dinner.
However we were terribly disappointed.
My husband ordered the lamb and I ordered the surf and turf. We could not eat any of it. Both dishes had no seasoning whatsoever. My filet mignon was rubbery & tasteless. The lamb was just tasteless. My soup was also without any flavor. The only thing edible were the 3 pieces of potato.
The service was appalling! We ordered a red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon) the waitress brought A white wine. «Cabernet Sauvignon Blanc «according to her.
When finished our meal she said «you didn’t like your entrees? You should have ordered the special. «
After a $ 150 tab I would expect someone from management to ask what was wrong.
It did not happen. After we left I called to talk about what happened and the guy in charge who was sitting at the bar drinking all night hung up on me.
AVOID THIS RESTAURANT !

comfortable, recently renovated room. great bar caring management and great wait staff. food excellent… treat yourself to the escargot if you’ve been good

The reviews are wrong. The chef pays attention to the details and it shows. My mussels were cooked perfectly, my son’s gnocchi was fresh, and my other son’s pasta had a perfect fra diavolo sauce. My wife’s crab stuffed shrimp was divine. The pâté was some of the best I had, with the correct/​traditional accoutrements. And the bread is remarkable. Hard for bread to be remarkable. This kitchen is tight.
Check out the more correct reviews on Trip Advisor and Zagat.

Charming, comfortable, lovely restaurant with white tableclothes, beautiful artwork to admire while dining, nice music and great service. They also offer nightly special for 3 course dinners starting at 30 dollars which is a steal for the Hamptons, where you can’t even get an entrée alone for that price. We started with the most amazing meaty crabcakes that were more delicious then any I’ve ever had. Then tried a scallop appetizer which was glazed and sweet… local sea scallops, the best. The main courses were all incredible, we ordered mostly fish and some vegetarian for my daughter. Loved the way the fish was served with little bundles of veggies, around the plate, with a beautiful flower of pureed butternut squash and finished with an incredible light sauce. I do not think this place is French, I would say more ‘Continental’ or American. Nothing was creamy or too buttery. Just light, flavorful and excellent. We make it there for dinner always when we’re out there. It’s just wonderful. Oh, and the cheesecake with raspberry sauce was to die for, and loved the passion sorbet! All made there.

Excellent service. Nice atmosphere.
Average food, with a cafeteria-​like flavor.
Sauces tasted out of a package.
I am a fan of good pâté de foie grois.
The country pâté was awful.
Not French in any notable way.
Certainly not the Pierre’s of Southampton.
Could use some more authentic French dishes, and
attention to quality.
Desserts were OK, nothing truly French.

well no need to even experience the food at this place. My boyfriend and I were out looking for a romantic small setting to have a nice meal and decided to give this place a try.
bad service, staring from the moment we walked in the door. The bread basket was literally thrown at the table by a passer by, two of the wine bottles we asked from their menu they didn’t have BUT then I went to their restroom… it had been wiped down with a dirty toilet paper all over. I walked out of there feeling nauseous. I quietly tried telling the man watching the game, who seemed to be the owner/​manager and he did not want to hear it. he walked away from the table saying «is it backed up?»
my appetite along with my patience were gone. We walked out.

Very happy to wait until 5 for this place to open. love outdoor tables — three very attentive staff people who were genuinely pleasant and hospitable.
This is a real restaurant… that goes out of it’s way to do small things… like julienne carrots, keep broccoli firm, keep wild rice perfect.
Ceasar salad was also perfect… not ruined with dressing.. and they had anchovies to add on request. which were great.
The seafood had some capers — always a plus!
White table cloths, nice service but It’s not formal. Just very good.
The real thing for me out here is… in warm weather — anything outside… it’s even nicer when it is actually good.
*****This place may be french but it is not heavy at all! The opposite. You can trust these people not to drown, lace or coat your food with anything heavy. Also to have a good menu.

The plates are small and service is not good and the price is a bit high, though the décor looks inviting, I couldn’t recommend tourists to try this place. Honestly, there are other better places in this small town of Southampton.

I’ve eaten here several times over the last decade and I’ve always been satisfied with the food, the service and the price. Two people can dine at Le Chef and have a nice meal and a couple of drinks each for around $ 100. What more can you ask for in the Hamptons?

One of the worst dining experiences in my life
We were ‘greeted’ by the owner/​manager who slid off a bar stool to seat us. Why I tried to make conversation, he gave a surly snicker, tossed down the menus and stalked away.
The food was adequate but delayed, due to the fact that the kitchen was backed up, but that wasn’t the major issue here.
Our waitress was nice enough, but the noise level in the restaurant was deafening, with everyone screaming to be heard. My guest and I had a corner table, but we spent the evening leaning across the table to try valiently and in vain to hear one another over the deafening din.
The problem wasn’t even the fellow diners. They were doing the same thing we were. Screaming to be heard.
The owner had on a Frank Sinatra record, on the highest volume level I’ve ever encountered that wasn’t at a concert. Worse still, it was a song/​interview set-​up, so as people at the tables screamed to one another, they could barely be heard over either the interviewer’s dialogue or old blue eyes singing.
We were there for a special occasion which stopped feeling very special, very quickly.
The waitress went to the owner/​manager not once but three times, asking him on our behalf to turn the music down (I can’t imagine that we were the only people asking, either!!). Three out of three times she was rebuffed, and finally she came back to us with her tail between her legs and her shoulders slumped, practically in tears. I was afraid she was going to be fired.
Not to beat around the bush, this is was loudest single music (not to mention interview) I’ve ever heard in a small, indoor space, and some of the surliest, chip on your shoulder management I’ve ever run across.

Le Chef? Le Disappointment. After nearly three years as a Los Angeles transplant, I’m still mystified by brunch on the east coast. I wanted to give this place two stars for the food, but I went with three for the service. We arrived to a half-​empty place, without a reservation, around noon on Mothers Day, and the maitre de pored over the list to find a solution to seating the six of us. He was very accommodating, and combined two tables at the front right next to the window, with a view of the fresh flowers planted in the box just outside.
It was a southern view, which dictated how the meal actually went from there… and the direction was definitely south.
To be fair, we probably didn’t get to experience the somewhat limited regular main menu, as it was hijacked by the «specials» for what should be a momentous occasion.
Announced by a competent, yet pre-​programmed fembot who served as our waitress, every dish delivered was equally competent, but mediocre at best. As each order was taken, we were asked if we would like the «complimentary» lentil vegetable soup, which the five of us who chose it agreed that we had probably bought the same canned version from Trader Joe’s.
Five of us ordered the «pastrami hash» with eggs, with the latter prepared various ways. Poached arrived automatically with hollandaise, and the over-​easy required this request. While the presentation was adequate overall, the hash was doomed from conception. The potatoes were just okay, while the pastrami was just gristly, chewy chunks of meat.
On the upside, my friend Sarah ordered the salmon plate… with capers, onions, and toast points, and with sides of greens and potato salad. She didn’t say it was stellar, but she definitely didn’t complain… however our expectations were so low at that moment, that anything would have been an improvement. So that probably elevated the star quotient. And while no one from our table ordered the quiche, it looked amazing, and received rave reviews from the neighboring table.
Sarah and I ordered green tea, and we were actually warned that we should be careful of the temperature, which actually turned out to be lukewarm. Ugh.
While the service was impeccable, the food just didn’t meet the expectations of a restaurant that was celebrating it’s 30^th anniversary. I can’t believe they lasted beyond years one or two, if this was indicative of their overall «talents.»
At this stage of my Hamptons brunch experience, I would recommend the American Hotel over this place in terms of ambience and quality of food.