Mexican restaurant Coche Comedor, from owners of La Fondita and Nick & Toni's, opens in Amagansett

Coche Comedor, the much-anticipated Mexican restaurant from the restaurant group that operates a series of Hamptons' dining stars, has opened in Amagansett.

It specializes in regional Mexican cuisine, emphasizes local ingredients, and features a wood-burning grill and rotisserie.

 La Fondita, one of Long Island's top Latin eateries is situated adjacent to Coche Comedor and shares the same ownership. La Fondita will continue as a taqueria.

Coche Comedor is on the site formerly occupied by The Art of Eating, a catering and event planner; and in the 1990s by the fondly remembered Honest Diner. It features a retractable glass-door opening facing La Fondita to underscore the link between the two spots.

The design of Coche Comedor includes some of the Honest Diner's touches, from rounded ceiling to lighting. But the color scheme has been brightened and given a more contemporary look that includes a mural from a Brooklyn graffiti artist

The team that opened the Honest Diner, and currently runs East End landmarks including Nick & Toni's and Rowdy Hall in East Hampton and Townline BBQ in Sagaponack, is behind Coche Comedor. Joseph Realmuto, whose cooking earned Nick & Toni's three stars in Newsday and a spot on the Top 100 restaurants list, is executive chef for all the restaurants and designed the menu for Coche Comedor.

In addition to housemade tortillas, diners may pick from appetizers such as local littlenecks and oysters with Mexican-seasoned cocktail sauce, three ceviches, mini tuna tacos, and a cocktail of shellfish, calamari and octopus. They're $12 to $18.

Small plates include chips with salsa or guacamole, chicken tamal, rotisserie duck on Maseca corn-flour boats, grilled octopus with black-olive mayo and avocado crema; chicharrons, queso fundido with housemade chorizo, and salads. The price range is $9.50 to $16.

The larger plates take in wood-grilled rib-eye and skirt steaks, apricot-tamarind glazed duck with creamy dried red-pepper sauce, pork rib carnitas, pork barbacoa, cod al pastor with grilled pineapple and pickled cabbage, and a roasted fish of the day with pickled vegetables. The cost is $24 to $49.

And desserts go from coconut tres leches and chocolate flan to banana rum cake and churro sundae. Arroz con leche, or Mexican rice pudding, arrives with mezcal-roasted pineapple. $7 to $12.

The restaurant also offers an extensive listing of tequila and mezcal, as well as various margaritas, among them prickly pear and tamarind.

Currently, Coche Comedor is open for dinner from 5:30  to 10 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday; and 5:30 to 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. The bar opens at noon, Wednesday to Friday; and at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The raw bar menu is served there. Weekend brunch is not scheduled yet.

Coche Comedor, 74-A Montauk Hwy. (Route 27), Amagansett, 631-267-5709, cochecomedor.com