Foody’s in Water Mill: Clam pizza for beginners
The clam pizza at Foody's in Water Mill is topped with fresh local clams and bread crumbs. (Sept. 13, 2012) Credit: Newsday / Erica Marcus
I grew up in New Haven, where clam pizza rivals Yale University as the city’s greatest draw. Outside of the Elm City, clam pies are hard, though not impossible, to find.
So I was happy to finally make it to Foody’s in Water Mill, whose clam pie I'd been hearing about for years. Foody’s pie isn’t the stark clam-and-garlic affair of my youth, but more of a flatbread topped with clams oreganata whose bread crumbs have the effect of moderating the flavor of the fresh local clams, and spreading it around. This is a fine starter pizza for the clam-pie novice, who might swing by Pizzzetteria Brunetti in West Hampton Beach for a level-2 specimen before road-tripping up to Frank Pepe’s in New Haven for the Platonic Ideal.
Foody’s is virtually hidden in a little shopping center just north of Montauk Highway and is well worth seeking out not only for the pizza. Owner Bryan Futerman is one of Long Island’s most dedicated advocates of sustainable agriculture and I can think of no other similarly priced restaurant whose menu is so committed to local and sustainably raised ingredients.
Salads are all less than $10; sandwiches under $14; most pastas under $16. The most expensive item on the menu is a $24 wood-grilled rib-eye steak which comes with two sides. (At $18, my clam pizza was the priciest. I started with a simple salad of local greens, ripe tomatoes and sliced red onions, $7.50, that was generous and delicious.)
The Hamptons do not abound with bargains. If you’re heading East, keep Foody’s in mind.
Foody’s is at 760 Montauk Hwy., Water Mill, 631-726-3663.
