A full month before true high-season descends on the Hamptons, another round of restaurant/nightclub switcheroo sweeps through the East End leaving scencesters scattering and club kids lost. For anyone who has ever had to endure a hotel stay in the Hamptons, first, our condolences. Newcomer Hotel ZE hopes to ease that burden in Southampton with a designer redo by Costas Kondylis for its 9-room property with access to two of the town's newest venues including Summer House and Kozu - a 250-seat Japanese restaurant home to the infamous Daniel and Derek Koch Saturday brunch. Southampton Inn also get a redo this season with new Cafe Klyde featuring healthy interpretations of American classics by chef Scott Adrian. <br><br>While no newcomer to the Hamptons scene, Topping Rose House (image above) swaps Top Chef'er Tom Collichio for Jean-Georges Vongerichten and staff this summer, offering the perfect culinary compliment to the chef’s winter residency in St. Barths. For a dose of much-needed Mexican, the owners of Southampton Social Club do a farm-to-table spin in the former Publick House known as Union Cantina. Higher-brow is Highway Restaurant and Bar from the team behind Eleven Madison Park and Restaurant at the NoMad Hotel within a cool East Hampton village hideaway. Further down the road in Montauk, however, is where much of the opening action takes place again this year. With lakefront Grey Lady and more-happening Arbor who puts a Mediterranean spin on beach cuisine. Perhaps better than a meal enjoyed in their sunken dining room or outdoor garden bar, it's conveniently just around the corner from Surf Lodge. <br><br>As for Surf Lodge and those looking to party in Montauk this year, local regulations have put a Dirty Dancing-style damper on live music, meaning an uncertain future for this year’s concert series that includes Miike Snow, Milky Chance, St. Lucia and Chromeo. New regulations aimed at turning down the music in Montauk have all but shut down Cyril’s and mean an uncertain summer for spots like Gurney's Inn and Sloppy Tuna. Luckily the music still blares elsewhere--AndrĂ© Balazs’s Sunset Beach on Shelter Island will host a weekend DJ brunch from July 4th through Labor Day. New AM takes over the former 1Oak with a hybrid nightclub and graffiti-clad pop-up with performances from NYC’s The Box. Jue Lan Club also invades the scene with a Shanghai-style supper club in the former Nammos space in Southampton with late-night DJ and 1am dim-sum scene that’s been the surprise hit of the early-season.
