How To Get Back In The Hamptons Dating Game, According To A Divorce Lawyer

Here's how to reengage in the Hamptons (from a divorce lawyer's point of view).

Dock and dine at Duryea’s Montauk

Now that quarantine is over and you finally stop living with that spouse you are divorcing, it is time to think about where you will meet your second spouse (or third, or fourth...). As an NYC and Hamptons divorce lawyer with Chemtob Moss Forman & Beyda, I am your one-stop shop to getting you divorced and figuring out your map to the Hamptons social scene to find your next “one and only.”

Where to start? First, think about what you like to do on your weekends:

Do you like to boat? If so, go to Duryea’s in Montauk. If you like to boat but don’t have a boat, the night before, go to the bar at Nick & Toni’s in East Hampton and meet someone who has a boat. Do you like to dress up? Then go to Topping Rose in Bridgehampton. Since most people will be wearing black, for a dash of color to stand out, how about wearing a little brown?

The elegant Jean-Georges at Topping Rose House.

If you prefer to cook rather than hit the restaurant scene, go to Citarella in East Hampton and walk up and down the aisles. If you can’t find parking at Citarella (either of them), then Round Swamp in Bridgehampton is your best bet. Just stand by the counter.

Looking for a great bar scene? The Patio in Westhampton Beach. Looking for casual conversation with ’80s new wave music (yes, you know every word)? Salt & Loft in Westhampton is your spot.

If you don’t have any Weight Watchers points left to eat at all, then just walk up and down Main Street in Sag Harbor and pretend you’re waiting for your reservation at Lulu Kitchen & Bar.

Sue Moss at Flora in Westhampton Beach

But suitors, beware: After a drink (or four) with your next beloved, you may want to start drafting a prenuptial agreement then and there. Although writing your prenup on a bar cocktail napkin may seem romantic at the time, unless there is a notary public at the next bar stool to notarize with the magic statutorily required language, then the agreement will not be enforceable. (Don’t worry, I always carry my notary stamp for instances like this.)

If, after appetizers, you’ve convinced No. 2 to give you an engagement ring, it’s only a conditional gift. If you don’t end up getting married, you have to give back the ring. So get to work, people!

And if things are going so great that you even decided to stay through dessert (go to Flora in Westhampton Beach and get the Flower Pot dessert if you do), and you’re even thinking of moving in together, a word of caution: Once your new love moves into your home, after 30 days they will have squatter rights to reside there. That means if they turn out to be a carbon copy of your ex who wears white after Labor Day, you will not be able to get him or her out of your home without a fight!

A Cosmopolitan at Nick & Toni’s

At the end of the day, we all love love. If you have broken up with your spouse, don’t stay home watching YouTube videos about last week’s episode of The Bachelorette. Instead, get out there! There are many Hamptons hamlets to explore. But as they say in Hill Street Blues—“Let’s be careful out there.”