Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Anna Pump barely had time to catch her breath as she sold lobster salad for $100 a pound, $18 rotisserie chickens and $26 roast ducks to a long line of customers at her gourmet shop in the Hamptons.

``I'm so busy right now,'' she said last week at Loaves and Fishes in Sagaponack, New York. ``I don't know anything about the economy, but I know you only live once. You might as well live right and eat well.''

Even though Wall Street is cutting jobs and the U.S. economy is in turmoil, life is very good for the financiers and socialites in this exclusive summer haven on the east end of New York's Long Island. Although waitresses and weekend tourists are feeling the pinch, soaring food and gas prices have barely dented the pocketbooks of the super-rich.

``You're talking about a different sort of people,'' Pump said.

Some nonprofits said initial concern about donations drying up turned out to be largely unfounded.

LongHouse Reserve, a sculpture garden in East Hampton, raised $330,000 at its sold-out gala on July 19, on par with last summer, Executive Director Matko Tomicic said.

``They give based on what they earn, so we were worried they would hold back,'' he said. ``So far, so good. But who knows what's ahead of us.''

Very Charitable

Photographer Steven Klein's benefit on Aug. 9, which included his friend Gwyneth Paltrow, raised $200,000 for Amaryllis Farm Equine Rescue, a nonprofit that saves horses from slaughter.

``It was tremendous,'' said Linda Shapiro, an event planner who organized the fundraiser with Klein. ``The people who go to benefits here are very charitable.''

In the tony Hamptons, recession is something that happens to other people.

``The high end -- that's the magic word,'' said Tomas Romano, general manager of the Palm restaurant in East Hampton for 28 years. ``Some people out here make money on the way up, on the way down, sideways and every which way.''

Restaurants like the Palm have been consistently packed this summer, with long lines of cars waiting for valet parking and the small bar mobbed with people waiting to sit and order 12-ounce steaks for $42.

Romano said the Palm is busy with locals who are spending more time at their summer homes rather than traveling, and with euro-wielding tourists from Europe, especially Spain and Italy.

Hotels Booked

At the charming American Hotel in Sag Harbor, where skeletal blondes in Lilly Pulitzer dresses and tanned men in polo shirts drink martinis at the intimate bar, the eight rooms that go for $300 to $400 a night have been booked all summer. The first available weekend is Sept. 20, said general manager Thomas Allnoch.

``I get 50 to 100 calls a day from people looking for rooms,'' Allnoch said. ``They drop names or say things like, `I own a Brazilian TV station.' When they ask what they should do because there are no rooms anywhere, I tell them, `Get a hotel room in Manhattan, take the helicopter out here, have lunch at the American Hotel and take the helicopter back to the city. You have the money. You can afford it.'''

At Sen, a popular sushi restaurant on Main Street in Sag Harbor, parties of four were informed that the wait would be 90 minutes -- on a Monday night. Donna Karan recently opened Urban Zen, a Sag Harbor gallery and retail store that sells $225 candles and $1,495 silk and cashmere dresses.

Cracks Showing

However, some cracks are showing for those who aren't mega- rich. Home sales in the area dropped 26 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, and the median price fell almost 12 percent to $970,000, New York-based broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate and appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. said in a report last month.

Business is off at 75 Main, a restaurant on Main Street in Southampton that serves mostly casual fare such as $12 burgers and $7 Caesar salads.

``It's clearly not as busy,'' said Wendy Talmage, the restaurant's hostess. ``Normally we have nights where you have to push your way to the bar and that's not happening. We also do catering like clockwork every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We're hardly doing any on Sundays, and it's August already.''

The Parrish Art Museum in Southampton raised $700,000 at its July gala, down 20 percent from last year. Director Terrie Sultan, who took over the job in April, said patrons were taking a wait-and-see-attitude before digging into their pockets.

Still, more than 400 people, including designer Nicole Miller and novelist Tom Wolfe, attended the dinner. Another 400 partygoers in seersucker jackets and low-cut dresses spent $175 for dessert and cocktails later in the evening.

Busy Marina

At stage director Robert Wilson's Watermill Center benefit in July, guests including Howard Stern and ``Sex and the City'' actress Kim Cattrall spent $500 for cocktails and between $1,000 and $50,000 for dinner. The fundraiser for the artists' residency program raised $1.5 million, $500,000 less than last year.

Watermill spokeswoman Natascha Theis said individual ticket sales were up this year, but some corporate sponsors pulled back.

At the marina in Sag Harbor, all 15 slips for yachts that are 100 feet or longer are reserved, just as they have been in previous summers, said marina manager Nancy Haynes.

``People who can afford these mega-yachts aren't going to be affected by the cost of fuel,'' Haynes said. ``It's the smaller yachts, those that are 30 to 35 feet, that aren't moving as much this summer. They're staying put.''

Colleen Saidman, who owns Yoga Shanti in Sag Harbor, said classes at her studio are so crowded that reservations are required for weekend classes.

``Yoga is a relief from the brain's thought processes,'' she said. ``The brain is what tortures us: `What if I get fired? How will I put my children through college?' You let go of all that in yoga.''

To contact the writer responsible for this story: Mary Romano at mromano6@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 13, 2008 00:01 EDT