Homegrown Chefs & Growers at The Hort for FREE Book Reading, Food & Drink Event

Author and Examiner.com Food & Drink editor, Leeann Lavin tells the good-food stories of farmers who rise before the roosters to bring fresh produce, meats, cheeses, honey, and seafood to these local chefs and area farmers’ markets. She profiles Long Island’s best pasture-to-plate chefs who kick off the day with an early trip to the markets & local growers and wrap it up in the wee hours of the night, after feeding legions of appreciative diners. The food stories are lovingly told—exploring the work and passion of the chefs and the local food artisans, farmers, and fisherman—who together, are dedicated to connecting to the land to produce menus that boast delicious homegrown flavors. The book offers a rare and intimate tour of the kitchens and gardens that create local, seasonal food.

Brimming with food stories from the region’s best real-food chefs and the growers who inspire their homegrown menus, more than 80 tempting recipes, and stunning photographs of the iconic dishes, authentic & sustainable ingredients, and the majestic land and seascapes that are the romantic hallmarks of the area’s food culture. Two chefs featured in The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook

  and the growers who inspire their homegrown recipes will join Leeann to demonstrate their masterful cooking using local, fresh ingredients. Tastings too!

These chefs are Chef Tom Schaudel, CoolFish Grille and Wine Bar Chef Tom Schaudel restaurants 

Chef Tom Schaudel, CoolFish restaurant prepares his lobster risotto at the Hort tonight

(and several other restaurants), 

Chef Bryan Futerman, Foody's Restaurant & Cafe cooks at the Hort

and Chef Bryan Futerman, Foody's Facebook  

The chefs will cook up a recipe featured in the Homegrown Cookbook, using fresh, local ingredients.

Joining the chefs and this Examiner/author at The Hort are the growers who most inspire the chefs and are featured in the book.

Vintner and owner of Aquebogue’s Paumanok Vineyards, Kareem Moussad will talk about growing grapes, making award-winning wine and managing a world-class vineyard on Long Island.  And will bring some outstanding wine to taste too!

Featured vintner & winemaker, Kareem Moussad, Paumonok Vineyards will discuss growing grapes on LI at the Hort (and wine tasting, too!)

Jon Snow, Master Gardener, The Hayground School, Bridgehampton

Jon Snow, Master Gardener and co-founder of The Hayground School and Camp in Bridgehampton will talk about his passion for the Children’s Garden there and teaching kids to get their hands in the soil, to grow food and create a lifetime of better nutrition and diet. 

The Food and Drink event at The Horticultural Society of New York is a fun, free and fascinating must-attend foodie event: http://tiny.cc/7gisfw

See you at The Hort! 

Doors open at 6pm; talk starts at 6:30pm

Free

RSVP to info@thehort.org

Explore the special relationship between a chef and grower....

Tonight is the Official Launch of The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook at 92st Y!

Tonight will be considered the official launch of my book: The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook.

I am speaking at the 92st Y tonight.  Joining me are Jason Weiner, executive Chef and proprietor, Almond Restaurants located in Manhattan and Bridgehampton

And Chef Deborah Pittorino, executive Chef and proprietor, Cuvee Bistro & Bar Restaurant, Greenporter Hotel

Here is the invite for the Y event: Book Talk & Lecture at 92st Y

It’s been some years -- and some tears -- to get to this place.

Now it’s happy, nail biting time!  I’m told it’s the most successful of their books in pre-order so that is a good news start! 

This evening, I will provide an overview of the book, the making of the book, explain how chefs are alchemists: taking seasonal and fresh ingredients and turn them into food magic!

There will be lots of pictures and some video.

Chefs Jason and Deborah will talk while making on of the Homegrown recipes from the Cookbook. And of course, a wee bit of tasting.  Mmmmm.

Some Q&A and then book signings! 

This should be a fun and fitting tribute to all who helped make this book – especially the chefs and artisanal food growers and creators.

Epicurean nirvana awaits! 

And it will be fun too.

I was long fascinated by the fact that gardens can inspire artists – especially the culinary artist and wanted to explore that sweet spot.

I asked each chef I selected for the book his or her personal journey to becoming a dedicated Homegrown chef.

And I also asked the chef what grower inspired them the most and influenced their cuisine.

I can’t wait for you all to get your copy and rapturously read the chefs' and growers’ food stories. 

I hope it will inspire you.

A sneak peek inside the drop-dead gorgeous book, thanks to Mother Nature, the growers and the amazing work of the book’s photographers, Lindsay Morris and Jennifer Calais Smith.

The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook

Long before the island became the wealthy vacation mecca it is now, the native Shinnecock Indian tribe hunted, fished, and farmed on Long Island and taught the first European settlers how to do so—growing beans, foraging for wild plants, and using fish for fertilizer.

Farming became the island’s first industry. Today, potato pastures may have given way to orchards and vineyards, and dairy and goat farms may have replaced the heritage duck’s grass fields, but Long Island is still recognized as the most productive farming area in New York State.

The Island’s tableau and its cultural heritage of homegrown agriculture have inspired a cadre of ingredients-minded master chefs who possess a reverence for their local food source. They have studied and cooked in renowned four-star restaurants across the island, from the Gold Coast to Hampton Bays, and all over the world. Regardless of whether the chefs relocated to discover the charms of the island or left briefly to pursue the siren song of culinary education elsewhere, or couldn’t ever bear to leave, all feel the yearning for their terroir: Long Island.

The Hamptons and Long Island Homegrown Cookbook pays tribute to the remarkable, authentic farms, gardens, vineyards, and waterways that are Long Island. It also honors those chefs who are bringing Long Island’s unique homegrown harvest to food-obsessed plates and palates and, in the process, helping the island’s growers and food artisans preserve a precious way of life. Through their ardent beliefs, tenacity, and commitment to their craft and distinctive local cuisine, the chefs featured here have demonstrated a fidelity to the amazingly good, farm-forward Long Island cuisine.

Oh and I have made a Facebook page for the book.  Doesn't seem so seamless, but you can get there and Like it. Who wouldn't?!

Thank you.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Hamptons-Long-Island-Homegrown-Cookbook/243786535729628?ref=tn_tnmn

How Does a Chef Do Science? - 92nd Street Y - New York, NY

How Does a Chef Do Science? - 92nd Street Y - New York, NY

This is the link to my first lecture for my book, "The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook" at the very prestigious 92nd Street Y!

Can you believe it?