Tonight is the official launch of The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook!

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