Holiday Greens & Festive Food

In what I hope is now a Holiday tradition with my fellow/former Junior League girlfriends, we ring in the holiday season the Gotham apartment.
We enjoy a memorable evening with laughter, wine, good food, wine, family stories, wine, and well, you get the idea.

I start the planning with the decorations, naturally.  I visit the Greenmarket for plants and natural and organic creations to fulfill my idea of creating a warm, candle-infused, magical evening of good food and  friends.

Greenmarket at Union Square always delivers organic options. The conifers were inspiring to say the least.

The River Garden stand where I purchase my eucalyptus -- and this year's elegant lamb's ear wreath:

I  found charming beeswax candles shaped into angels and christmas trees -- and in gold -- perfect colors to match the kitchen!

All the girls chip in for the food and I plan the menu with Celeste from Marquette Restaurant (www.DiFioreMarquetcafe.com), located around the corner on 12th Street between Fifth Avenue and University Place.  
Celeste is a doll!  She makes the entire catering experience fun, easy and exciting. 
The restaurant is so charming - I think I'm back in France when dining there - and there is art on all the walls.  Heavenly.


Celeste too keeps a file so that she can pull up what the menu was I ordered in previous years.  


For this party, I like to serve a hot soup  -- like fennel carrot -- or this year's no-cream cauliflower.  
I serve the soup in fun, interesting terrines that look like squash, pumpkins, and other winter vegetables that I got from Williams Sonoma a few years ago (www.williams-sonoma.com and www.wshome.com)  Perfect size too.   
I put two or three of the terrines on the buffet kitchen table and use clear glass expresso cups for soup servers - so the guests can scoop the soup into the cups and walk around while sipping the delicious soup. I find this is a very social -- and healthy and delicious - appetizer.  


Celeste and I enjoyed a lively discussion about food possibilities. She knows  how to work with a budget too :)
And she is most creative. For example, I had an idea for sweet potato "cupcakes." 
Celeste and her chefs were able to deliver beyond expectations.  The "cupcake" concept or "caper" :) was not a dessert but rather a side dish or vegetable -- Just a whole lot more interesting and elegant.  Celeste and I talked about how we/she could do this. But in the end, she took the concept and as always -- just ran with it and achieved a culinary wonder!  


We also agreed on a scallop and a crab meat creation with a roasted red pepper sauce. 
I LOVE what she wrote and did with the salmon.  Celeste suggested  poached salmon and a Scotch salmon.  Why, I asked.  What is the difference between the two salmon??  
It is the "look" she instructed me.  She said there is an old saying that "The eyes eat before the stomach." She said it in a much more eloquent way.... But you get the idea. Celeste explained that the two different shades of pink in the salmon is glorious and visual. 
It made me think the seduction of the glamorous salmon, as she explained it, was indeed perfect for us! 


We then agreed on the more, ahem, mundane items, such as the salad with endive, and the cheese platte.
I love a goat, a brie, a stilton and especially this time of year, a cheddar.  
Marquette also provides great baguettes for my cheese fondue that I love to serve at these kind of fetes. It's decadent (who eats cheese like this any more?); goes perfect with wine :) and from my school days and holidays in Switzerland, I embrace the social and convivial experience fondue offers.


I also added our caviar that is, in turn, a gift from our long time friends, the DiMasi's.  They are truly amazing friends and parents ( more about that later). But I get to sing their praises every year with a select few family and friends, as we share the unbelievable good fortune of this spectacular treat.  
And make no mistake. I LOVE caviar more than you can imagine. 


Accordingly, we must offer great champagne to accompany the caviar. 


And god forbid there is any left over - ha - we will carry over to the chocolate dessert.  And this year - I went with the social fondue theme and we enjoyed chocolate fondue with strawberries and dried fruit, including apricots.  

Thank you Celeste. 
And my Tannins.
Glorious, glamorous, memorable evening.


And New York cleans up from Christmas faster than anyplace I know... Too soon...
Coming back into town after New Year's, I saw the trees on the curb for take away.  So pretty.
But they must not realize there is a mulchfest every year the city provides to turn the trees into mulch...


Nevertheless, the trees still look beautiful to me as they await their next chapter:

And the First Presbyterian Church across the street (always gorgeous) is still dripping in wreaths and red  berries.

and our foyer tree (resplendent with decorations and train tracks underneath) came down right after this was taken - and prior to Little Christmas.

What day is that exactly?  I thought it was the 12th...

Cheers.  

Putting the New in New Year's Eve

I had a conundrum.  “New” multiplied by a factor of at least three.

To spend NEW Year’s Eve in NEW York, as we’ve done for the past so many years and go out to dinner and dancing and spend the weekend at our apartment? 

Or spend NEW Year’s Eve in our NEW Jersey home?

(That’s three New's, right?)

I am so busy writing the books -- and the snow made me feel like staying put and working in the “igloo,” as I’ve come to refer to the windows on the world view with the winter wonderland on three sides and the peerless view of New York City skyline before me. 

So it was settled then.  The New Year would be welcomed in New Jersey – aka The Garden State.

Plus, I was hosting a “girls” luncheon for my mother, my older sister, Linda and her roommate from Vassar days, Janet on Wednesday.

The luncheon menu was to be festive and fun.  And of course, lots of dreamy holiday music – always complements the dining experience…

Appetizers of smoked trout mousse from the family party of the 18^th (more later), Herring on pumpernickel mini bread squares, and crab pizza on a crust of Filo dough (brushing 20 layers with butter is a labor of love!); Bloody Mary’s. 

Entrée of broiled Salmon, jasmine rice and the broccoli au gratin my sister Linda made.

Dessert was espresso-sized hot chocolate with mini marshmallows in our beautiful jewel-like cups

And Panettone with glazed chestnuts cake.

And cookies and pecan goodies from our neighbor, Suzanne.

We enjoyed the apps down in the bar room; lunch in the dining room and espresso that followed the hot chocolate, in the living room in front of the fire. 

It was Janet’s first visit here and it was a perfectly clear day to enjoy the view J

We caught up and determined we will go to the opera together next week at Lincoln Center to enjoy Der Rosenkavalier J

Coming off of no less than five holiday parties that I hosted this year, not to mention the ones I was lucky enough to attend, I was so looking forward to the easy, delicious New Year’s Eve menu of fish: caviar, two kinds of oysters, littleneck clams, and lobsters….

And to be consumed in an easy, casual, when-we-want-to way…

Upon returning home from the Lusty Lobster and picking up my winning Murano glass bowl from Thomas Hauser Designs

http://gardenglamour-duchessdesigns.blogspot.com/

I put the bag of seafood outside to keep it cold.  I thought I’d take a picture of our handsome lobsters before it got too dark

And after the flash, our big guy here just roared up!  He arched his claws and his tail fanned out and he gave me the hairy eyeball! Yikes!

I quick got him back in the bag but then worried the whole time I was waiting at the dock for my husband – thinking our lusty lobster might’ve gotten out of the bag and headed off on an escape trail – into the snow!  I thought I should’ve done the leash thing like we did in Boston years ago. Ha!   

But all was safe upon returning home. 

So we started off with the caviar and martinis. Then the oysters and littlenecks accompanied by the special stout my brother Jimmy, the fabulous musician who has several bands –jazz, rock (he opens for Marshall Tucker) www.tenfoottallband.com; www.jpopik.com, www.blackdiamondjazz.com;

And knows a thing or two about style, got us for Christmas.  It is brewed here in the Garden State, especially for oysters. And celebrates and pays homage to the area’s heritage of oyster riches!

Try it - You'll love it's rich velvety without being overpowering...

Then to the amazing lobsters with Roederer Estate Brut Rose champagne (haven’t had that in awhile and it was great)

And that sexy Murano glass came in handy for our shells… :)

And all kinds of Max Brenner’s wonderfully rich chocolates (www.maxbrenner.com)

From the Union Square locale near the apartment. It is like a Willy Wonka experience.   And I love taking out of town visitors here.

Wonderful evening.  We chose the best of the "New" this year.

Finally, lots of calls, texts and Facebook to family and friends to bring in the New Year – with love. 

Cheers, darlings!

Post Thanksgiving and sledding into Christmas

OK so it took entirely too long to write about the wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and family day L  But I have to.  The food was wonderful.  And there’s no expiration or “sell by” date.  I figure it’s always a good time to talk about food, right?

My mother and I planned the menu while sipping wine and sitting on our sunny terrace that overlooks the Atlantic Highlands marina, Sandy Hook, and the glittering New York City skyline.  And it was November (thank you climate change ^:^).  We were inspired by the delicious recipes in Bon Appetit magazine, especially the farm to table offerings.  (It reminded me: we miss Gourmet magazine already….)

We chose to get a free-range turkey, of course.  I Googled where to find a turkey near us in the Garden State and that search pointed me to Whole Foods.  I ordered our 18-pound bird online: very easy.  And my husband would pick it up the day before Thanksgiving.  It wasn’t till later that I saw an advertisement in the local paper, The Two River Times, for locally raised turkeys, available at Dearborn Market Fine Food & Garden Center (www.dearbornmarket.com Farms (www.dearbornfarms.com

Dearborn Farms is the place where I get some of the plant material for my garden design clients, particularly for the seasonal container displays.  Dearborn Farms also has a gourmet food store.  Sickle’s Market (www.sicklesmarket.com) is another spectacular source of garden & fine food items, many of them local.    Both establishments “get it” -- meaning good food and beautiful gardens are two sides of the same coin – fresh food and the locally farmed bounty make a natural.  And both were once solely farms – who grew the best peaches, apples, strawberries, Jersey corn and tomatoes and many other fruits and vegetables.  It’s in their pedigree to offer fresh from the farm food and garden plants.

It begs the question that if retailers and smart consumers get it, why can’t the nation’s large food suppliers?  Industrialized Food contributes just as much, if not more, to the increasing healthcare issue.  Cheap, bad food and defiance of farming and grazing -- as if it’s not the natural order of things is crazy.  Look what we get!  Fat, sick people L

Whew – I’m back.    Anyway, I also saw the stand at the Greenmarket in Union Square near our home in New York City that featured Di Paola Turkey Farms, from Trenton, New Jersey.  I think that was that same turkeys offered by Dearborn Farms – although they may have advertised turkeys from Hamilton, New Jersey.  Regardless – both are terrific.

For our Thanksgiving menu, my mother, Virginia, took the baby winter squash with spiced orange currant stuffing from Bon Appetit to make.  She said it was a lot of work but everyone raved about it.

I made the brussel sprouts with mustard and apple glazed pecans. I didn’t make the slaw of the brussel sprouts, as directed from the recipe but rather used our garden fresh sprouts in full form and all their glory.  We grew exciting brussel sprouts in our Back Forty or Bill’s Garden (that’s my husband J) at our Garden State home this year.  Even Windfall Farms’ owner/chief farmer, Morse Pitts (www.windfallfarms.com) admired the photo I showed him of our first-ever, homegrown sprouts.

and our potatoes

Morse said we had very impressive sprouts + more – which is high praise, as Morse and Windfall Farms is a Greenmarket leader.  Chef Peter Hoffman, Savoy Restaurant, (www.savoynyc.com)

elected to have his “garden/farm” photo shoot for the book at Windfall Farms and that is how we were most fortunate/blessed to visit and get to know owner/farmer Morse Pitts and his team of Farmers, including Kevin Caplicki. Kevin blogs for Windfall Farms too. He is an artist.  And he also works at the Greenmarket for Windfall Farms. Be sure to catch him there. www.cenyc.org

And with all due modesty – it was our first year to grow brussel sprouts – and potatoes.  Wow - were they delicious.

I also made the fantastic Chipotle Cranberry Sauce.  I cannot recommend this enough. We used our homegrown chiles, which made it even more special.  Regardless, the recipe took a blah Thanksgiving jello-like staple to another level – completely! With cumin, fresh cranberries, cinnamon, and the chiles, the cranberry sauce was memorable indeed.  I adore leeks and so made The New York Times’ Mark Bittman potato and leek gratin – which is the same recipe, essentially, as the one I tore from Smith & Hawkin’s catalog.  

My mother was on Pie Patrol and made three of them!  Apple, cherry and coconut custard. 

My husband purchased a case of Silverado wine and we brought a bottle to Thanksgiving dinner to enjoy – as well as a bottle of French Chablis.  (We bought some cases of 1997 Silverado on a memorable visit to Napa Valley with my cousin Jeff and his wife Suzanne a few years ago – and boy, was that vintage spectacular.)

Overall, Thanksgiving was fun, easy and delicious.  And the added bonus is of course, to see family and friends. My nieces were too adorable:\

Thanksgiving has long been my most favorite holiday. Why?  It’s uniquely American and as a patriot with English and Dutch and Native American ancestry (I’m Czech too but that doesn’t seem to relate to Thanksgiving ^:^) This holiday is just the best – all about food and family and celebrating the Harvest.  I honor it.
Here is my niece learning to set the table with her grandmother...

And the long Thanksgiving weekend always gave me the opportunity to gracefully approach Christmas…

My friends and family will tell you that mine is the first Christmas card they receive every year. How wonderful!  But honestly, it’s not the idea of “first” that got me to start this tradition; but rather the love of sitting in front of the fire, relaxed (which given the nature of working schedules is more than a challenge!); writing Christmas cards to all to all our favorites and to relish the love and joy of the year.  As a writer and communicator, I always thought, what could be better than to reconnect with those you love using the written word?  And I love using that wax sealer on the envelope…nice formal touch.

I would always purchase my Holiday cards from a Junior League colleague, who has her own line of cards with Crane's that feature her original watercolors: beautiful and unique, to say the least.   Because I worked at New York Botanical Garden (www.nybg.org) and Brooklyn Botanic Garden (www.bbg.org) I celebrated the holidays with their special holiday cards for years.  Not this year. 

I have long admired and used Kate’s Paperie for stationary, stamps, and even for BBG. When our beloved president, Judy Zuk died, I purchased a handsome album so that visitors who came to the Garden to pay their respect, could sign the Guest Book and we could then preserve it in the BBG archives.

On a more pedestrian level, I ordered two customized stamps from Kate’s last year – one for our name on the cards (helps me, as I have terrible handwriting) and an initialized one for napkins (or whatever). 

This year, I purchased all our Christmas cards from Kate’s. And I ordered a special garden themed stamp for Duchess Designs to use with my holiday cards for the garden design clients.

I decorate for the Holidays primarily with plants, flowers, nature  (pine cones, birch trees, etc.) and candles. 

Starting to get the ball rolling here in the Garden State:

And shopping at Union Square Greenmarket, I found the perfect wreath made with greens, snippets of lambs ears and blue grey thistle. Perfect for our NYC apartment door!

Looking forward to a lovely, peaceful Holiday.  Lot’s of parties too, of course!

Garden Lecture by Two Masters At The Horticultural Society of New York

Lecture at the Horticultural Society of New York

“Vegetable gardens make every property an act of eating”

Couldn’t miss landscape design icons, Joe Eck and Wayne Winterrowd, Friday, October, 30^th at the Horticultural Society of New York (http://www.hsny.org/)

Joe and Wayne delivered a unique one-two punch of garden design inspiration from their remarkable portfolio AND a hands on working consultation.

Partners Eck & Winterrowd’s North Hill home and garden is a natural “muse” to their unique brand and philosophical approach to garden design.  

http://www.northhillgarden.com/garden.htm

Joe and Wayne are adored, admired and respected for their extraordinary approach to landscape design.  They had me at “food” as in vegetables J, telling the audience they always include food as an edible garden design element.   The design duo noted, “Food is a primal pleasure” and opined that it’s really hard to be into gardening and not to satisfy that impulse.

From their creative, award-winning portfolio, the duo presented four garden design case studies that couldn’t help but ignite the attendees’ garden dreams.   According to Joe and Wayne, an overriding recommendation is to design a garden that embodies a “sense of place.”   I call this a horticultural DNA.   What does that mean?  “Essentially, if you live in area like the Hamptons, for example, where the Shingle Style prevails, it would be best not to introduce a style” that in Joe and Wayne’s perspective, “sticks out!”

Their pool design recommendation should most assuredly be acknowledged and considered:  rather than the ubiquitous Mediterranean standard of the turquoise-colored pool, homeowners should employ a violet or grey scale color for the pool lining.  Brilliant suggestion!

I noted the vegetable gardens they include in their landscape designs are extraordinarily beautiful; they employ a perfect pitch of texture, color and size of the plant to achieve enviable ornamental edible garden designs.  Their vegetable garden designs also ranged in size and scope from containers to the rather diminutive borders to the standard parterred potager to the sweep of orchards.  For example, Joe and Wayne showed a color-themed composition featuring gorgeous ruby rhubarb with a coral bark, clematis, and epimediums as the skirted ground cover.

“Vegetable gardens make every property an act of eating,” according to the design team.  Words to live by, I say.

The one-acre Rancho Santa Fe house and garden design demonstrated how they achieved a “sense of place” employing the Mission Style.  Part of a built, gated community, their vision was to “completely sequester” the property.  Their aim was to have visitors think this homestead was the original landowner who needed to sell off part of their land to maintain their “original estate” vs. the reality of this having been the last property available in the community complex.  The wink of the conceit succeeds spectacularly.  

The food terraces in one sloped area feature a Tuscany-looking citrus grove, figs, avocados, and macadamia nuts. Rather than mowed grass, there now exists, exciting and glamorous fruit trees.  The olive trees were planted on a diagonal with the last “row” smack up against the adobe wall.   They also planted a lot of rosemary so that it quickly – and oh-so-naturally began dripping over the adobe walls. 

Joe and Wayne also showcased the home’s “Gift of Gate or Donated Space.”   This is their thoughtfully designed garden “gift” to a homeowner’s neighbors and in less artistic hands might be referred to simply as “curb appeal.”   Here, the designers employed xeriscape, used native California plants and maximized the garden footprint to deliver a wowsy first impression for the homeowner’s guests.  At the same time, they provide a picture-perfect, good neighbor botanic postcard to all who pass by: Greetings!  Glad you are here…. J

The driveway they originally thought they wanted was illegal in California. No gravel… (What does that sign posting look like?  The European stop sign over stones?!)

In any event, they went back to the drawing board and got local river stones to characterize another overarching design principle they practice and that is to get inside the garden – to feel surrounded by it – as opposed to just looking at it. So they made a walking path through the olive grove they had planted.

Like all good garden artists, Joe and Wayne adhere to repeating planting for maximum effect – and here they planted 4,000 lavender plants! 

They proposed delineating the property, erecting a 15’ adobe wall around the property to give it the sense of place and enclosure. 

The yellow and white weeping lantana that caresses their terrace wall design illustrated another key design principle:  Build a strong space with lots of muscle and definition and proceed to erase it.  Here, they even added a vine that turns crimson in the autumn for added color and drama – and to remind the Garden State couple that owns the home, of their wonderful New Jersey roots.  They both described their rush to add romance and exuberance to the hardscapes and pointed out this is a design philosophy espoused by the great English author, poet garden designer, Vita Sackville-West, who created her own gardens in Sissinghurst. (www.en.m.wikipedia.org: Vita Sackville-West).   So build strong walls, then “fluff it up” with lots of pretty plants, is advice to good too ignore. 

Joe and Wayne also use water features in the garden designs.  “It must be completely natural or completely artificial.”  They said.  Huh?  Either use containers or Chinese water troughs or recreate nature with a fishpond for example.  You can also provide water vegetables in the water gardens. 

Describing the eternity pool they installed to create a mirror-like affect “tickled the hell out of us.” And utilizing the “borrowed scenery,” they fueled the Tuscany-inspired look of the landscape. They created a sense of openness and enclosure. The walls and the house were cited so that you cannot see the other homes in the community.

The lecture also included a pre-Civil war home in Kentucky.  Located in Henry County, the home was part of the 1,000 acre working farm. Here too, in order to delineate the home space from the working farm area, they built wall – old-looking ones, and then created an arborvitae hedge in front that sloped away to one side ending in a grove.  The use of the grove terminates a hedge in a natural way.  Because the house used lots of bricks formed and dried on the property since it was built in 1830, they used lots of brick.  Remember, “Don’t stick out.”  In fact, all the material they used in the garden came from the property.  Limestone bluffs ring the area, so, you guessed it, they created a lush courtyard, brick and limestone paths, terraces.

They designed the vegetable and herb garden patterned off and hedged with box, which is ubiquitous in the South.  Again, they demonstrated how they employed the “borrowed landscape” with images that showed how the rolling farmland and hills beyond become part of the garden design.  And the daisy meadow they dreamed up is magical.

The final house and garden they toured as part of the lecture was near Louisville, Kentucky.  The surprise here was that they recommended not putting any garden around the house!  Just leave it pristine and undisturbed.

The wife loved an old tractor shed on the property located about 1,200 feet from the house.  Thus, they proposed, “Travel to the Garden!”  The next surprise is that they proposed using old corrugated metal for the garden walls.  But in fact, the design team offered that there was significant wisdom in using the idiomatic material.  The homeowners love Modern, Mid-Century fine art and the metal fit right in with their aesthetic.  Plus it took care of the deer problem nicely too.   The walls have achieved a splendid patina, and are now draped with those glamorous, romantic plants to fluff it up.  The contrast is high drama.  Walking to the garden it’s all sober and austere. Then the wide gates open up to a garden paradise.  They used gravel pathways punctuated by nepeta spilling over onto the walks for a rhythmic accent and to give form to the plant shapes.  The walks are almost erased by the end of the summer, joked Joe.  They created different grades or levels of garden within the paradise for added excitement.  The color gold was used in a major way here – in all its permutations – contrasting with the burgundy of a berberis or the grey of the gravel stone.  Gorgeous. In the middle of the garden is a formal vegetable garden – neat as a pin – that contrasts nicely with the romantic exuberance of the decorative garden surrounding it. 

Following the slide show and lecture, Joe and Wayne literally turned things around. After a short break, they conducted a working session, and took questions and design challenges from the attendees, providing garden solutions on the spot!  

This valuable lesson from two masters was deeply appreciated by all.

The all too short lecture at the Horticultural Society concluded with a book signing. Between them they have written six books. 

I bought two.  I finally got their recent, instant classic, “Our Life in Gardens” and the beautifully crafted “Illustrations and Elements of Garden Design.”   You can purchase all their books on Amazon.

Chapter 2

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Chapter 2

I think I put the “blah” in blog ^:^  

Not from my writing, mind you – but I can’t seem to carve out the time to write the blog, as I am so busy writing my book…

Yet, I love blogs. I love their immediacy, consistent story telling; their intimacy and the courage displayed in their author’s delivery.  There’s no hesitation to share expertise, opinions, photos.

Once I checked with my editor that it was OK to pursue the blog, I thought I’d take to it like morning coffee.

In fact, I eagerly wrote the first entry and couldn’t wait to write and post news about the trials, triumphs, joys and exciting adventures involved in writing and producing my first book: “Celebrity Chefs & Their Gardens” (working title.) The concept I pitched my publisher was to explore the nexus of where garden art meets the other arts – the franchise would be how gardens inspire musicians, sculptures, painters, and above all, the culinary artist. They most demonstrably use the bounty of the garden in their culinary art.  

It is a joyful experience that interests just about everyone who hears about the process – from foodies to gardeners to politicos to champions of healthy eating as way to healthy living aficionados.  (I did say everyone, right?)  

Further, my daily routine couldn’t have been better conceived or more simple or fun.  During the week when we live in our jewel-box apartment in Greenwich Village in New York City, the goal was to follow my early morning workout at the health club with some coffee, writing the blog, shower, (maybe reverse that order – no dirty blog writing!), write a celebrity chef profile (or two) for the book, break; then render the garden art for the book – which is a water color of every chef’s garden design whether it’s their personal home garden, the Greenmarket (www.cenycgreenmarket.org)  , the restaurant’s or a favorite farm he uses.  (and the chefs are, curiously, almost all men.)  

I did this brilliant routine exactly -- zero times.  

How could this be, I’d ask myself over the evening’s martini cocktail as I reviewed the day and took a break with my husband before returning to writing or the art.  

Mainly, because I was so busy scheduling photo shoots and interviews.  If I have 16 NYC master chefs with two photo shoots for each – the kitchen and the garden, along with the interviews – well, you can do the math… And not surprisingly, schedules change – especially for “my” famous chefs who manage multiple restaurants in their empire, and/or support a plethora of community greenmarket and farm initiatives.  Many have admin staff and/or public relations support.  I have to contact my crackerjack team: the book’s photographer, Jennifer Calais Smith (www.jennifercalaissmith.com) and the food stylist, Patty White (www.pattywhitefoodstylist.com)

So you see, when rescheduling, there are any number of players that need to be consulted.  No different from any corporate or project work, it’s just I was the only one doing the scheduling and correspondence and the changes.  And believe me, I loved coordinating with all the chefs and their staffs.  They are all super talented, energized, dedicated artists and professionals.

With deadlines looming, it wasn’t too long before I realized I needed help.    I had to write and produce the art. No one else could do that.  But if I could get some assistance in the coordination of all the detailed full-color, photography, then we’d be good.  Ta da! Enter Lauren Grimley – smart, savvy, not to mention oh-so-pretty girlfriend, now former girlfriend L, of my nephew, Garrett.  She’s genius and can surely help me keep my focus on what I need to do while adding to the team dynamic.

It has, ahem, been some months, that I have submitted a posting.   But I am an avowed optimist and think these turn of events will lead to more time for writing, art and blogging.

Back to a central question of my singular first/only blog:

What chefs in NYC and Long Island, including the Hamptons, the Gold Coast, and Five Towns do you recommend for the book??

Here we go J

Catching up with the book

Today is my first posting about writing my first book.  

I had every intention of doing this much earlier - years ago, in fact.  

Maybe because we just came home from seeing "Julie & Julia" at the cinema or maybe I seemingly have more time now (more about that later), but I was determined to launch writing about the book today.

The soon (too soon?!) to be published book started as a concept in early 2002.  At that time, I was most interested in how the garden inspires artists -- all artists: musicians, painters,  fashion designers, cinematographers, writers, photographers and .... But most significantly, culinary artists, because they so obviously utilize the bounty of the garden to create their own art.  

So I thought a book franchise might start there --exploring the art of the garden from the perspective of how provocative and compelling a garden is to the creativity of  artistic endeavor.  

And it was!  I was over the moon when I was able to secure a publishing contract at that time for the book, "Celebrity Chefs & Their Gardens."  But then, all too soon, that publisher said there were too many garden books on the market and we needed to wait.  

For me?  Other opportunities arrived and I put the book concept on the shelf, so to speak. 

 

I had a new publisher interested in 2007 and we worked through the concept throughout 2008.  

At the same time, the world of gardening changed. A lot. Increasingly, gardeners were focusing more on growing their own food.  More and more, community gardens were turning from ornamental plants to vegetables and fruits.  Food scares and concerns about the safety of our food were news headlines!  Michael Pollan and Alice Waters were becoming icons for what seemed to be a growing (sorry) movement..

So I could feel the book subtly migrate to explore and learn about the unique chefs that celebrated not just the art of the garden but the integrity and tradition and purity of the garden and what that meant to our culture.  

I set out to identify those "celebrity chefs" who I now prefer to refer to as master chefs or noble chefs, who are leaders in marrying culinary art with garden art in an almost truer sense.  They grow their own food for the restaurant, their gardens do indeed inspire their work in the kitchen, and/or they elevate their local farmers and growers as partners in their pursuit of truly fine dining.  Menus imbued with seasonal, fresh local food. Not imported. Not exotic in the old way.  

I hoped these chefs, these culinary artists, could illuminate how they heroically changed the way we think about dining, about food, about nutrition.  They helped lead a revolution - a movement.  It soon became about lifestyle and politics too.

The book contract was finalized around Christmas 2008. I was so honored and so excited.  The book is to be published for spring 2010.

This will be the story of how that book came about, my overture to the chefs, my interview adventures (and there have been some epic tales!) and securing the perfect lineup of celebrity, er, noble chefs. And  finding the most wonderful photographer, food stylist and of course, working with a fantastic and supportive editor.  

Whenever I tell my friends and family about the chefs and their philosophy, not to mention the struggles and "triumphs" to coordinate all the elements of the book, they love it. I hope you do too. It is so exciting to learn from these culinary leaders.  

This first book focuses on chefs from New York City, the Hamptons and the Garden State.  I will share the list of chefs later...  

(Tell me who you would nominate to include in the book?)

I hope you will enjoy this story....