The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook is the publisher’s
most successful pre-order to date and with the book’s retail launch just a
month ago, I took stock of the process and life journey to reflect upon the
experiences that got the book to this exciting extraordinary publication
milestone.
This post is about the first Long Island interviews with the Chefs and
the growers who most inspire them. I
bonded with them from the start. This is
how I could write about these artists with respect and love. I am thrilled that “Newsday” described the
book thus:
“The just-published “The Hamptons & Long Island Homegrown Cookbook” by
Leeann Lavin is a full-color love letter to Long Island restaurants and farms.
Lavin profiles 27 of LI's top chefs, each of them paired with a local grower
who supplies them with food. The chefs all contributed three recipes….”
Book Reflections:
Dragonflies were dancing in the air, the sun was rising languidly
- like it was heavy with a hangover or too full - and I was on the first ferry
out of the Garden State’s Atlantic Highlands marina.
From my smartphone, I pecked out an email to the executive
chef at Nick & Toni’s restaurant, Chef Joe Realmuto, and his farmers, Balsam
Farms’ Alex Balsam and Ian Calder-Piedmont, along with The Peconic Land Trust’s
Scott Chaskey – the farmer who first worked the garden at the restaurant.
“Good morning, lads.
I’m on the first leg of my adventure.” I reconfirmed our interview
appointment for the book later that week.
It was July 2009, the last week employees of the Botanic
Garden could take the required furlough, er, week without pay (it was the start
of much budget-cutting maneuvers).
I planned to put my week off to good use and scheduled a few
days on the East End to conduct the interviews needed for the book.
I began the adventure with the ferry to town (Manhattan) to catch
the Hamptons jitney to journey to the East End.
It was a splendid start and filled with anticipation.
Upon advice from local friends, I booked my stay at The
American Hotel in Sag Harbor.
The staff and patrons were just like old friends – from day
one.
That’s also when I saw Billy Joel stop in for lunch. He was right there – on the porch.
The hotel is all wood and creaky in the right spots: a
magazine ad for Ralph Lauren came to mind. Except this is real.
My editors had asked me to add in some chefs from the
Hamptons for what was then the first book in the series, the Master Chefs and
their Gardens of New York – as in City.
So this East End adventure was to interview the chefs who
passed the screening and scrutiny from my extensive research, indicating they
were true homegrown culinary artists.
Chef Anna Pump agreed to a phone interview, as did chefs
Gerry Hayden and Claudia Fleming from The North Fork Table & Inn.
The Hamptons Bicycle Travel
Tour
To this day I don’t regret doing the region via a bicycle.
It's been said, "The best thing about a biking holiday is how you experience a place differently and get a feel for its way of life." I couldn't agree more.
I rented a bike across the street from the American Hotel and
rode from Sag Harbor to my East Hampton and North Fork interviews.
Altogether, it was some 40-plus miles on the bike. It sounds a bit more romantic than it was –
the highway between the villages being just an open road.
Biking around Sag Harbor and across Shelter Island to the
North Fork was lovely.
It was pure enchantment to glide onto the ferryboats to and
from Shelter Island to get to the opposite tines of the Two Forks – and to
watch the land slip away on one side and emerge on the other.
In between: a nice time to dream. With seagulls circling overhead in the clear
blue sky. Passing pleasure and fishing
boats. Looking forward to the chefs and farmers I was to talk to; it was a
grand interlude.
I got turned ‘round a bit on my trip to interview Chef
Michael Rozzi in the East Hampton restaurant Della Femina. (now the East Hampton Grill).
The bike shop said go to the end of 27 and take a left. I must’ve turned too soon at what seemed like
the end and well, I “ended” up circling around wooded hills, of all things, (overall,
it’s rather flat there) dotted by some pretty big homes. This being mid-week, there really were no
cars on the road, which was nice. But not so good when it came to asking somebody
for directions.
Finally, my pride set aside, I stopped and called chef
Michael to let him know of the situation as I was now going to be late for the
interview.
Well, it was nothing short of a fairy tale miracle.
Chef and his wife were “right around the corner” or what
passes for a corner in that wooded area.
In no more time than it takes to say East Hampton – they
found me and my Little Red Riding Hood dilemma, whisking the bike and me to the
restaurant.
Splendid!
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| Chef Michael Rozzi |
There is an innate ease about Chef Michael, and he was a
good interview. He is a natural storyteller. We talked at length about the
early days of the Hamptons: Baymen, farm stands and fishermen, his culinary
school education, restaurant training and garden ingredient inspirations.
Chef Michael drove me back to Sag Harbor, too. After all, I had to change and get ready for
dinner. He invited me to be a guest of the restaurant! I enjoyed fresh, Long Island
oysters – my favorite, bass, local Long Island wine, homemade catsup – using
the bruised tomatoes from Balsam Farms, homemade Long Island potato chips and
fresh berry homemade ice cream. Good
think I wasn’t riding my back to the hotel after this delicious meal!
The Next Day
However, bike riding back to East Hampton for the Chef Joe
Realmuto and farmer interviews at Nick & Toni’s the following day, I had no
real experience to gauge the travel time -- having been “lost” and then driven
back.
When I arrived at the fabled restaurant a tad late, the very
tall Chef Joe – made all the more imposing because he was standing on the stone
wall of the restaurant’s garden - gazed down upon me and asked, “You rode your
bike here? From Sag Harbor?”
I felt a tad awkward.
“Yes.” I had to confess, while dismounting. “Is that weird?” I countered, hoping to get
to the root of the issue.
“Well, kinda,” he replied, looking a bit askance. Or was it
curious approval?
And that was my introduction…
I enjoyed a very interesting interview in the beautiful,
art-filled Nick & Toni’s restaurant with Chef Joe and the three
farmers.
They all appeared cautious, yet I could sense there existed
incredible authenticity among these working professionals and that is readily
apparent from their stories. There was
genuineness in describing their work, seemingly confounded that anyone would
write a book about their daily challenges. To them it was just a matter of
“this is what we do.”
Scott Chaskey, poet, farmer and author, had written a very
successful and seminal book:
This Common Ground: Seasons on an Organic Farm
and he was spot-on in his responses to my questions about growing and eating
local food. Bear in mind that in 2009, locavore
and eating local food had not yet blossomed onto the main stage yet.
Chaskey was already an organic farming expert and not
surprisingly, that is why Jeff Salaway, the husband partner with his wife Toni
Ross, selected Chaskey to advise on making the kitchen garden at the
restaurant.
And if I knew last fall that Scott was so friendly with
Christie Brinkley, I would’ve tapped him for an introduction to ask Ms.
Brinkley for a book comment or “blurb.”
(Hate that moniker: book blurb… sounds crass but that is the
publishing terminology.)
But I digress…
Below, at the end of this post, is the initial full-length
edited profile for Chef Joe and his farmers where you can read in detail about
this team’s pioneering leadership and passion for fresh-from-the-garden ingredients
long before it became fashionable anywhere – even in the tony Hamptons.
That is why I sought these chefs and their growers. They
have been at the vanguard – nay the ramparts - of creating culinary art using
only the best local ingredients.
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| Farmer's Market Fridays @ Nick & Toni's |
 |
| Chef Joe Realmuto, Nick & Toni's Photo Shoot for the book |
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| Farmers Ian and Scott (R) |
Chef Joe Realmuto in the Nick & Toni's Kitchen Garden video
I returned to Sag Harbor via the bicycle, thank you very
much.
Day 3
And the next day I luxuriated in the bike trip from Sag
Harbor, across Shelter Island, to the North Fork’s Satur Farms. The rolling scenery was exquisite. I fell in love with the farmland and sandy beaches on this patch of historic island and retreat.
The vast farmland area here seemed endless, stretching to
the horizon. I arrived in bucolic Cutchogue to be met here again with Chef and now
farmer Eberhard Muller, exclaiming about my bike transportation.
“Jesus Christ! You rode your bike here!” was chef Eberhard’s incredulous first “hello.”
Too funny.
In no time at all, I was in the cab of Chef Eberhard’s truck
that looked like something straight out of the “Grapes of Wrath.”
We were soon driving at what I thought was a bit of a
breakneck speed through the fields of their extensive farm: nearly 200 acres of
colorfully planted, pristine rows of vegetables, herbs and spices.
Over bumps and around workers who he called out to, swerves
to get round to give some direction on the picking and loading of the fresh
produce on their Satur-branded trucks to distribute directly – that very same
day -- to restaurants and food markets in town and the tri-state area.
I had my notepad, video and still camera, and recorder to
balance while writing down chef’s answers to the questions. Over the din of the
truck’s engine.
I was earnestly trying to make the best use of chef’s time
and get everything I needed and look professional.
But in hindsight, it was all pretty comical. Balancing is a
lost art…
Chef Eberhard possesses an amazing biography and his profile
could be a book unto itself. Along with
his wife Paulette, who is the horticultural brains and talent behind their
successful Satur Farms operation, I’m sure they can write one in the
future.
The couple turned their love and their love of fresh,
homegrown produce into a very successful business, making up the rules, writing
the business plan, and creating the infrastructure as they went along.
Every chef in the New York metro area, along with loyal food
store customers, are grateful for their commitment to growing real, fresh, flavorful
food, and the pioneering leadership to build an operation that gets it to the
rest of us.
Their home on the farm is rather Andrew Wyeth looking and
perfect for entertaining their food-focused friends and family -- and media, who often come calling.
I left Satur Farms impressed and proud.
I rode my bike back to Sag Harbor with relished abandon –
and purpose. I had to make it to the bike shop before it closed. I was to leave
the quaint fishing village of Sag Harbor the next day and didn’t want to pay
another day’s rental.
Like a movie script – the two ferries – one from the North
Fork to Shelter Island and then Shelter Island to Sag Harbor – arrived in port
just as I pedaled up to the docks where they tie up to welcome passengers – on
foot, in-cars, or on bikes.
I raced over the last bridge and glided into the bike shop
just before they locked up.
Satisfied, I knew I was in for a well-deserved treat.
I met The American Hotel garden designer and caretaker,
baker and garden writer, Peter Garnham for martini’s and fresh local oysters at
the well-appointed bar.
We had a grand time.
I met a lot of wonderful, helpful and friendly people there.
Everybody seemed so accomplished too.
Edited, First Draft
of Chef Joe Realmuto Profile from the first manuscript: (longer version!)
 |
| Chef Joe Realmuto |
There is perhaps no better
example of the nexus of kitchen, garden, and fine art than Nick & Toni’s
restaurant in East Hampton, Long Island.
Launched
more than twenty years ago as the love child of husband-and-wife team Jeff
Salaway and Toni Ross, Nick
& Toni’s has been a phenomenal success from the start. The two Manhattan
restaurateurs were also acclaimed fine artists and avowed environmentalists
with an unfailing commitment to local foods and the culinary arts. The dining rooms,
terraces, and onsite garden at Nick & Toni’s are graced with fine art, and
the menu illustrates their commitment to keeping local food on the plates.
It
was a love of food and gardens that originally led Salaway and Ross to move to
the Hamptons and grow food with a group of like-minded twenty-somethings in the
area’s community of farms. They were influenced by their travels to Europe and
the Old World way of thinking that “if you have a restaurant, you have a
garden!” Four years after they launched the restaurant, they invited gardening
instructor Scott Chaskey from Quail Hill Farm, a stewardship project of the
Peconic Land Trust, and his team of farmers and horticulturalists to lend their
expertise to the restaurant’s onsite kitchen garden. It took four years to
carve out the garden, Chaskey recalls. Today, he and his team use
cover crops of winter rye and field peas or bell beans (legumes), dunk all
plants into a fish emulsion before planting, and religiously add
four tons of compost every year. Delineating the edge of the garden are
sculptures by Salaway, who died in a car accident in 2001. His artistic works
serve as the perfect transition between the garden’s picturesque fruits and
vegetables and the culinary art Chef Joe Realmuto creates in the kitchen.
Having worked at Nick & Toni’s for nearly twenty years, Joe has grown up
steeped in the owners’ farm-to-table credo and follows it in his menus.
Joe
recognizes the ongoing influence he can exert on the local-food movement, given
his position and the restaurant’s mission. Consequently, he invests his time
and talents in a number of education-based outreach efforts, including
one-on-one conversations with customers, staff training, in-school gardening
and cooking programs for students and their teachers, and sponsorship of
community events.
Joe
works closely with Chaskey and his team to plan the a season’s succession of
plantings in the restaurant’s garden. Introducing new and different varieties
of foods adds interest to the growing season.
“We
usually repeat a lot of things from one year to the next, but part of the joy
of the garden is discovering these new things and figuring out what to do with
them,” Joe says. He describes with relish the year he and his chefs were
picking vegetables in the garden and spotted some knobby-looking items.
“They
looked like orange zebra-striped heirloom tomatoes,” Joe says. The chefs had no
idea what they were. Turns out they were Turkish heirloom eggplants. “Freaky
but delicious!” he says.
Chaskey
echoes the chef’s sentiment about finding new foods: “Farming is a lot of
tractoring and hoeing. Part of our joy is discovering and growing new and
exciting plant varieties.”
Joe
cultivates not only his relationship with Chaskey and the restaurant garden,
but also his one-on-one connections with local farmers, such as Ian Calder-Piedmonte
and Alex Balsam, owners of Balsam Farms. A large part of the food Joe uses that
isn’t harvested from the restaurant’s own garden comes from Balsam Farms, and
the Nick & Toni’s chef helps decide what the farm plants. For example, in
March, he’ll sit down with the farmers and their catalogs and select foods he
knows he’ll want for the seasonal themes the restaurant has established.
“It’s
nice to be able to work directly with Alex and Ian and tell them what we want.
We need herbs and vegetables and fruit for our Italian recipes rather than some
of the Asian greens they were growing—and they can do that for us,” Joe says.
For
Alex and Ian’s part, “We love working with someone who appreciates the subtle
differences and more obscure crops we grow,” Alex says. The farm couldn’t
survive if it merely grew staples such as tomatoes and corn. Working directly
with chefs in the area allows growers to explore and experiment with heirloom
and unusual, new varieties. It also allows them bring their produce to a wider
clientele. Local chefs like Joe encourage people to understand the provenance
of the food they’re eating and why it’s important to know the sources of their
food.
The
intensive staff training at Nick & Toni’s ensures that the front line is
well informed about the in-season, fresh foods on the menu. Daily staff
meetings include sampling the day’s menu additions. At the end of the session,
everyone—from the busboy to the waiters—is expected to not only recite the
menu, but also be able to explain where the foods originated.
The
menu itself tells the story of the food. Printed daily, it includes
descriptions of the recipes, a history of the farmer and the farm where the
ingredients were grown, the reason Nick & Toni’s has chosen the food as
part of the slow-food movement, and the reason the particular food is good for
the community and the environment. Even the green hickory that’s used for the
barbecue and the oak used in the restaurant’s signature wood-burning oven is
from local sources.
When
asked if he can taste the terroir of a garden fresh vegetable or fruit, Joe
says, “I can taste the sweetness of the just-picked corn versus the
day-or-more-old variety. I can taste the freshness.”
Joe
came to cooking by way of his cultural heritage. Part of a happy Italian family
that celebrated food, Joe and his siblings worked at the Villa Russo, a local
Italian catering hall in Queens, where they grew up. His first job there was
running food from the kitchen to the buffet table. Later, at age sixteen, he
nabbed an opportunity to work in the kitchen. He worked every night after
school, prepping for the weekend events, and then on Saturday and Sunday he
worked doubles prepping for the catering-hall parties.
“A
lot of my social life was built around my work,” he says. Consequently, he hung
out with chefs, who, in turn, tempered his outlook about food and his career.
After
graduating from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in 1993, he
worked briefly at the River Café in New York City. Called “the Harvard Business
School of the culinary world” and “the restaurant that launched a thousand
chefs,” the River Café was an ideal place to begin a career. It is also widely
acknowledged as the first restaurant to seek out regional growers and artisanal
food producers and to build relationships with them (as opposed to “dialing and
buying” in bulk from wholesale suppliers). In this environment, Joe was
introduced to a nascent and emerging approach to fresher food resources.
When
Joe started at Nick & Toni’s in 1993, the prospects for local farmers were
bleak. Many were suffering; far-away agribusinesses had gutted their ability to
continue farming. They couldn’t afford to ignore the real estate bonanza being
offered to them—the land values were too high. For many, there seemed no
alternative to selling their farms.
But
with the new millennium came the new farm-to-table and slow-food movements.
Farms started to make a comeback, albeit in a different footprint. Today’s
family farms are smaller—some are only an acre or half an acre—and grow a
variety of foods. Selling wholesale to restaurants accounts for almost 80
percent of their volume. And with the support of their partner chefs, growers
look to stretch their food-producing seasons with cold frames.
The
products from these local sources fit right in with Joe’s “simple is better;
simple is more” approach to cooking. His ideal simple-is-better meal: a
delicious panzanella salad made with fresh-caught striped bass, just-picked
basil, lettuce, and tomatoes, mixed with home-baked, now-stale bread croutons.
“That’s
an incredible fresh meal with flavors that just burst!” he says. “To be able to
go out to pick arugula from the garden so that it’s got bite and is peppery,
and get tomatoes that are sweet, no starch in them—nothing can compare with
that. I’ve always appreciated the product more than the technique. The biggest
thing for me is freshness. It is the undeniable essence of flavor.”
As
part of Nick & Toni’s fresh-from-the-garden paradigm and its support for
local farmers and artisanal food makers, Jeff Salaway worked to provide
Bridgehampton’s Hayground School with a state-of-the-art
kitchen/classroom supported by a science lab, garden, and greenhouse. According
Lukas Weinstein, the school’s administrative coordinator, “At
Hayground, the three Rs can sometimes stand for recipe, roast, and roux, since
one of our most innovative features is Jeff’s Kitchen.”
Says
Toni Ross, “Jeff believed that the growing, preparation, and sharing of food is
a primal human experience and the foundation of family and community.” To date,
local celebrity chefs have donated nearly a million dollars for the completion
of Jeff’s Kitchen.
Joe
and the restaurant’s staff are also teaching children how to grow and cook
their own food as part of Spring Seedlings, an edible-schoolyard project Joe
and fellow chef Bryan Futerman of Foody’s restaurant established Springs, Long
Island. Their efforts helped erect twenty-by-fifty-foot greenhouses at Springs
Public School in East Hampton and hired food educators to work with the
school’s teachers.
As
Joe and his “family of farmers” think of the future, they look for ways to keep
the farm-to-table movement going. The most important task now is helping local
farmers fight the temptation to sell their farmland, which is worth so much
more for development than it is for agriculture. Fortunately, local homeowners
and the tourist industry recognize the importance of keeping Long Island farms
alive.
“They
[the community] want us to succeed,” says Ian Calder-Piedmonte of Balsam Farms.
And
if Joe Realmuto has anything to do with it, they will. Together, chefs like Joe
and farms like Balsam are connecting food and people in a meaningful and
enduring way.
