Guild Hall held its popular series of culinary conversations, Stirring the Pot, hosted by New York Times food and wine writer Florence Fabricant. The series, now in its 12th year, took a new and exciting approach this season with four offsite events, three in August and one in November.
The series began at the new Montauk outpost of the high-profile Brooklyn pizzeria, Roberta’s, with a conversation with the owner Brandon Hoy and a mozzarella-making demonstration, followed by a family-style lunch.
The second installation, at Sagaponack Farm Distillery, was with co-owner Marilee Foster and head distiller Matt Beamer, and it focused on the Foster family’s sixth generation farm and the products that go into their spirits, the process of distilling, and a “happy hour” cocktail-making demo including drinks and snacks.
The next was held at Hayground School in Bridgehampton with world-famous chef Eric Ripert of Le Bernardin, and included a ratatouille-making demonstration and sampling. The conversation with Ripert, who is also a local resident, focused on summer produce and his latest book “Vegetable Simple.” The program was followed by a book signing and beer sampling by Sag Harbor’s new Kidd Squid Brewery.
The series concluded with a Holiday Pie Primer with Carissa’s Bakery in Sag Harbor. Guests learned to make a beautiful pie and get an exclusive look at the new Carissa’s in Sag Harbor. Fabricant presented a conversation with co-founder/pastry chef and baker Carissa Waechter and head baker Denis Bernard, while they simultaneously presented a Thanksgiving pie-making demo from start to finish so everyone could learn how to make a holiday pie, including the extra fancy step of making meringue for the more adventurous home baker.