News for Foodies: 02.20.14

Coffee Farmer Visits

    The Hampton Coffee Company in Southampton will have a visit tomorrow from Ric Hariyanto of Sriwijaya Coffee, who grows coffee beans in northern Sumatra that are imported for Hampton Coffee brews.

    From 3 to 5 p.m., Mr. Hariyanto will be at Hampton Coffee’s Coffee Experience store to discuss his life, his coffee farm, and the beans during a slideshow and talk. He will answer questions and provide tastes of his Dolok Sanggul coffee.

Culinary Artisans Speak

    The Peconic Land Trust’s fifth annual “Conversations With . . .” panel discussion series will focus this time around on Long Islanders who are producing foods and drink. The series, “Long Island Grown: Food and Beverage Artisans at Work,” will take place at Bridge Gardens in Bridgehampton and begin on March 2 with “Small Bites,” featuring cultivators of unique crops. They will include David Falkowski of Open Minded Organics, a mushroom grower, Fred Lee of Sang Lee Farms, who specializes in Asian greens, and Pete Ludlow, a cheesemaker at the Mecox Bay Dairy. The discussions will be moderated by Laura Donnelly, a pastry chef and food columnist for The Star.

    Additional events will focus on wine on March 23, beer on April 6, and “fruits of the sea” on April 27. Admission is $25, or $20 for Bridge Gardens members, and includes refreshments following the discussion. Tickets for the full series of four are available for $90 or $70 for members, and will include a one-year subscription to one of the Edible magazines, such as Edible East End. Seating is limited. Prepaid reservations are required, and can be made by contacting the land trust.

Amp Up Wine Knowledge

    Chimene Macnaughton, a sommelier and the manager of Wainscott Main, a new wine and spirits shop in Wainscott, has lined up a number of speakers for a series of tasting workshops to be held on Wednesdays in March and April. Topics will include North Fork wines, West Coast terroirs, decoding wine labels, and shopping like a sommelier. One session, “Mixology 101,” will branch out into specialty cocktails. A $10 donation will be requested. Details for the series, called “The Industry Sessions,” are still being finalized, and will be posted on a Facebook page for the event, called The Industry Sessions at WMW&S.

Benefit for Chef

    A benefit at the Kontokosta Winery in Greenport on Sunday will not only raise money to help Gerry Hayden, a chef and owner of the North Fork Table and Inn, who has Lou Gehrig’s disease, but will celebrate his accomplishments and dedication to the Slow Food movement and local cuisine. Mr. Hayden will be presented with the first Slow Food East End Carlo Petrini Award in recognition of his work. Numerous East End chefs will pitch in to prepare hors d’oeuvres for a tasting at the 4:30 to 7 p.m. event. Among them will be Colin Ambrose of Estia’s Little Kitchen in Sag Harbor, James Carpenter of Cittanuova and Gretchen Menser of Fresno, both in East Hampton, and from Bridgehampton, Todd Jacobs of Fresh Hamptons and Jason Weiner of Almond.

    Tickets, which are $100, or $75 for Slow Food members, will include selections of Kontokosta wines and Greenport Brewery beer.