When your event honorees are world-renowned chef Alice Waters and even more world-renowned artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, both the menu and the environment are important considerations. For the LongHouse Reserve's annual benefit this July, both elements paid tribute to these special guests. LongHouse associate curator Wendy van Deusen worked with Taste Caterers and event designer Eve Suter to produce the event."The reserve wanted to honor [Waters'] commitment to sustainable agriculture and using local growers, [so we used] local produce as much as possible on the menu," said Taste's Nicole Allen.
A combination of East End farm stand ingredients went into the creation of the hors d'oeuvres and dinner. Staffers passed miniature Montauk lobster rolls, Long Island red bliss potato and summer truffle pizzettas, and Catapano Dairy Farm goat cheese with watermelon during the cocktail reception, during which guests roamed the grounds of the 15-acre reserve. Taste also garnished serving trays with herbs from the LongHouse gardens.
Of course no sampling of Hamptons-produced provisions would be complete without shellfish. Two caterwaiters served Napeague Harbor oysters and Gardiner's Bay littleneck clams from behind a Gaggenau grill. Following the cocktail hour and greetings from the benefit committee's co-chairman and Longhouse founder Jack Lenor Larsen, guests sat down for dinner beneath a 50- by 100-foot tent from Nassau Tent.
"The benefit is to raise money for the [Longhouse] garden, so we used mostly elements from the garden," said Suter, who stripped more than 100 bamboo stalks and wove together an undulating structure to hang from the tent ceiling. Suter also added touches of bamboo to the centerpieces to add weight and wind resistance to the end of the tables' blue and green silk runners. To highlight the property's dunes, Suter fabricated 3,000 small flags from lighting gels and scattered them throughout the grounds—a fitting tribute to the artists, even if Suter told us she had the idea before she learned that Christo and Jeanne-Claude would be honored.
—Chrissi Mark
Posted 08.02.06
Photo: Daniel Gonzalez (first course)
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A combination of East End farm stand ingredients went into the creation of the hors d'oeuvres and dinner. Staffers passed miniature Montauk lobster rolls, Long Island red bliss potato and summer truffle pizzettas, and Catapano Dairy Farm goat cheese with watermelon during the cocktail reception, during which guests roamed the grounds of the 15-acre reserve. Taste also garnished serving trays with herbs from the LongHouse gardens.
Of course no sampling of Hamptons-produced provisions would be complete without shellfish. Two caterwaiters served Napeague Harbor oysters and Gardiner's Bay littleneck clams from behind a Gaggenau grill. Following the cocktail hour and greetings from the benefit committee's co-chairman and Longhouse founder Jack Lenor Larsen, guests sat down for dinner beneath a 50- by 100-foot tent from Nassau Tent.
"The benefit is to raise money for the [Longhouse] garden, so we used mostly elements from the garden," said Suter, who stripped more than 100 bamboo stalks and wove together an undulating structure to hang from the tent ceiling. Suter also added touches of bamboo to the centerpieces to add weight and wind resistance to the end of the tables' blue and green silk runners. To highlight the property's dunes, Suter fabricated 3,000 small flags from lighting gels and scattered them throughout the grounds—a fitting tribute to the artists, even if Suter told us she had the idea before she learned that Christo and Jeanne-Claude would be honored.
—Chrissi Mark
Posted 08.02.06
Photo: Daniel Gonzalez (first course)
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To highlight the property's dunes, event designer Eve Suter fabricated 3,000 small flags from lighting gels and scattered them throughout the grounds.
The first course included a tomato stack with rosemary-scented goat ricotta and black olive fennel relish with lemon basil vinaigrette. Eve Suter's table numbers incorporated the flag motif.
Taste served farm stand eggplant crisps topped with oven-dried cherry tomatoes and fresh mozzarella on a tray covered with stalks of rosemary and juniper berries.
Suter stripped more than 100 bamboo stalks and wove together an undulating structure to hang from the tent ceiling.
