Dan’s Papers June 3, 2011 danshamptons.com Page 45
Stacy Dermont
Noche de Tapas: Take It Easy As You Entertain When you live in the Hamptons, you have to cook to socialize. There are lots of fun restaurants, but the expectation is that you’ll invite people to your home to really connect. Because my husband and I review so many restaurants these days, we don’t entertain as much as we used to. We’ve fallen off of a lot of peoples’ dinner invitation lists as a result. (Or, possibly, it’s due to the way we behaved when we were invited in the past….) My new friends Ana Nieto and Ivo Tomasini invited us over for a Noche de Tapas last Saturday at their home in Noyac. A “Night of Tapas,” hmmm. Ana and Ivo manage the Sag Harbor Farmers Market—so I knew the food would be good—and Ana is from Spain so she definitely knows from tapas. Tapas is defined as small Spanish savory dishes, typically served with drinks at a bar. Ah tapas, you limitless little digestible, you! I knew they’d just moved into their new home recently, so it’d be something of a house-
S. Dermont
HAMPTONS EPICURE
warming. I looked forward Perfect. to meeting some of their I realized that we’d been other friends. to noches de tapas before Ana said we didn’t have in our own home. Our best to bring a thing— but the friends, the Guttersons, grill would be hot if we did used to come over for what want to bring along somewe called “Nibble thing to cook. They Dinner”—lots of small planned to prepare “a bites of easy-to-prepare bunch of stuff.” tidbits. You know you have My husband decided best friends when you don’t this was a great opportufeel the need to clean the nity to show off his latest, house for them. Sadly, they greatest recipe “Chicken had to move back to New Teriyakos.” So we packed Zealand. But nibbles – the component parts tapas – live on in the Chef Minoru Suzuki along with a bottle of Hamptons! Wölffer’s rosé and we were off. The New York Times declared the tapasaIvo had two wood-burning grills ready when tion of New York in the 1990s. Tapas continwe arrived. Both had chicken, sliced mush- ues to gain in popularity on the East End. rooms and asparagus in foil envelopes grilling Noah’s in Greenport offers “Tastes” such as on top. My husband got right to work gumming two crab-stuffed deviled eggs as well as up one of the grills with his sticky, marinated “Small Plates.” Jamesport’s Luce + Hawkins chicken thighs (that’s actually a really good does Small Plates all day on Tuesdays and nickname for him—Sticky, Marinated Chicken Wednesdays, many featuring expertly made Thighs!). sushi by Chef Minoru Suzuki. People milled around the grills and a picnic Hosting a noche de tapas is even easier table, picking and choosing. There were sever- than throwing a potluck dinner—encourage al salads and a selection of cheeses and breads. friends to bring yummy bits, rather than Yum! This is the way to eat and to meet new main dishes, to share. This means that any people – food and relaxation at every turn. wines work— everything goes with someAfter we’d been filling our plates and gullets thing! Plus there’s so much to choose from, for a while, Ana passed around cups of a fish you don’t have to worry about guests with stew Ivo had made. It tasted like the ocean. special diets not getting enough to eat. Have He’d made the stock from herring he’d found it outside – clean-up is a breeze. trapped along the beach and local potatoes. Invite us?
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