preview: wine, food and culture symposium...

with Jan Silver

Stony Brook University presents its first program at Southampton College this weekend. As befits the location, it’s about wine, food and culture. “Sustaining the Good Life: A Symposium, Celebration and Tour” introduces the idea of “sustainability” – how local agriculture, business and society can work together to use, preserve, and replenish needed resources.

Louisa Hargrave, a pioneering co-founder of the first East End winery, is the director of Stony Brook’s Center for Wine, Food and Culture, created in 2004. She says the Center’s purpose “is to bring together people and ideas that connect our culture through food and wine. The University sees these connections as fundamental to health and happiness.” The Center sponsors wine-and-food tasting classes, cultural lectures and interdisciplinary symposia in Manhattan, Stony Brook and now Southampton.

Local vintners, restaurateurs, researchers and consumers have been invited to share their diverse experiences to enhance knowledge, health and conviviality. Stony Brook University president Dr. Shirley Strum Kenny will welcome participants at 1 p.m. Saturday in Chancellor’s Hall. Naturalist/novelist/Zen priest and East End resident Peter Matthiessen then gives the keynote address, “Greed and Heritage.”

The weekend starts at 10 a.m. Saturday with excursions aboard Stony Brook’s Marine Science Center research vessels and hands-on activities with marine scientists. A box lunch follows, then the brief welcome at 1 p.m. by Dr. Kenny, Mr. Matthiessen’s address at 1:15 p.m. and a series of afternoon seminars with local experts to introduce the many aspects of sustainability.

“What Have We Got To Lose? The resources that make life good” will be discussed from 2 to 2:45 p.m. by Lauren Jarrett of EECO Farm, Ken Gall of NY Sea Grant, Roger Tollefsen of NY State Seafood Council, well-known chef Gerry Hayden of North Fork Table & Inn, director Joseph Gergela of the Long Island Farm Bureau, Guild Hall trustee Peter Wolf, and Leslie Hoffman of Earth Pledge Foundation. Jim Grathwohl of “The Old House” will moderate.

From 3 to 3:45 p.m., “What Role Do Education, Politics and Culture Play? Taking Care of the Next Generation” will be discussed by Melina Shannon-Dipietro of the Yale Sustainability Project, Daphne Derven of Stone Barns, Chef Beth Collins of The Ross School, Chef Sid Grabill of NYC School Food Plus, architect Anne Surchin, and art attorney Barbara Hoffman. Stony Brook marine scientist David Conover is the moderator.

At 4 p.m., “How Can We Plan for the Future? A visionary prescription” is the subject with panelists Sally Siddiqi of NYC’s Green Building Council, Karen Karp of Karp Resources, architect William Chaleff, landscape designer Natasha Hopkinson, Brian Halweil of Edible East End and Worldwatch Institute, John Halsey of Peconic Land Trust, planning consultant Valerie Scopaz and Steve Weir of First Pioneer Farm Credit.

There is a “Harvest Reception” from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. where participants sample wines from Bedell Cellars, Lenz Winery, Martha Clara Vineyards, Palmer Vineyards, Paumanok Vineyards, Peconic Bay Vineyards, Raphael, Pellegrini Vineyards and Wolffer Estate Vineyard. Some of the East End’s foremost food purveyors and restaurants are supplying the edibles: Art of Eating, Black Tie Catering, Jedediah Hawkins Inn, Lori Restaurant, North Fork Table & Inn, The Seafood Barge, Thyme & Again, Wild By Nature, Widow’s Hole Oysters, Lucas Cheeses and Edible Petals. A Stony Brook string ensemble will play during the reception.

On Sunday from 1 p.m. until 4 p.m., symposium attendees have a choice of behind-the-scenes tours on the North or South Fork via Hampton Jitney. Bedell Cellars, Lenz Winery, Raphael and A Taste of The North Fork’s production facility are the North Fork stops. Wolffer Estate Vineyard, EECO Farm and Quail Hill Farm are the South Fork venues.

Sponsors of the weekend are Citibank, Hampton Jitney, First Pioneer Farm Credit, Hampton Event Management International, Chartwells, Bridgehampton National Bank, Radisson Hotel MacArthur Airport, Wild by Nature, Betty Schlein and Fredric Weinberg.

Admission to the entire two-day program is $100. To attend Saturday only, including the Harvest Reception, is $75 per person; Harvest Reception only is $45. A Sunday afternoon tour of the North or South Fork is $35. Limited registration is online at www.stonybrook.edu/sb/winecenter/southampton today, September 15.