Fifth Annual Food Lab Conference Hosted by Stony Brook Southampton
August 8, 2019
3 min read
Coinciding once more with the harvest season, the fifth annual Food Lab Conference will be hosted by Stony Brook Southampton on September 13 and 14.
[Foodlab conference 2019]
The conference brings together an impressive list of nationally admired speakers, along with tastings of the best local food and drink offerings, providing an immersive opportunity for those attending to better understand, experience and appreciate eastern Long Island’s culinary diversity, innovation, entrepreneurship and globally recognized excellence.
The theme of this year’s conference is “Cook, Eat, Drink: Taste the Terroir,” and headlining the event will be celebrity chef Lidia Bastianich in a keynote conversation with author and New Yorker magazine contributor Adam Gopnik.
Tickets for the 2019 Food Lab Conference are $100 for those who register by August 31; $150 starting September 1. Specially priced tickets are available for students and farmers. For tickets and program details, visit TheFoodLab.org.
[lydia Bastianich] Bastianich, an Emmy and James Beard Award-winning TV chef, author, and Long Island resident — often called “the Godmother of the Italian table” — will talk with Gopnik about “The Power of Local: Taste the Terroir” at 11 a.m. on Saturday, September 14, in the Duke Lecture Hall.
Other highlights of this year’s conference include: a Friday Afternoon Cooking Class with Chef Nicholas Poulmentis; the Friday evening “Farmer to Table” cocktails and buffet Opening Reception featuring Early Girl Farm’s Patty Gentry in conversation with Saveur Magazine founding editor Dorothy Kalins; and the Saturday midday Farmers Market Luncheon and Cooking Theater for all participants.
Speakers and panelists at this year’s conference include: Restaurateurs and chefs Tom Schaudel, Claudia Fleming and Nicholas Poulmentis; pastry chef and baker Carissa Waechter; Dock-to-Dish’s Sean Barrett; four-time James Beard Award-winner Rozanne Gold; cookbook author, chef and former Martha Stewart Living editor Susan Spungen; Wolffer Vineyards partner and winemaker Roman Roth; East Hampton Star Food Editor Laura Donnelly; Open Minded Organics (OMO) farmer and CBD pioneer David Falkowski; Amber Waves Farm founders Katie Baldwin and Amanda Merrow; Stony Brook University Neurobiologist and Taste Expert Alfredo Fontanini; Satur Farms founder and chef Eberhard Müller; the founder of Long Island’s first commercial winery, Louisa Hargrave; Saveur magazine founding editor Dorothy Kalins; and East End Food Institute Executive Director Kate Fullam, to name only a few.
Saturday session highlights include Taste the Terroir, an opportunity to taste and learn about wines, beers and spirits from all across Long Island, from Montauk Brewery and Wolffer Estate Vineyard and Channing on the Southfork to Matchbook Distillery, Paumanok Vineyards and RGNY on the North Fork.
Interactive Tasting and Taste Memory will offer an opportunity to learn all about “How We Taste,” led by chefs, food and wine writers, sommeliers and mixologists, together with experts in biology, anthropology and practitioners of mindful eating. The program is designed to help participants develop a deeper appreciation of what we eat and drink.
For complete conference schedules and speaker details, visit thefoodlab.org.
The Fifth Annual Food Lab Conference is a presentation of Food Lab Stony Brook University Southampton in partnership with East End Food Institute and media partner Edible Long Island and Edible East End. The Conference is made possible by generous sponsoring partners, Anolon Gourmet Cookware, Breakthru Beverage Group, and supporting sponsors Slow Food East End and Specialty Food Association, Wölffer Estate Vineyard, RGNY Wines, and Montauk Brewery