Brew's Cafe

It seems like not all that long ago, to me anyway, that potatoes were a big deal on the South Fork of Long Island. Throughout the past several decades, though, potatoes, and farmland in general, have given way to development of large summer homes, as the pressure to sell the exceedingly valuable farmland between Montauk Highway and the Atlantic Ocean became unavoidable for many local farming families. Lots of farmland has been preserved through the efforts of local governments and local NGO's such as Peconic Land Trust, but that pressure to turn over agricultural land to development persists. One way to preserve farmland, however, is to make good use of it. And while the sale of potatoes may not be able to economically justify farming the land here, distilling those potatoes into high quality spirits, which can fetch high prices among discerning spirits drinkers, may just be enough to push the value of those potatoes high enough to preserve the land. At least that's the plan for the Foster Family and the land they farm in Bridgehampton and Sagaponack. In order to convert those potatoes to high quality booze, they need a master distiller, and that's where Matt Beamer comes in. Formerly a craft brewer out west (actually still a brewer, since, as you'll hear, you must first brew beer to produce vodka), Matt has brought his skills to Sagaponack, where he produces vodka, gin, rye whiskey, bourbon and several other spirits to high acclaim and commercial success. Matt sat down with me to discuss the challenges and rewards, as well as the process of distillation, aging, bottling and selling those spirits. And if the Foster family has their way, they'll find a way to preserve their farms and their farming heritage.

By now, many have you have figured out that I'll pretty much go to any length to get a great guest. I mean, you might think I'd even change jobs and leave a well established firm to join an upstart company with little brand recognition in this market, just to get an interview with a guy like Ryan Serhant. In our business (real estate, in case you missed that), Ryan Serhant is kinda the big Kahuna: if not the most successful (actually, he is), then without doubt, the most visible, which is pretty much the name of the game anyhow. He's also the star of Emmy nominated "Million Dollar Listing New York" which ran for 9 seasons on Bravo TV, author of two best selling books, "Sell it Like Serhant" and "Big Money Energy", director of the highly successful "Sell it Like Serhant" business education program, and, since 2020, owner and CEO of SERHANT., the rapidly growing brokerage he started (at which I currently work!). Oh and he's got a podcast, too, called "Big Money Energy Podcast" (he gets amazing guests like Jay Shetty, Barbara Corcoran and David Portnoy, among many others). And while I'm grateful to Ryan for taking the time away from all of that, plus his family with whom he lives in Brooklyn, to spend a few minutes in Brew's Cafe. And despite all the fame and success, Ryan is a hands on business operator, an accessible leader, and an all around decent human being. So we sat and chatted for a while and made a podcast out of it. I hope you enjoy. Oh, and I'da taken the job anyway.

Just in time for Hamptons Whodunnit comes this very special episode with mystery novelist Randye Lordon. Randye, who lives full-time in Springs, walks us through the process of becoming a mystery writer, where her characters come from and how much fun it was setting this particular mystery in East Hampton. Randye will be reading and signing her most recent novel, "She's Dead, Who Cares" this Friday, April 14 at the Thomas Moran house in East Hampton at 11am. Find tickets to this event, and many others going on around town this weekend, online at Hamptons Whodunnit. I also recommend reading "She's  Dead, Who Cares", available at local bookstores and online. Locals will recognize many of the settings, and possibly even a couple of the lead characters whose names have been changed to protect the not so innocent. Meantime, check out this entertaining conversation with the highly engaging novelist.

Nancy Atlas, a prominent figure in the east end music scene, discusses her unique performances, songwriting, parenting, and community involvement. The podcast covers topics like ticks and treatment, overcoming writer's block, challenges in comedy, creating an unforgettable audience experience, personal experiences with anxiety, musical beginnings, cover song appreciation, photography challenges, and admiration for musician Lucinda Williams.

Local historian Hugh King, known for leading graveyard tours, discusses parades, Talk House history, and preservation challenges. Exploring memories, island legends, and diverse community stories, with casual conversations about yard work and previous guests.

There are four major tournaments in golf: The Masters, The US Open, The British Open and The PGA. Most of us aspire to go and watch one of these tournaments, to simply to get to SEE the likes of a Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson or Justin Thomas today, Jack Nicholson, Arnold Palmer in past eras and names like Ben Hogan and Sam Snead in the history books. For most professional golfers, the dream of playing in one of these tournaments resides far out of reach. For Montauk native Paul Dickinson, that dream came true last year when he qualified for, and played in, the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The road to the PGA was not a straight one, and with a family and a full time job that's not playing the Pro Tour, it was about as hard as it could be. But he did it. Join Paul and me as he recounts the long, seemingly impossible journey from playing with cut-off clubs at Montauk Downs, to the highest ranks of professional golf.

Jenny Landey, East End's premier location scout, arranges shoots in beautiful, undisclosed locations. She is also a successful real estate agent. The podcast covers her experiences growing up in NYC, working on film and photo shoots, and her preferences for pets. The hosts also discuss starting a podcast and their family restaurant.

Join Quiz Night and trivia enthusiast Paul Johnson as he reveals the art of creating engaging trivia questions and the importance of participants having fun. From the evolution of TV storytelling to entertaining escapes and trivia challenges, this episode dives into the dynamic world of hosting successful trivia nights for almost a decade.

Green Comets? Seventy degrees in February? Unusual beach erosion? Whales washing up all over the place? What in the Earth Science is going on here?!?! To help me understand some of what is happening in our world, and a little less of how, and hardly any why, I turned to my favorite Earth Science teacher, Erik Schwab (he's competing with Mrs. Joseph, my 9th grade ES teacher, so it's not really a fair competition). So for my first ever return guest, Erik joins me to help, if not understand what's going on, at least understand how to ask the questions. We cover all of the above topics, and we get a little deeper into how and why these questions are so difficult to answer, and how to get answers we can actually trust (spoiler alert: it's not on the news!). So please join us for this very special episode of the cafe.

Tony Marr, spends 6 hrs at WLNG radio. Topics include music format debate, evolution of genres, modern rap, Montville demographics, risky NY driving adventures, and reminiscing about Giants games.