Brew's Cafe

Pit Master Bill Valentine shares his passion for BBQ, from fine dining to slow-cooked wonders. The episode dives into BBQ culture, kitchen solace, mentorship, competition judging, cooking chicken safely, meat prices during COVID, and a meat-based keto diet journey.

Susan Spungen is a cook, food stylist, recipe developer and cookbook author. She was the founding food editor at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia from its inception until 2003. She was the culinary consultant and food stylist on the feature films "Julie & Julia" , "It's Complicated" and "Eat, Pray, Love". She is the author of "Recipes: A Collection for the Modern Cook", "What's a Hostess to Do?" and "Strawberries (a Short Stack Edition". Her new book, to be released this spring is "Veg Forward: Super Delicious Recipes that Put Produce at the Center of Your Plate". I spoke with her at her home in East Hampton.

Kathy Masterson, East Hampton Schools Athletic Director, shares her journey and expectations for the job. Topics include Title IX, paying college players, good coaches, bad parents, and the New York Football Giants. Also discusses the significance of athletics in education and community, challenges of living in a rural area, legalization of drugs in sports, and the impact of Title Nine on women's sports.

A deep dive into the community impact of Amagansett Life Saving Station, Amagansett Fire Department, and other organizations. Michael Cinque shares stories about wine, bird houses, and the historical significance of Amigansa. Learn about local history, maritime rescues, challenges of business ownership, affordable housing, and the joy of giving back to the community.

Long before we spoke of "regenerative" farming, before "sustainable" was a thing, before "renewable", almost before "organic", there was "local". Local was a guy you knew. Who grew stuff. Maybe it was corn, or potatoes or flowers or milk. In the case of Balsam Farms, it was mostly corn, and it sat atop a flatbed wagon at the intersection of Windmill Land and Town Lane in Amagansett. You took what you needed and put the money in the box on the corner. It made the news only because periodically, someone would try to steal the money box. Progress was an increasingly sturdier, more theft resistant "honor box". Today, of course, most of what Balsam Farms does on its 200 acres of farmed land here on the South Fork is regenerative, sustainable, renewable, organic. And it's definitely still local. In this week's episode, farmer Ian Calder-Piedmonte sits down and revisits the history, the vision, the drawbacks, the obstacles and the rewards (spoiler alert- it ain't the money, despite the high price of corn!) of farming this way on the South Fork of Long Island. The place where most people drive a Mercedes (or the like), refer to it as The Hamptons, and know nothing of the rich soil and the history of that soil, and what makes Balsam Corn (and tomatoes, and asparagus and melons and yes, shishitos) taste so damn good.

We all remember. For prior generations it was D-Day, or the day Kennedy was shot, or the moon landing. But for anyone alive on September 11, 2001, we remember where we were. What we were doing, how we felt. For Ray Brown, though, it's not a memory of sitting in a coffee bar uptown, or by the pool in Amagansett. Ray remembers that day very differently than the rest of us. Ray comes from a long line of firefighters, and firefighters called to duty on the biggest of days. His grandfather was a firefighter on D-Day, a fact unknown to Ray and his brothers (both firefighters) until long after his grandfather had died. Ray's father retired as chief of all NYFD rescue companies (that's a big deal, FYI). So it was truly an honor to have Ray share his memories of growing up in a household where becoming a NYC firefighter was practically preordained, and how he spent that fateful day in lower Manhattan, the years leading up to it and the years since. 

Just so we're clear: Dr. Lea Lis, aka "The Shameless Psychiatrist", has a child psychiatry practice in Southampton; she also has a ketamine assisted therapy practice there; they are NOT the same thing! As one of the very few (as in ONLY) child psychiatrists on the east end, Dr. Lis is in very high demand as she works tirelessly to help ease our local mental health crisis, particularly with children. She coordinates with local schools, law enforcement, and of course, families, to navigate the increasingly difficult process of growing up. Her book, "No Shame", lays out a great framework for her practice, as she counsels families to be up front, open and willing to communicate about the often challenging landscape of sex, relationships and healthy living. Her ketamine practice, on the other hand, uses the psychedelic drug to assist adults with a variety of psychological and emotional areas of distress such as depression, PTSD and addiction. She goes into great depth about how the process works, and how patients have successfully used the treatment to achieve better health. Last but not least, she's a "burner".  And if you don't know what that is, or you do and you want to hear about it, well... you're gonna hafta listen till the end!!

Joe Gonzalez, a seasoned bartender with a passion for sports, discusses baseball and football, focusing on the Yankees and Giants. Topics include Aaron Judge's contract, changes in baseball, and the Giants' promising start. The conversation also covers nostalgic stadium memories, player contracts, and casual sports talk with friends.

You might be excused for thinking that after a long, successful run in Hamptons Real Estate, one might want to take it easy. You know, play golf, sail the Caribbean, travel the world. Well, first off, even though Diane Saatchi has been as good as anyone in the local Real Estate game for as long as just about anyone, she's still quite active as a successful broker. And taking it easy? Well, I guess the above wouldn't be true if she were one to take it easy. No, when most of the world was taking it easy during COVID lockdowns, Diane decided to do something hard. Very hard. Like, coordinating the most successful (I keep using that word!) voter registration drive in US history. But not just any group of voters: the toughest to get to the registration office and to the polls: young men. In the first major registration drive, Diane and her team registered more new voters than Michelle Obama and Jennifer Lopez. Yeah. Michelle Obama and Jennifer Lopez working together. Listen in to the fascinating story of how she and a couple of friends, working from East Hampton, pulled it off. Of course, she throws in a couple of juicy real estate stories just to round out the episode!

Nick Kraus, organizer of popular live band events in the Hamptons, discusses his involvement in nightlife and charity work. Topics include beach shows, community engagement, privacy in bars, parenting, marathon experiences, and capturing veterans' stories through 'Warrior Stories' project.