East End Duo Cook Up a Best Seller

Setting the culinary world astir by co-authoring the biggest regional bestselling cookbook in America wasn’t necessarily Stacy Dermont’s goal when she set out to write “The Hamptons Kitchen” with friend and fellow foodie Hillary Davis. She just wanted to share the things she loves: her joy of cooking seasonally, with local products and produce, and pairing her recipes with regional wine and drink.

The response, however, has been happily overwhelming. 

“People are saying it’s one of their favorite cookbooks,” she says, admitting that she has been filled with gratitude and surprise by the reaction to it. “How do you respond to that?” 

Featuring a total of 100 recipes, from both Dermont — a former journalist and food writer who lives in Sag Harbor — and Davis, a Bridgehampton-based cookbook author with a penchant for fine French food — the book shines a light on the art of cooking seasonally and with locally sourced ingredients. It’s a concept that is definitely not foreign to Dermont, an avid gardener who was raised on homegrown produce, meat, eggs and wild foods.

“I grew up on a farm, and local and seasonal was just how we ate,” she says, adding that her hometown is in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, where Appalachia overlaps with the Rust Belt. “The way I cook is not about being fancy, it’s about making things work at your home.” 

The result has been a resounding hit with chefs and home cooks alike. Offering simply prepared seasonal recipes, beverage pairings, a list of local sources and more than a few bon mots about life here on the East End, the cookbook has been flying off the shelves and earning heaps of praise. 

Internationally recognized Michelin star chef and cookbook author Eric Ripert says the authors “capture the spirit of cooking and eating simply, seasonally, and locally in the Hamptons.” Famed restaurateur and chef Laurent Tourondel, praises the writers for how they have penned “a cookbook that’s not only good for your body, but for your mind and soul as well.” And legendary restaurant critic Gael Greene, who wrote the forward to “The Hamptons Kitchen” and happily takes credit for insisting that “Stacy and Hillary … put together the book that would be an irresistible celebration of the Hamptons for those of us who love to eat and drink and cook,” calls it “a love affair with seaside eating.” 

Broken into five seasons — Spring, Low Summer, High Summer, Fall and Winter — the book’s holistic approach to cooking takes readers on a journey through the East End and the spoils of cooking with what’s fresh. But, Dermont acknowledges that she and Davis also kept in mind that not everyone has the same opportunities for fresh and local, so all the recipes can be made anywhere in the world, and with what’s available from grocery store shelves as well. 

“Yes, it’s focused on farm-to-table and with products from here in the northeastern region of the United States,” she says. “But we recognize that not everyone is fortunate enough to have the bounty that we do here, so we wanted these recipes to work with canned or frozen food too.”

Favorite recipes of hers, which were photographed for the book by South Fork photographer Barbara Lassen, include Summer Succotash, Traditional Strawberry Shortcake, Kale Poppers and Slow Roasted Honeyed Chicken or Rabbit. 

“These are all things that I think taste delicious and also have stories to tell and memories behind them,” Dermont says, adding that the succotash is packed with personal history, the shortcake is how her family really makes it on the farm and the stew is an adaptation of a recipe from her great grandmother, Rosa Weinke. And in true keeping with her waste-not, want-not upbringing, there’s even a recipe in the book for Dermont’s favorite part of the garden — the compost heap. 

“These recipes mean a lot to me, and I’m so happy that others seem to like them too,” she says, adding that in the end, all she and her fellow food lover want to do is continue the conversation. 

“Of course we hope we’ve written a classic,” says Dermont. “But, ultimately, we wrote the book because we love to talk about food, we love to cook, we love to eat, and we love to share.”