Florence Fabricant Stirs the Pot at Guild Hall

When I spoke to longtime New York Times food and wine writer Florence Fabricant just before her entertaining “Stirring the Pot” series resumes its residency at Guild Hall this weekend, she was deep into writing her fall preview of new restaurants. The August interviews with chefs, she notes with pride, “gradually built an audience,” hitting the Zeitgeist fascination with all things food, and reflect her expertise and easy manner with celebrated guests. Her columns, “Off the Menu” and “Front Burner,” focus on eateries, opening, closing, or branching out: “A genuinely new restaurant is a “Front Burner” item,” she says about her column which also focuses on new products and events that are noteworthy: “I get a ton of pitches about flavored waters that will enhance your life. I say, if you are going to get thirsty, drink water.” A new vinegar or mustard does not cut it with Fabricant: “To catch my eye, it has to be astonishing.”

“For “Stirring the Pot,” she explains, “I try to get guests with local roots. At the beginning we had Bobby Flay and Ina Garten, television personalities after all. That was highly successful. Anthony Bourdain had a house in Southampton when he came. I tried for Tom Colicchio to no avail.

The season kicks off with the iconic Jacques Pepin this Sunday. “I can’t wait to talk to him,” Fabricant enthuses. “He lives in Madison, Ct. but he worked with Pierre Franey, so he is involved with the chef circle out here.”

“Andrew Zimmern (August 13) is like Anthony Bourdain, an adventurous eater: he eats bugs on tv. I want to know how he got into that niche so I plan to ask him.”

Michael Symon (August 20) is on The Chew: “Television is a big boost for his restaurant in the Midwest but he has local roots in a way: his stepson owns the doughnut place in Sag Harbor. And, he has a great personality.”

This year, Fabricant added Daniel Humm (August 27) to the usual group of three. He has a restaurant out here this season, EMP Summer House, on the highway between East Hampton and Amagansett. Having this pop up restaurant was serendipitous for him. The space was available and became a way for him to keep his staff for Eleven Madison Park employed, during the city restaurant’s summer renovations. He fitted the kitchen with appliances and tools from what he was discarding.

How is it?

“I don’t give restaurant reviews, but it is fun and popular.” This year’s “Stirring the Pot” series, as in previous years, should be fun and popular too, and worth the sacrifice of her tennis.

Regina Weinreich

Graphic Design: Salpeter Ventura