Praise for "The Hamptons Kitchen:"

“Hillary Davis and Stacy Dermont capture the spirit of cooking and eating simply, seasonally, and locally in the Hamptons.”—Chef Éric Ripert, bestselling author of Le Bernardin Cookbook; A Return to Cooking; On the Line; Avec Eric: A Culinary Journey with Eric Ripert; My Best: Eric Ripert; 32 Yolks: From My Mother’s Table to Working the Line; Daytime Emmy Award-winning host of Avec Eric, and chair of City Harvest’s Food Council

“Yes, I was the one who insisted that Stacy and Hillary should 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. And here it is.”—Gael Greene, internationally recognized restaurant critic and bestselling novelist; co-founder, with James Beard, of Citymeals on Wheels; winner, International Association of Culinary Professionals Bert Greene Award for Magazine Food Journalism

“Seasonal, simple, and locally sourced, The Hamptons Kitchen gathers the rich growing, fishing, and cooking traditions of eastern Long Island into a recipe collection exemplary of the modern American kitchen. If you’ve ever been to the Hamptons, or ever wanted to go, now you can skip the Jitney ride Out East–this book will transport you directly there.”—Chef Ian Knauer, author of The Farm: Rustic Recipes for a Year of Incredible Food and host of “The Farm” cooking show on PBS; former Gourmet Magazine Food Editor

“What a beautiful ode to everything local. Hillary and Stacy have not only managed to show us how to connect with where we live and what’s around us, but how to share the unity and bond with those closest to us. A cookbook that’s not only good for your body, but for your mind and soul as well.”—Chef Laurent Tourondel, James Beard Foundation nominated author of Fresh from the Market: Seasonal Cooking with Laurent Tourondel; Go Fish: Fresh Ideas for American Seafood; and Bistro Laurent Tourondel: New American Bistro Cooking, and Bon Appétit Magazine Restaurateur of the Year 2007

“Hillary and Stacy have captured the true seasonality of the Hamptons in a beautiful book that evokes the heart and atmosphere of a proper Hamptons home, no matter where your own kitchen might be.”—Chef Alfred Portale of Portale Restaurant, author of the Julia Child Cookbook Award-winning Alfred Portale’s Gotham Bar and Grill Cookbook, Alfred Portale’s Twelve Seasons Cookbook and Alfred Portale Simple Pleasures: Home Cooking from the Gotham Bar and Grill’s Acclaimed Chef. Winner of James Beard Foundation awards for Best Chef: New York City (1993); Outstanding Restaurant (2002); Outstanding Chef (2006); Actively involved in charities dedicated to providing food for the needy, including Share our Strength and Citymeals on Wheels

“I’ve been cooking and entertaining in the Hamptons for over 25 years. And I’m always looking for easy seasonal recipes with flair. The two women behind The Hamptons Kitchen are well placed to bring the soigné and verve of the farm-to-table Hamptons lifestyle alive for the home cook. Hillary gives the simplest dish a touch of French flair and Stacy is, well, a no-nonsense farm girl who can ‘sling it’ with the best of them in the kitchen! The friendship between these two gifted women is evident on every page. Now when I’m in the Hamptons, I’ll turn to The Hamptons Kitchen for some simple, tasteful home entertaining ideas.”—Chef Pamela Morgan, author of the cookbook Pamela Morgan’s Flavors, owner of Pamela Morgan Lifestyle and Flirting with Flavors, and internationally recognized culinary expert

The Hamptons—how did Stacy end up in this fancy neck of the woods? She grew up on the extreme other end of New York State, in the foothills of the Allegheny Mountains, where Appalachia overlaps with the Rust Belt!

Despite Big Food’s impact on the general population’s diet, Stacy was raised on a lot of homegrown produce, meat, eggs, and wild foods. Local and seasonal was a given on the farm, and it spoiled her in a way. She cannot bear to eat store-bought eggs or last week’s apples or any other items that merely pass as edible. It was a natural fit for her to take over as restaurant critic for Dan’s Papers, shortly after she accepted an editorship there in 2010.

Stacy Dermont is an avid gardener with a penchant for living the very good life. For 10 years, in addition to restaurant reviews, she penned two weekly columns for Dan’s Papers, the “Bible of the Hamptons,” on celebrity gossip—South O’ the Highway—and, on food and drink—Hamptons Epicure. She has also written for SeedBroadcast Agri-Culture Journal, The Sag Harbor Express, and EQ Magazine. Now she's writing more BOOKS.

Interview subjects have included Florence Fabricant, Gael Greene, Andrea Kowch, Chef Sarabeth Levine, Chef Angie Mar, Rick Mast, Danny Peary, Anna Pump, Suzanne Rafer, Chef Eric Ripert, Roman Roth, Reynold Ruffins, Chef Marcus Samuelsson, Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Gahan Wilson, Nancy Winters and many others.

Stacy gave her first cooking demonstration—Chinese Eggdrop Soup—at the age of 9 for her local 4-H group. It was Stacy’s early interest in food history that led her to research her cousin Anna Botsford Comstock (1854–1930). At age 11, Stacy gave a presentation on “Anna B.”(as she’s known in the family), the Mother of Nature Study in America, to the Cattaraugus-New Albion Historical Society.

Stacy’s family farm was located about mid-way between the farm where cousin Anna B. grew up and the farm where Stacy’s great-grandfather grew experimental crops for Cornell University.

College took Stacy to Rochester where she met her future husband, composer Dr. Daniel Koontz. His career as a professor brought them to Southampton College (now Stony Brook Southampton), where Stacy studied creative writing at the graduate level with Jules Feiffer, Roger Rosenblatt and Richard Reeves.

Stacy is currently at work scheduling more appearances to promote "The Hamptons Kitchen," with co-author Hillary Davis.