(Long Island, N.Y.) This past weekend Hamptonites enjoyed Stella Shows Antiques & Design in the Hamptons To Benefit The Bridge Hampton Historical Society. Stella Show Management Company has been producing popular retail events for over thirty five years. Exhibitors from across the country and around the world gather to show and sell at Stella Shows.
The ambiance is elegant with the delicate chatter of people conversing and enjoying their dinner. Servers are gracious, patient and caring. In a matter of minutes patrons are dining thanks to an efficient kitchen. For starters I enjoyed the Duck Cannelloni —Duck Confit, Trumpet Royale Mushrooms and Sautéed Spinach with Star Anise Jus.
Stella Shows Antiques & Design in the Hamptons To Benefit The Bridge Hampton Historical Society
For Dinner I enjoyed Roasted Lamb Loin— Braised Escarole, Raisin and Pinenut Tart with Lamb Sauce, just the perfect blend of meat and sauce to create the most exciting flavor. The Desserts are just as thrilling as the rest of the cuisine. I also enjoyed Lime Meringue Lemon Curd, Fresh Berries and Pineapple Reduction, which were all simply delicious!
Hamptons is rife with antiques shows but Stella Shows Antiques & Design in the Hamptons from August 13 through the 15th is truly in a class of its own. The annual event is held in tents on the grounds of the Bridgehampton Historical Society as it has been for the past 10 years. Stella Shows brings together some of the worlds formost antique experts and premier sellers. Though modest in size, the show is huge in experts, style and good design. Sponsored by the online design source VandM.com, and Antiques and Fine Art Magazine – Antiques & Design in the Hamptons provides a great chance for people to meet the experts in a relaxed and intimate setting and to shop compelling, affordable, handsome well-edited collections of furniture, art, jewelry, textiles, silver, ceramics, garden, folk art and more in many styles and eras.
Stella Founder Albert Sultan of Sultan Chic and Cognac pose for a photoshoot.
I had a chance to chat with Owner Olivia Garay of Olivia Garay Vintage Jewelry. Olivia has been acquiring and selling vintage and couture jewelry for numerous years, guiding collectors build their collections all over the world. Collectors trust Olivia to bring and show the very best in couture jewels whether it being vintage diamonds to exact replicas including Jolie Gabor, Kenneth Lane and many more fabulous designer pieces.
Walking through the exhibits I was introduced to Gallery Owner Joern Lohman of Joern Lohmann Gallery.
Joern Lohmann of J. Lohmann Gallery specializes in European design and decorative arts primarily from the 1920s -1980s with an emphasis on German designers and artistic movements. Joern Lohman’s New York gallery features an elegant sophisticated and refined collection of silver, ceramics, metalwork, glass, lighting and fine works of art. His gallery is unique in offering his clients a wish list service helping them find just the perfect items for their homes.
For more information please visit www.jlohmanngallery.com.
New to Stella Shows in the Hamptons is Sultan Chic Couture Home Furnishings. I had the chance to chat with Founder and Artist Albert Sultan.
SULTANchic is the evolution of a passion. It is borne of an obsession and curiosity for life’s many exotic wonders—color, texture, and pattern.
At SULTANchic, their team believes in the necessity of good design as a means of enhancing your experience of life. Albert Sultan, a graduate of Fine Arts from the University of Pennsylvania also studied at the International School of Art in Italy, as well as the Jerusalem Studio School of Art before embarking into his home furnishing design companies. All of his pieces are hand selected from thousands of vintage finds from all over the world and lovingly restored or transformed into one of a kind works of art. He looks for the unusual and irresistible. Each piece that is chosen has its own inherent quirk that makes it stand out from the crowd. Their shape and form speak to him, seducing him to create masterpieces.
SULTANchic strives to unleash the sumptuous potential of powerful design. Founder Albert Sultan invites you to explore SULTANchic. He will unabashedly attempt to make you a part of his family creating the most beautiful furniture and designs appropriate for your decor.
His other company Sultan Designs creates visually stimulating walls, hand applied at the highest levels of expertise and craftsmanship. His design team collaborates closely with homeowners, interior designers, architects and builders to produce customized faux finishes. Whether your tastes are dramatic or subtle, elegant or whimsical, traditional or modern, Sultan Designs will create a very different and personalized look for your home. His inspiration ranges from authentic period motifs, Egyptian and Greco-Roman to contemporary patterns.
For more info please visit http://sultandesigns.com
Later my crew and I dined at Rugosa Restaurant in East Hampton, New York.
Rugosa Restaurant Owner Bill Mammes with Cognac.
At Rugosa, guests and patrons will delight their palate with modern American cuisine inspired by French cooking in a relaxed, yet refined atmosphere. Chef and owner, Bill Mammes, has a broad background in European flavors & classic French technique. Each component of his dishes receives the utmost care in creating the most delicious flavors elegantly presented. Guests of Rugosa may choose from the a la carte menu or a three course Prix Fixe menu offered between 5:30 to 6:30 Friday and Saturday, and all night Sunday through Thursday.
During our interview I inquired about the name, Rugosa, originally thinking it was Italian, but Mr. Mammes informed me that Rugosa is actually a Latin word named for rosa rugosa, the beach rose, which grows wild in local sand dunes in the Hamptons.
Rugosa Restaurant Owner’s Wife Yvette Mammes and Cognac.
Owner Bill Mammes grew up in Massapequa, Long Island and graduated with honors from the Culinary Institute of America in 1997. Bill started his career in cooking for Jean Benchet in Atlanta and later worked for Joel Antunes at The Dining Room in the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead for several years. He moved to New Orleans as Sous Chef of Victor’s in the Ritz-Carlton under Chef Frank Brunacci. Bill and Yvette met while working for the Ritz-Carlton in her native New Orleans in 2002. The couple moved to Las Vegas in 2004 where Yvette worked at Thomas Keller’s Bouchon, Le Cirque in the Bellagio and at Alex in the Wynn. At that time Bill opened Hubert Keller’s Fleur de Lys. In 2006, after ten years away from Long Island, Bill was ready to return and put down roots on the East End.
In the past four years in East Hampton, Yvette has been busy taking care of their children, William four years old and Sophie two years old. When she’s not with her children, Yvette is at Rugosa greeting guests and helping Bill with pastry production and menus.
The ambiance is elegant with the delicate chatter of people conversing and enjoying their dinner. Servers are gracious, patient and caring. In a matter of minutes patrons are dining thanks to an efficient kitchen.
For starters I enjoyed the Duck Cannelloni —Duck Confit, Trumpet Royale Mushrooms and Sautéed Spinach with Star Anise Jus. For Dinner I enjoyed Roasted Lamb Loin— Braised Escarole, Raisin and Pinenut Tart with Lamb Sauce, just the perfect blend of meat and sauce to create the most exciting flavor.
The Desserts are just as thrilling as the rest of the cuisine. I also enjoyed Lime Meringue Lemon Curd, Fresh Berries and Pineapple Reduction, which were all simply delicious!
For more information about this elegant restaurant located in East Hampton please visit http://www.rugosarestaurant.com
