At Home with Joe and Cindy Realmuto

When you’re one of the most famous chefs in the Hamptons—the kind who gets a coveted “excellent” rating from the New York Times, the kind who oversees the kitchens at four of the East End’s hippest restaurants, and the kind who makes cooking appearances on “The Food Network” and at the famed James Beard House—it’s only natural for people to make certain assumptions about you.

You must have a designer kitchen that’s filled with every conceivable kitchen gadget, right? And your home kitchen must be solely your domain, a sacred space where you spend hours sautéing and flambéing five-course meals to impress your family and friends. And, oh yeah, you must be a bit of a food snob.

Well, chef Joe Realmuto has some surprising news for you, folks.

The kitchen in his three-bedroom, three-bath home in Springs is definitely not the kind you’d find in any Hamptons McMansion or on the set of any cooking show.

“It’s really quite basic,” admitted the down-to-earth Mr. Realmuto, who is executive chef for the kitchens owned and operated by the Honest Management Company: Nick & Toni’s, Townline BBQ, Rowdy Hall and La Fondita in the Hamptons, as well as Nick & Toni’s Café in Manhattan.

In fact, Mr. Realmuto’s own kitchen has nary a stainless steel appliance or fancy gadget in sight, and—horror of horrors—he owns a common, white, four-burner gas stove.

As for who dons the chef whites in his family, it’s his wife, Cindy—who has no professional training—who does most of the day-to-day cooking.

“Back when Joe first started cooking, he would use every pot in the house, and I’d say, ‘Joe, your kitchen crew is not here to help you.’ So I took over because it was easier than cleaning up after him,” laughed Ms. Realmuto, who learned how to make many of her husband’s recipes, including his favorite “Sunday Pork Sauce.”

“One of Cindy’s pet peeves is when people say, ‘Oh, you’re so lucky to have a chef as your husband.’ Actually, the kids and I are the lucky ones because Cindy is a great cook,” he said.

And as for Nick & Toni’s top chef being a food snob?

“Oh, no ... Joe loves a good hot dog,” said his wife as she placed a lemon loaf cake (a favorite recipe from an Ina Garten “Barefoot Contessa” cookbook) on the kitchen table.

“The truth is, I get tired of restaurant food and really appreciate a home-cooked meal.” Mr. Realmuto said. “People tell me they’re intimidated to have me over for dinner. But I’m happy just having a bowl of pasta.”

An appreciation for basic comforts and the simple things in life pervades the Realmutos’ warm household, which also includes Jonathan, 9, Nicole, 7, and Casey, the family’s beloved dog, a yellow Labrador/golden retriever mix.

“We love to entertain our friends and family here,” said Ms. Realmuto, who met her husband at age 14 when both were working at the Villa Russo Catering Hall in Richmond Hill. Joe worked in the kitchen and Cindy folded napkins for wedding parties.

“We started dating at 17 and have been together ever since,” Ms. Realmuto said, noting that their love of cooking comes from their common Italian ancestry and close-knit upbringing in Ozone Park, Queens.

“Both of us come from big Italian families. Grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins were always around and there was always lots of cooking ... In our families, everything revolves around the table,” Mr. Realmuto said.

It was only natural then that the couple, who married in 1996, both decided on careers in the food industry. Ms. Realmuto attended Queens College for a degree in restaurant and hotel management and Mr. Realmuto graduated from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park in 1991.

After sharpening his culinary skills at New York’s River Café and the Park Avalon, Mr. Realmuto found his real niche at Nick & Toni’s, where he’s worked since 1993. While he toiled in the kitchen building his culinary reputation with celebrity fans and with the national food media, Ms. Realmuto worked “the front of the house” as an assistant manager. She left Nick & Toni’s in 2000 to become a stay-at-home mom for a few years.

Today, Ms. Realmuto is a teacher’s assistant at the Springs School, where Mr. Realmuto is helping to establish the “Seedlings Project,” a greenhouse and garden classroom for children that follows the model of Chef Alice Waters’ Edible Schoolyard. Mr. Realmuto, who maintains a 1-acre organic garden behind Nick & Toni’s and is committed to using local, sustainable food at home and at his restaurants, is also involved with interactive farming and cooking programs at the East Hampton Middle School, Boy’s Harbor and the Hayground School.

In 2005, the couple bought their current home, which is only a short distance from Three Mile Harbor, where Mr. Realmuto likes to fish from his boat and Nicole likes to search for oysters and clams. One of the house’s selling points for the couple was its “turn key” condition, because, as Ms. Realmuto pointed out, “Joe is not very handy.”

“I picked out all the paint colors, but my wife did all the painting,” said her proud husband.

“Nothing fazes me,” admitted Ms. Realmuto. “After having kids, I learned you can’t sweat the small stuff. There’s nothing in this house that can’t be replaced or touched. We keep it simple because a family lives here.”

As for family heirlooms, the couple acknowledged that they don’t possess many. Because, as Ms. Realmuto said, “we’re fortunate to have all our grandparents still alive.”

But the kitchen does have some treasures from their grandparents, including a huge butcher block carving board that resided in Ms. Realmuto’s 88-year-old grandmother’s home in Queens.

“Nonna used it to make homemade pasta, and she used this to cut out the shape of the ravioli,” she said, grabbing an old-fashioned glass cup out of a cupboard.

Another treasure is a large meat slicer that belonged to Mr. Realmuto’s grandfather. It’s rarely used, but he considers it a “great little piece.”

Although not a family heirloom, Mr. Realmuto said he loves an expensive set of Japanese knives he received as a gift. But according to his wife, the two did have some territory issues over them.

“For a while, Joe hid them from me because I put them in the dishwasher and they got a little rusty,” laughed Ms. Realmuto, who—with comic timing—pulled the knife box out from their “secret” location under the sink.

True to their culinary backgrounds, the Realmutos said they spend a lot of quality time together near the food preparation areas.

“The kitchen is definitely our favorite room in the house. Despite my busy schedule, we manage to eat dinner together probably five nights a week,” he said.

The nearby dining room, which Ms. Realmuto and her sister painted a rich Tuscan yellow, is where the couple likes to entertain guests at the pine farm table. A painting of an orange—a wedding gift from abstract artist Dan Rizzie—hangs on one of the walls.

“We can only squeeze 12 at the table, which is a problem at Thanksgiving when we have about 28 people over for dinner,” said Ms. Realmuto. “I don’t like to split the kids and adults up, so we move all the living room furniture into the garage and create one big long table. We keep lots of folding tables and chairs in the basement.”

The couple considers the living room, which flows off the kitchen, an extension of the kitchen. They keep the wood-burning fireplace going constantly in the winter, which adds to the home’s cozy feel. Ms. Realmuto said the kids do their homework at the kitchen table, and then snuggle up to read for 25 minutes every day in an overstuffed chocolate brown ultrasuede chair that’s by the fireplace and window. Over the chair hangs a small painting of a farm field by artist Michele Margit, a thank-you gift for the annual fund-raiser dinner that Mr. Realmuto organizes for Quail Hill Farm.

The family watches favorite shows in the television room, and play Wii bowling and baseball from the couple’s first floor master bedroom. Mr. Realmuto said he’s thankful that his children are not “big into video games” and prefer to spend time playing outdoors. Both children love to draw, play “restaurant,” and Jonathan is a master Lego builder.

“In the summer, the kids spend so much time outside on our back deck and playing with their friends in the pool and hot tub that we call it “Camp Realmuto,” he said. “Our door is always open for our family and friends.”

And by that front door, the couple keeps three framed works of art created by their children, which they “rotate out” as new masterpieces are created. They do the same thing with the walls of displayed family photos, swapping out old pictures with new ones.

At the top of the stairs is a play area filled with books, a table and chairs, and daybed that’s put to use when out-of-town guests visit. The second-floor balcony that overlooks the living room is also there, which—as Ms. Realmuto said she discovered the hard way—provides the perfect spot for children to launch marbles and other flying objects.

Surrounding the play area are the children’s spacious and very tidy bedrooms; Jonathan’s room is a testament to his love of baseball, Legos and drawing. And Nicole’s room is all girl, with a charming hand-painted “teacup” canopy bed, a basket overflowing with stuffed animals, horses galore, fairies and magical dream catchers.

The Realmutos don’t need to catch any dreams, however. They seem to have developed the perfect recipe for family contentment at their home in Springs.