Foodstuffs: Hoedown, South Asian Lunch and Molecular Spirits

It’s a Hoedown!

Amber Waves Hoedown, a fundraising event to benefit Amber Waves farm, will be held on Friday, August 18, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Amber Waves, 367 Main Street, Amagansett.

The Hoedown celebrates 15 years of stewardship, sustainability, exploration and community and brings together donors to enjoy a night of music, cocktails, and philanthropy, with a mission to raise funds and awareness for farmers and food education on the East End and beyond. Amber Waves provides weekly delivery of vegetables to the local food pantry, hosts schools and educational partners for field trips and offers children’s classes.

The event features a silent auction with a wide selection of local items. The fundraiser is for ages 21 and up. Wear boots, bandannas and bring your best buds down to the farm

Hoedown tickets are $300 at amberwavesfarm.org, which includes food and beverages, access to Amber auction, and a lively evening on the farm.

Tapovana Lunch Box Offers Artisanal South Indian Cuisine

Tapovana Lunch Box, the Hamptons’ first nonprofit spiritual café, is making a difference in the community through its unique approach to dining and service. Located at 2357 Montauk Highway, Bridgehampton, the café is open Monday to Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., offering eat-in, take-out and delivery options.

Inspired by time spent at the Ramanaashram in Tiruvannamalai, Tamil Nadu, India, Tapovana Lunch Box is more than just a café. It’s a community initiative where 100 percent of the proceeds go towards sharing meals with the local hungry population. The café aims to provide artisanal South Indian Cuisine and other specialties based on Ayurvedic principles of vibrant health and longevity. Every dish is prepared single-handedly, sincerely and mindfully in small batches using the finest, health-conscious ingredients.

In collaboration with the Bridgehampton Lions Club and the Bridgehampton Community House, Tapovana Lunch Box donates hundreds of fresh, healthy, delicious meals a month to local food pantries, feeding thousands of community members. The café currently donates over 300 fresh meals per month and aims to increase this number with the community’s support.

The café’s menu changes daily, offering a variety of dishes like homestyle dosa, masala potato and local zucchini with roasted cashews, cucumber drumstick sambar, and coconut chutney. Side dishes and extras include pineapple beet salad, carrot mung bean slaw, spinach potato pakora with chutney, and a range of refreshing drinks like authentic masala chai, ginger mint lime drink and watermelon cooler.

In addition to its daily menu, Tapovana Lunch Box also offers a selection of market items, featuring most signature dishes and items packaged for convenience. These include a variety of chutneys, drinks and frozen meals that customers can take home and enjoy at their leisure.

Tapovana Lunch Box invites everyone to join their community and stay updated with the fresh daily menu, events and updates. For more information or to donate, tapovana.com.

Molecular Spirits

Linden Leaf, the Cambridge, U.K.-based distiller that handcrafts ultra-premium organic spirits at the molecular level, has launched on the East End. The distiller’s 88 Organic Molecular Gin and Singularity Organic Molecular Vodka are now available in Montauk at The Surf Lodge, and in Sag Harbor at Sag Harbor Kitchen on Bay Street and The Green Room at Sag Harbor Cinema.

The pursuit of flavorful spirits has now reached the molecular level. Linden Leaf’s founders, two of whom have science Ph.D.s from Cambridge University, have a near-obsessive passion for food, regularly traveling the world to seek out new culinary and flavor experiences.

Immersed in many of the world’s most unique flavors, their curiosity got them wondering — what made their favorite foods and drinks taste the way they did? For example, could they determine what makes a fresh, ripe orange taste really “orangey” (hint: it’s the thinnest 2 mm of the outer layer of the peel, not the juicy pulp) and, conversely, are there components in that orange that actually make it taste less orangey? Not to mention which of the over 400 varieties of orange deliver the best taste experience? (It’s one produced by a single farm in Spain). And, how do other properties, like mouthfeel, affect flavor?

After experimenting with countless botanicals — all organic and GMO-free — and scientific techniques to extract specific molecules (and rallying hundreds of friends and family as flavor and aroma testers), Linden Leaf’s founders developed a way to identify the exact molecules in each ingredient. In the process, they also discovered which of these different botanical molecules worked in perfect harmony with each other and which clearly did not, including which worked best with juniper. They call this “Molecular Craftsmanship,” which is the key to Linden Leaf’s unique, perfectly balanced flavor experience.

“Admittedly, we opened up a scientific Pandora’s box when we started chasing exactly which molecules made our favorite food and drink taste the way it did,” explained Matthew Webster, one of Linden Leaf’s founding members, along with Mukund Unavane and Paul Bennett. “But countless experiments and testing led us to the holy grail: a Molecular Flavor Atlas, which we use to create what I believe are the most harmonious, flavorful spirits possible.”

The first practical application of Linden Leaf’s molecular craftmanship theory was the founders’ shared favorite spirit: gin, a product historically rich in taste but often lacking in subtle flavor and aroma qualities. Using what they learned through literally thousands of sample tastings, Linden Leaf created 88 Organic Molecular Gin, which features 88 separate flavor molecule notes from 28 botanicals, where the complex flavors and aromas complement each other, unfolding sip after sip. Gin 88 botanicals include: yuzu, calamansi and grains of paradise, all built around a core of subtle, organic juniper.

One of the greatest challenges for Linden Leaf was how to use the molecular principals to create a supremely sippable vodka. The result is Singularity Organic Molecular Vodka with a base alcohol made from a blend of organic/non-GMO modern grains like wheat, barley and rye and ancient grains like spelt. The final blend delivers a velvety mouthfeel devoid of harsh alcohol burn — precisely what you want when drinking vodka straight or on the rocks.

Linden Leaf is distributed in New York and Florida by Park Street, Colorado by Culture Beverage and is exploring expansion nationwide. In the meantime check out their new releases at The Surf Lodge, Sag Harbor Kitchen and The Green Room.

North Fork Music

Claudio’s Waterfront and Crabby Jerry’s (111 Main Street, Greenport) host live music every weekend.

The schedule at Claudio’s Waterfront:

Saturday, August 12, 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. - Peat Moss & The Fertilizers.

Sunday, August 13, 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. - Radio Riot.

Saturday, August 19, 1:30 to 5:30 p.m. - When Stars Collide.

Saturday, August 26, 10 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. - Fast Five.

The schedule at Crabby Jerry’s, 111 Main Street, Greenport:

Thursday, August 10, 6 to 9 p.m. - Hawaiian Night with DJ Chilly, live Hawaiian dance show, Polynesian inspired buffet and a complimentary drink.

Friday, August 11, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. - Warped Tour Night, a night of EMO and punk rock.

Saturday, August 19, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. - Reggae Night with Dollarman.