Geoffrey Drummond Talks Food Lab

Geoffrey Drummond has had at least one foot in the food industry his entire life. With 40 years’ experience in film and television, and 10 Emmys, Mr. Drummond—as president of both Saga Productions and A La Carte Communications—worked closely with Julia Child, Lidia Bastianich, Jacques Pepin and Martin Yan, among others.

Now as president of Stony Brook Southampton’s new Food Lab—and together with Brian Halweil, editor in chief of Edible East End magazine, and Kathleen Masters of Amagansett Food Institute—he has assembled the Edible Business Conference, the first event of its kind at the Southampton campus.

The Press: How did the idea for the business conference come about?

Geoffrey Drummond: Food seems to be at the top of everyone’s interest list—certainly mine. Come back from a trip, “Where did you go? What did you eat?” Chefs and restaurants led the list, but that’s changing. So many people want to be more directly involved in some aspect of food beyond eating, beyond cooking.

So we decided to host a conference about culinary entrepreneurship for people wanting to, or already getting involved, in edible businesses—from farming and fishing, to brewing distilling and winemaking, to creating food products, getting them to market and then to customers, and then selling them.

What type of role do you hope the Food Lab will serve the East End?

Drummond: Our mission is to initiate and become a center of conversation and education about food—beyond teaching people how to cook—which is well served by lots of terrific cooking teachers who live, work and teach out here and on TV. We are so fortunate to live in a place that still has lots of active farming, fishing and food making. Part of our goal is to make their products available to everyone. As well, we want to facilitate opportunities for everyone out here to learn about the many opportunities to participate in the world of food, and get some guidance in how to do it successfully.

At what age did you first get into food?

Drummond: I was always a big fan of eating—a hungry kid, I guess. At college, my roommate and I started a home-to-dorm egg roll business. We made about 150 egg rolls two days a week, and sold and delivered them by motorcycle to dorms, fraternity and sorority houses. Unfortunately, our kitchen was not health-department certified—in fact, would never be, since we also kept our bikes in it—so our edible business was soon terminated. But, the egg rolls were really terrific, and sold out every time.

What’s your favorite meal?

Drummond: My favorite meal is sitting at a table with my wife, Barbara, sometimes with family and/or friends, always eating good, fresh food cooked with care and love—for the food and those of us eating it—opening and drinking a bottle of wine that has a good story behind it, and being able to hear and share in interesting conversation.