KDH & Doc recently attended a fabulous dinner party hosted by Sagaponack resident Edward Tyler Nahem, who is a top art dealer with a W57th Street gallery in NYC, a Broadway and film producer, entrepreneur, philanthropist and longtime resident of the Hamptons.

Edward just moved into a spectacular new Gambrel style estate in Sagaponack, just up the road from the ocean, and this was his first dinner party to christen his new happy, haute home!

Surprisingly, one of Edward’s favorite Hamptons activities is playing softball every Sunday in the local league, leading up to the annual Artists and Writers game. He also hosts movie night on Sundays – with a screen projected on to the side of his house~ everyone brings their lawn chairs!

Nahem’s gallery specializes in Modern, Post-War and Contemporary art. As a dealer, he represents works by legendary artists including: Jean Hans Arp, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Andreas Gursky, Franz Kline, Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, Henri Matisse, Joan Miró, Joan Mitchell, Claes Oldenburg, Pablo Picasso, Richard Prince, Robert Rauschberg, Gerhard Richter, Mark Rothko, Frank Stella, Cy Twombly, Andy Warhol and Tom Wesselmann.

Edward’s producing credits include the Tony Award winning Broadway show and Royal National Theatre hit, Fela!. He is also the executive producer of the award winning documentary “I Bring What I Love”, about the Sengalese singer and social activist Youssou Ndour and of a forthcoming film about the recent race for the presidency of Senegal.

Based on Edward’s eclectic, cultured, background you can certainly assume that you will be seated next to an equally interesting dinner partner at his home. On this night we were dining with: artists, writers, collectors, designers, a famous yoga guru, wall street moguls, and a gorgeous opera singer named Zap Mama who just flew in from Paris to attend the party! KDH loves a Hamptons dinner party where you meet new intriguing people on the East End….

Check out Edward’s KDHamptons Diary below:

KDHamptons: How long have you been living in the Hamptons? Why do you love it so much?

Edward Nahem: 30 years. Beyond the hoopla surrounding “life in the Hamptons,” it never ceases to amaze me how two hours from the thick and grind of New York City is this place that has so much to offer. I feel immensely fortunate and grateful for the abundance of simple pleasures. The notion that pretty much everything which sits on the table has been grown or fished from within a few miles of where we live. The sound, feel and smell of the ocean can sooth any soul. The light of the sky at the end of the day; the company of good friends when there is no other destination to rush off to; to live in a home where the door is never locked.

KDH: Please describe your Hamptons home and decorating style?

EN: My home in Sagaponack is best described as combining modernist and beachy. In creating a new home, I am making efforts to play down the slightly stiff and formal elements and loosen things up a bit. One can find several rooms -inside and out- to snuggle up and get cozy.

KDH:  You own a major gallery in Manhattan, are you also involved in the East End art scene?

EN: I tend to limit my art activities while out at the beach. As the art world has become a non-stop world affair, I tend to stay away from most work activities out east.There is never a complete escape. Many of my friends tend to be clients, so there is a natural mix of activities, be it a dinner at my home or visiting them. I actually once did a deal while swimming in the ocean and literally running into a client.

KDH: What is your favorite Hamptons restaurant, what is your favorite dish and drink?

EN: The whole fish a la plancha at Nick + Toni’s has to be my favorite dish at my favorite restaurant in the Hamptons. The tartuffo -once an off the menu secret- is one of my all-time favorite desserts in the world.

KDH: Describe your perfect Hamptons day in detail. Where for bkfst…beach…what you like to do…evening plans?

EN: A favorite day in the Hamptons has to be Sunday. I rise at 7, have tea and read the NY Times. Then an hour of yoga and swimming laps in the pool, all in preparation for my Sunday softball game, which I pretty much live for. After a hopefully victorious return to the house, lunch with friends on the porch and Gibson Beach. I love swimming and body surfing in the ocean. A nap on the porch with a book. By 6pm the crew arrives to set up for movie night… 7pm sees about twenty friends for pizza and salad dinner. Movie night guests start arriving around 8:30 and 9-9:15 the credits start to roll. That for me is a perfect day.

KDH:  What is the greatest part about your job? If you could snap your fingers and instantly have another career~ what would be your dream  job?

EN: Looking at art continues to be a thrill. I have had the privilege of visiting collections, art fairs, meeting with great collectors and placing important works of art in collections in various parts of the world. I am fortunate enough to already have two dream jobs: art dealing and producing. If I had another choice I would be making films in different parts of the world with a meaningful social message; I am already in the process trying to do that.

KDH: How did your attachment to Africa become so strong?

EN: My early connections to Africa began with music more than thirty years ago. People like Fela Kuti, Youssou Ndour, Franco, Orchestre Baobab, King Sunny Ade, Salif Keita. Hugh Masakela and others. I had an interest in the politics, history and literature of Africa as well and there lies a natural tie-in between them all.

KDH: Have you brought African influences into your Hamptons home?

EN: I am a sucker for the various cloths made in Africa today. Whenever I travel to Africa I find myself gravitating toward the markets, with all the color and bustle. I have had shirts, table cloths and yoga pants made from the colorful and alive patterns. Friends now seem to be wanting them so we are in the process of producing yoga pants in beautiful African cloth, which will be available this summer at Yoga Shanti in Sag Harbor. Another touch is the churoi paste, which I have picked up at Sandaga market in Dakar. There are various scents and one can burn the paste, which makes for a beautiful fragrance in the home.

KDH: Summer movie nights at your home have become the hot ticket in town. Will you be hosting screenings again this summer? How do you choose your films?

EN: Movie nights are one of the many delights of summer at the beach. I plan to do outdoor screenings for what will be the eighth summer this year. I will probably screen every other Sunday night, as I am wanting to ease into my new home and get a feel for things. I seem to cull films from a pretty broad repertoire. There is no method but lots of madness to the choices.

KDH: What is your most prized personal piece of art?

EN: It is very difficult for me to have a single prized anything. Life should be more about taking pleasure and pride in the simplest forms of art the world has to offer. I seem to derive equal pleasure from a piece of ornamental glass as I do from an expensive painting.

KDH: Who do you think has the greatest art collection in the Hamptons?

EN: That is a hard question to answer. Without mentioning names, I have seen power collections with every big name possible which are formulaic and soulless. I have seen collections or smatterings of what represent some one’s heart and passion that have little monetary value but much to engage.

KDH: If you could hang any painting in the world in your living room, which one would you choose?

EN: Again, hard to limit myself to one. How about we start at three?

• Picasso’s “Night Fishing in Antibes”
• Seurat’s “Les Poseurs”
• Rothko’s “White Center” owning you