Lexi Stolz, owner of Hamptons Aristocrat 

If the Summer of 2014 officially named an “It-Girl” of the Hamptons food scene, her name is Lexi Stolz [above], who launched Hamptons Aristocrat — the first service to offer delicious, gourmet, farm-to-table food and drinks delivered right to your door each weekend. The ideal service for anyone wanting to experience authentic local East End cuisine, Hamptons Aristocrat makes sure busy weekend warriors make the most of their treasured time by arriving to their beautiful home with a stocked fridge, chilled wine, a gourmet surf-n-turf dinner, and homemade pie.

KDHamptons planned an afternoon cocktail party with Lexi at my Water Mill home to host friends, and also a French film crew from the television show Thalassa, who are putting together an amazing documentary on the Hamptons called “The American Riviera.” Thalassa has been the #1 documentary-style family show in France for the past 40 years, and KDHamptons was happy to be selected as their “guide” of the East End for the shoot. A big part of the filming is focused on the farm-to-table food scene in the Hamptons, so Lexi and I wanted to make sure that every detail was perfect.

KDHamptons films with Thalassa producers Edward Bally and Gary Grabli in the garden

We picked up a few bunches of wild flowers from Halsey Farm up the street from my Water Mill home

One thing I love about working with Lexi is how easy she is to brainstorm ideas with; we came up with the menu, decor, and style of the party in about 20 minutes. We each had our own assignments and sent a few “check-in” texts along the way et voilà — we were totally prepared on party day.  Check out all of the gourmet food and design ideas from the party in this NEW KDHamptons Feast End Diary below:

Tony McCool, with Hamptons magazine editor in chief Samantha Yanks with her husband David

KDHamptons: Share a tip on designing tablescapes?
 Lexi Stolz: When conceiving tablescapes, I really like to incorporate nature and the local ingredients. It is really important to me to showcase the ingredients in their original form along side the prepared item. For this event we did a big basket of locally sourced vegetables and edible flowers. We used wooden and porcelain platters to balance classic Hamptons design with an outdoorsy inspiration. Clipping pieces from the garden to add to the scape will always tie in the atmosphere and the food. Keeping with our theme we chose to use berry baskets from the farm stand as our “plates” lined with parchment paper.

We set up my vintage porcelain serving platters with Lexi’s rustic accents.

Charming little berry baskets can take the place of plates. Looks great & less clean up!

KDHamptons: I love “small bite / big taste” menus. Why do you think it has become such a trend in Hamptons entertaining?

Lexi: Small bite, big taste allows us to pack in a menu item that we have had on a bigger scale – we can achieve the same flavor profile but eliminate the fork and knife and formal table setting. It also allows guests to get the most of the party tasting many different items. There is just something very special about a bite sized big flavored hors d’oeuvres – it explodes in flavor but is still easy to eat and delicate.

Dr. Kot, Tisha Collette, Patty Mitchell with Chik, and Timmy Luzadre

KDHamptons: Why do you like to use herbs and vegetables, instead of typical floral bouquets?
Lexi: I just love herbs – they are beautiful, aromatic and freshly cut. I like to use parts of the herbs to garnish the food and then put little mason jars of the herbs on the tables – it really gets the senses going. To enhance any food experience i really like to touch on the sense of smell. The Green Thumb and Country Garden Farms both have a great herb selection.

A bunch of snipped lavender from Halsey Farms tucked in a mason jar is a sweet smelling decor detail

My favorite celebrity facialist Thuyen Nguyen [far left] never seems to have a shortage of great looking friends!

KDHamptons: Who were some of the purveyors you used for our party?
Lexi: The Green Thumb is where I source all of my produce, herbs and breads.  They have an amazing selection, beautiful home grown organic produce and they carry Carrissa’s Breads which are superior. I am in love with everything at Loaves and Fishes in Sagaponack and for this event I used their Seared Tuna and Wasabi sauce for our Tuna, Avocado Crostini and their Lobster Salad for our Lobster Crisp bites. We used Round Swamp Farm’s Pulled pork which is to die for on our pork sliders!

KDHamptons: Will you please share your recipe for the Tuna Avocado Crostini with our readers?
Lexi: Of course! Here’s what you will need for ingredients:
– Loaves & Fishes Seared Tuna
– Carissa’s Sourdough Bread
– Ripe Avocado
– Loaves & Fishes wasabi cream

Directions: Cut the load of Carissa’s Sourdough in half and then slice into half inch thick pieces – heat up a frying pan on the stove with a sprinkle of olive oil, salt and pepper and toast on each side until crispy edges and soft center. Set aside. Cut the tuna into pieces fitting for the bread. Assemble – wasabi cream sauce, avocado slice and tuna. Easy & delicious!

KDHamptons: What do you think is the key to effortless hosting?
Lexi: The key to effortless hosting is to use local cook shops who offer incredible prepared items along with your personal recipes. I love to take the best of the best and reassemble things into something I love! I am also a huge proponent of parchment paper on all the platters – easy clean up and easy to switch platters without washing it. Also using bamboo plates or the berry containers to avoid tons of clean up. Be confident in your food and always buy a few boxes of micro greens and edible flowers to add some flair to your presentation. Another tip is to stock a great full bar on display, that way if your bartender has to step away, guests can still make their own drinks. We made a big pitcher of Dark  & Stormy’s before the party and placed it on the bar.

Dark & Stormy

KDHamptons: What are some of your best fall offerings for weekend clients coming out to the East End?
Lexi: The Hamptons Aristocrat offers a variety of ready-to-cook dinner baskets delivered to your door: Ready-to-Grill Dinner Baskets with local produce and authentic Hamptons must-haves, DIY Cocktail Party Baskets with everything you need to throw the perfect Farm-to-Table cocktail party at home. [Dinner baskets and DIY Cocktail party is $25 per person & The Dessert Package is $65 for the first two boxes and $20 for each additional box after that, 2 box minimum].

KDHamptons: Tell our readers about your Customized Shopping Lists?
Lexi: We will complete your local shopping list along with providing a meal plan. The emphasis is that this meal has products from over 15 local Hamptons farm stands, cookshops, grocers & vineyards. It would take a weekender hours of stops to complete the same experience that we can simply drop at your door.