SoFo Summer Gala

The twenty-seventh annual Summer Gala Benefit at the South Fork Natural History Museum will take place this Saturday. This year the gala will be co-chaired by Ann Liguori and Kim and Greg Lippmann with special guest hosts Tracy Anderson and Katie Lee. The event is held at 377 Bridgehampton Sag Harbor Turnpike in Bridgehampton. A VIP reception will run from 6 to 7 PM and the gala from 7 to 10 PM. One of the honorees is the Patsy and Jeff Tarr family. Patsy Tarr, philanthropist and publisher, founded the 2wice Arts Foundation in 1989, a nonprofit supporting the visual and performing arts which also has a magazine 2wice that comes out twice a year. Together, Patsy and Jeff Tarr, a private investor, reconstructed a Central Park playground in 2009. Located on the West Side at 100th Street, the Tarr Family Playground is a place kids of all ages can enjoy. Other honorees are Anke and Jurgen Friedrich, real estate professionals from Germany who love to buy, renovate and sell homes in the Hamptons. Jurgen Friedrich helped run the Esprit operations in Europe and is currently a board member for the company. The SoFo Summer Gala will host its second VIP Cocktail pre-gala reception which includes a special tasting menu that was donated by leading local chefs. Chefs include Matty Boudreau of Baron's Cove, Sam McClelland and David Loewenberg of The Beacon, Sarah Hong of East Hampton Grill, Keith Davis of Golden Pear, Greg Grossman/The Culinaria Group of Oreya, Kerry Hefferman of Grand Banks, Mike Martinson of Montauk Pearl Oysters, Andy Reice of Swedish Culinary Summer, and Terry Harwood of Vine Street Café. This year, the featured guest chef is Chef Alex Guarnaschelli. Guarnaschelli grew up in the household of an esteemed cookbook editor, who she called mom, Maria Guarnaschelli. From reading about the culinary craft on a regular basis early on in life, she eventually went to pursue her interests upon graduating college from Barnard College by working under American chef Larry Forgione. Spending years abroad and working at notable New York restaurants such as Daniel and Patina, Guarnaschelli went to become an executive chef at Butter in 2003 and in 2011 opened The Darby. A year later, in 2012, Alex gained the title of Iron Chef. Earlier this year, she told Indy that her favorite summer dishes include chilled melon soup, grilled hanger steak with farm stand chili salsa, and drinks with watermelon ice cubes. At the gala guests can dance along to music by Nancy Atlas and The Nancy Atlas Project. This band have been performing live across Long Island for years, opening up for big names such as Elvis Costello and Jimmy Buffett. The band consists of Nancy Atlas, lead vocals, guitar and tambourine; Brett King, bass and background vocals; Johnny Blood, lead guitar and vocals; Richard Rosch, drums and background vocals; and Neil Surreal, keyboards, accordion, vocals and harp. New projects with SoFo include a Climate Change program, an After-School Drop-In program for children of working families. The organization is expanding its marine life programs in collaboration with the Long Island Shark Collaboration. With everything they have going on, SoFo encourages the public to become members, volunteers, and sponsors. Visit www.sofo.org. You can follow more stories from Nicole Teitler on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat as Nikki On The Daily.

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