Brew's Cafe

You probably won't recognized Doug Levin by name, but by the end of the day, he will likely have impacted your life in some small, unnoticeable but very important way. As the founder and CEO of Black Duck Software, Doug was responsible for creating a company that led to an entire segment of the industry focused on both making open source software license compliant and secure from malware and viruses -- something we all admittedly take for granted. Having sold the company several years ago, Doug now teaches a course at Harvard Business School called "Startup Academy", and writes a blog and records a podcast called "Lessons from a Startup Life". He also runs a venture fund which focuses on tech startups, specifically in the realm of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cybersecurity. Doug was kind enough to sit down with me recently and explain the basic concepts, the importance and some other fun facts and features of both the world of AI and Cybersecurity the startups he’s nurturing and funding. I learned a ton from this conversation, and Doug has a knack for making a complex (and potentially boring!) topic interesting and entertaining.

For more details about Doug’s interesting and varied work experience, his updated Wikipedia page is located here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Levin and his LinkedIn page is located here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bduck1/

You might recognize Debra Geller's name from construction signs outside several of East Hampton's more glamorous design projects. Working with builder Phil Kauffman, she has designed, built, decorated and sold (or is selling) two gorgeous homes here. But as you'll hear here, deep down she's really just a "sawx" fan raising a houseful of Yankees fans. Originally from Massachusetts, by way of New York City (of course) Debra has been living, working, raising kids and enjoying life on the east end for well over a decade. So it may not surprise regular listeners that, while we certainly cover her work interests, the conversation veers toward school, sports, the local housing shortage and lots of other non-work topics. So join us and I'm sure you'll find Debra to be as interesting, intelligent and entertaining as I did.

You've probably heard the stories over the years, the concerts, the events, the fundraisers.... the bars, nightclubs and famous names from Hamptons glory days. John Kowalenko not only was there, he probably put the whole thing on. Over the course of the past 35 years John Kowalenko has had a hand in some of the most iconic events and happenings on the east end. Today, as they have for the past three decades, John and his wife, local chef Cheryl Stair, own and operate Art of Eating Catering and Events. And perhaps no form of work is more prone to the ups and downs of Hamptons happenings, as well as the comings and goings of our more famous party people. Join John and me as he recalls some of the more memorable moments and classic stories of John's storied history.

It seems like not all that long ago, to me anyway, that potatoes were a big deal on the South Fork of Long Island. Throughout the past several decades, though, potatoes, and farmland in general, have given way to development of large summer homes, as the pressure to sell the exceedingly valuable farmland between Montauk Highway and the Atlantic Ocean became unavoidable for many local farming families. Lots of farmland has been preserved through the efforts of local governments and local NGO's such as Peconic Land Trust, but that pressure to turn over agricultural land to development persists. One way to preserve farmland, however, is to make good use of it. And while the sale of potatoes may not be able to economically justify farming the land here, distilling those potatoes into high quality spirits, which can fetch high prices among discerning spirits drinkers, may just be enough to push the value of those potatoes high enough to preserve the land. At least that's the plan for the Foster Family and the land they farm in Bridgehampton and Sagaponack. In order to convert those potatoes to high quality booze, they need a master distiller, and that's where Matt Beamer comes in. Formerly a craft brewer out west (actually still a brewer, since, as you'll hear, you must first brew beer to produce vodka), Matt has brought his skills to Sagaponack, where he produces vodka, gin, rye whiskey, bourbon and several other spirits to high acclaim and commercial success. Matt sat down with me to discuss the challenges and rewards, as well as the process of distillation, aging, bottling and selling those spirits. And if the Foster family has their way, they'll find a way to preserve their farms and their farming heritage.

By now, many have you have figured out that I'll pretty much go to any length to get a great guest. I mean, you might think I'd even change jobs and leave a well established firm to join an upstart company with little brand recognition in this market, just to get an interview with a guy like Ryan Serhant. In our business (real estate, in case you missed that), Ryan Serhant is kinda the big Kahuna: if not the most successful (actually, he is), then without doubt, the most visible, which is pretty much the name of the game anyhow. He's also the star of Emmy nominated "Million Dollar Listing New York" which ran for 9 seasons on Bravo TV, author of two best selling books, "Sell it Like Serhant" and "Big Money Energy", director of the highly successful "Sell it Like Serhant" business education program, and, since 2020, owner and CEO of SERHANT., the rapidly growing brokerage he started (at which I currently work!). Oh and he's got a podcast, too, called "Big Money Energy Podcast" (he gets amazing guests like Jay Shetty, Barbara Corcoran and David Portnoy, among many others). And while I'm grateful to Ryan for taking the time away from all of that, plus his family with whom he lives in Brooklyn, to spend a few minutes in Brew's Cafe. And despite all the fame and success, Ryan is a hands on business operator, an accessible leader, and an all around decent human being. So we sat and chatted for a while and made a podcast out of it. I hope you enjoy. Oh, and I'da taken the job anyway.

Just in time for Hamptons Whodunnit comes this very special episode with mystery novelist Randye Lordon. Randye, who lives full-time in Springs, walks us through the process of becoming a mystery writer, where her characters come from and how much fun it was setting this particular mystery in East Hampton. Randye will be reading and signing her most recent novel, "She's Dead, Who Cares" this Friday, April 14 at the Thomas Moran house in East Hampton at 11am. Find tickets to this event, and many others going on around town this weekend, online at Hamptons Whodunnit. I also recommend reading "She's 
 Dead, Who Cares", available at local bookstores and online. Locals will recognize many of the settings, and possibly even a couple of the lead characters whose names have been changed to protect the not so innocent. Meantime, check out this entertaining conversation with the highly engaging novelist.

By now, Nancy Atlas needs no introduction, but I'm going to do it anyway. It's possible a listener might've been living under a rock for the past 25 years, or maybe they live far away. For anyone who's spent more than a week or two on the east end, though, it'd be pretty hard to avoid Nancy Atlas. And even though you might see her on Friday at the Talkhouse, Sunday at Gurney's and Wednesday at the Surf Lodge, you will not have seen the same show. As I learned in this episode with her, Nancy walks on stage with a set list. And then it goes out the window. Reading the room, reading her feelings, the events of the day or week, and she may not play another song off that list the rest of the night. These and other bits of knowledge about her practices in her performances, her songwriting, her child rearing and community involvement all come to light in this freewheeling conversation about so many of the things that are important to her and what makes living in Montauk so very, very special.

You might not recognize Hugh King out of uniform. Quite often, while in public, he wears a black top hat and a black cape. And he's usually leading a graveyard tour, or a historical walk or some other similar historically based activity. For when someone, anyone in East Hampton needs to know about the past, they usually turn to Hugh King. Born and raised in Amagansett, a long time teacher in Springs, Mr. King has seen quite a lot in these parts, and he's happy to share his insights and information. Although this recording is only a portion of our actual conversation, Hugh packs a lot of info into a little time.

There are four major tournaments in golf: The Masters, The US Open, The British Open and The PGA. Most of us aspire to go and watch one of these tournaments, to simply to get to SEE the likes of a Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson or Justin Thomas today, Jack Nicholson, Arnold Palmer in past eras and names like Ben Hogan and Sam Snead in the history books. For most professional golfers, the dream of playing in one of these tournaments resides far out of reach. For Montauk native Paul Dickinson, that dream came true last year when he qualified for, and played in, the PGA Championship at Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The road to the PGA was not a straight one, and with a family and a full time job that's not playing the Pro Tour, it was about as hard as it could be. But he did it. Join Paul and me as he recounts the long, seemingly impossible journey from playing with cut-off clubs at Montauk Downs, to the highest ranks of professional golf.

Chances are you know Jenny Landey. Everyone seems to know Jenny Landey, and she seems to know everyone. High school friends post pics on Instagram and they're "liked by JennyLandey."... We did not go to high school in the same state. She has her own explanations for how this could be, and they seem plausible. But there's a whole lot more to Jenny than her popularity, as we find out in this episode. As the East End's premier location scout, she arranges photo shoots for the most accomplished photographers, models and media companies in the most beautiful of locations (many undisclosed, even here, I'm afraid!). She's also an extremely successful real estate agent at Sotheby's International Realty in East Hampton. And she makes a mean cup of ginger lemon tea!