This spring, our popular series, The Art of Living Well (AOLW), returns with new AOLW Supper Clubs entitled Food for Thought.
AOLW is known for presenting diverse programs that explore ways of cultivating serenity, meaning, and a deeper connection to one’s self and the world. This spring’s Supper Clubs will do just that. Each Food for Thought Supper Club will present a film paired with a bespoke chef-prepared meal on an AOLW theme followed by a thought-provoking post-film panel discussion.
Our first event in the series is Food for Thought: “The Oyster Farmers” Film Plus Supper Club and Discussion on Tuesday, April 19.
Explore how New Jersey environmental activists and chefs are working together to sustain the waterways of the Garden State with the film, The Oyster Farmers. This feature-length documentary centers on coastal life in NJ and the oyster farmers cultivating a resurgence of an economic and cultural keystone, the once-prolific eastern oyster.
Patrons will have the option to purchase just a film and discussion ticket or a Supper Club ticket which also includes dinner. The dinner is “chef’s choice,” and thus there are no substitutions. Dinner includes complimentary dessert, coffee, and one water or soda per guest.
The Supper Club menu, prepared by Chef Christopher Albrecht of The Ryland Inn, will feature a delicious NJ Clam Chowder accompanied by a trio of NJ oysters:
- NJ Clam Chowder
- Features NJ tomatoes, pork belly, garlic toast, and basil pesto
- Baked Barnegat Bay Oyster
- Features wilted kale, pork roll, bearnaise sauce, and toasted bread crumbs
- Crispy Spiced Fried Oyster
- Features shaved fennel, bronze fennel, charred lemon vinaigrette, and lemon thyme-paprika aioli
- Chilled Swan Point Oyster from Mantoloking, Northern Barnegat Bay
- Features blueberry-tarragon-green peppercorn mignonette
The film will be followed by a panel discussion about the waterways across the Garden State, and how environmental activists and chefs are working together to sustain them.
Discussion panelists include:
- Kyle Gronostajski, Environmental Director of the Jetty Rock Foundation
- Christopher Albrecht, Executive Chef of The Ryland Inn
- Tim Dillingham, Executive Director of the American Littoral Society
- Carolyn Klaube, Sourland Conservancy Stream Monitoring Program
- More to be announced!
Kyle Gronostajski is the Environmental Director of the Jetty Rock Foundation. A graduate of Philadelphia University’s Environmental Sustainability program, Kyle began his career with the Philadelphia Science Festival and the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. He then moved back to his home of Long Beach Island to head Alliance for a Living Ocean for over seven years while continuing to surf, fish, and continue his secondary career as a photographer.
Chef Christopher Albrecht of The Ryland Inn will prepare the Supper Club menu. Chef Albrecht was born and raised in Central New Jersey. Sourced from small family owned and operated farms and ranches, the ingredients he works with are delivered at the peak of flavor, and then combined with the attention to detail, integrity, and technique he has learned over the past thirty years. The Supper Club meal will be oyster-themed in line with the film.
Tim Dillingham has led the American Littoral Society as its Executive Director since 2003. His work has led to expanded advocacy regarding the restoration of Barnegat Bay and other coastal areas, a comprehensive program of habitat restoration and resiliency on Delaware Bay, increased public access to the coast, and much more. He is currently the co-chair of the Stakeholder Advisory Committee on Aquaculture and Red Knots, the Coastal Resiliency Collaborative, and a founding Board member of Restore America’s Estuaries.
Carolyn Klaube loves working outdoors and has studied a diverse array of ecosystems from the Mojave and Sonoran deserts to the NJ Pine Barrens and Sourlands. She joined the Sourland Conservancy out of a passion to protect the Sourland Mountain and work with her community to promote ecological stewardship. Carolyn loves connecting people to nature and thoroughly enjoys leading groups of volunteers on stewardship activities throughout the Sourlands.
Get tickets for the Tuesday, April 19 event here!
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