Thursday, September 19, 7:00 P.M.
Members $85, guests $110

For a chef, a visit to the September greenmarket must be an exhilarating experience, with ideas and recipes racing through the mind in creative turns and leaps as new menus and dishes reveal themselves with every fascinating find. And so it must be for Savoy's Peter Hoffman, a talented culinarian who not only derives his inspiration from greenmarket provisions, but who is also a keen supporter of, and vocal advocate for, locally produced and sustainable agriculture.

Hoffman has been a Union Square Greenmarket regular from its early days, long before it became fashionable to see and be seen there. He developed his cooking style and his penchant for locally grown goods through a combination of work, travel, and research. He spent time in Europe studying with Madeleine Kamman and working in both Tuscany and Languedoc. Back in New York, Hoffman hung his toque in some of this city's finest restaurants, including the Quilted Giraffe, Hubert's, and La Colombe d'Or. He opened Savoy with his wife, Susan Rosenfeld, in 1990. In her two-star New York Times review, Ruth Reichl called Hoffman "a master of surprise" who "seems to have an instinctive understanding of vegetables," an estimation that proved correct with a corn soup that was "alive with flavor." Added Zagat 2002, Savoy is a place "where special occasions are really special." A renovation this summer by architect Larry Bogdanow will refresh the interior, considered by many one of the most welcoming in New York.

In addition to preparing a greenmarket dinner, Hoffman will also be conducting a marketbasket workshop, taking us on a guided tour of the stalls he frequents each week, and then returning to the House to cook our freshly plucked treasures. What better escort than Hoffman, who is not only the National Chair of the Chefs Collaborative, the professional organization that promotes sustainable cuisine, but who also sat on the advisory board of the NYC Greenmarkets for the last 15 years?