On Thursday, June 25, The 1770 House Restaurant & Inn in East Hampton and Chef Michael Rozzi kicked off the summer with menu specials inspired by Robyn Lea’s new book Dinner with Jackson Pollock: Recipes, Art & Nature.

Below, a photo of Jackson, Lee, and his mom cooking at their home in East Hampton. (Courtesy Pollock‑Krasner House and Study Center)

Rozzi, the only chef in the Hamptons who consulted on the book, tested more than 30 handwritten recipes by Pollock, his wife and fellow artist Lee Krasner, and his mother Stella as found tucked in cookbooks at Pollock-Krasner House in Springs, East Hampton. The lesser-known Pollock was a gardener, baker and dinner-party host. Food prep was an extension of the couple’s creative outlook and a shared passion. Planting, gathering, fishing and clamming for ingredients connected Pollock to nature and in turn inspired many of his greatest works.

Of Rozzi’s contribution to the book, Lea notes, “Local chef Michael Rozzi from The 1770 House tested and prepared a wide selection of recipes, from eggplant Constantinople to creamy onion soup and Cody cookies – the latter named after Pollock’s birthplace. Chef Rozzi’s broad and deep knowledge of local food traditions, recipes, suppliers and wild ingredients also helped my own education about the importance of food in the local culture, both historically and today.”

Rozzi will introduce diners to such dishes as beet borscht with Stella’s salmon loaf on Jackson’s white bread served with North Fork Browder’s egg, salmon caviar and lemon; Bonac clam pie in the shell with spinach muffins, spring greens and tomato chutney; raspberry poached pears with Bavarian crème and Cody cookies; and Stella’s cherry upside down cake served with Sicilian pistachio gelato, caramel and tart cherry sauce.

On Tuesday, July 7 from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m., Rozzi will join Lea and Guild Hall Executive Director Ruth Appelhof, who lived, cooked and ate with Lee Krasner, in a panel discussion exploring the relationship between art and food, as well as the process of creating Lea’s book of recipes, photographs and stories.  The event at Guild Hall in East Hampton is free and open to the public (http://www.guildhall.org/events/).

In August, Rozzi has been invited to cook a private dinner at Pollock-Krasner House for twelve guests to honor Lea’s book and the couple’s passion for cooking and entertaining friends, family and art world doyens who dined at their table (http://sb.cc.stonybrook.edu/pkhouse/).