Independence Days

The Fourth of July weekend reminds us of the work we used to do in our previous "lives" in New York City and Washington, D.C. Though those two cities are traditionally associated with the holiday, we typically had to work at our employers' homes elsewhere along the Atlantic shore.

Chef Tracey used to work for International Medical Consulting, and entertained at a house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, for their president and CEO. He would arrive the Wednesday or Thursday before the holiday weekend, shop the following day for local produce and seafood, and spend a day or two doing prep work. Guests arrived Friday for a self-serve lunch buffet; dinner was usually a family-style casserole-type meal--homemade lasagna, since the employer was Italian-American (he was related to Albert J. "Cubby" Broccoli, Jr., the producer of the James Bond movies in the Eighties) and since guests tended to trickle in throughout the evening. Saturday brunch was an abbondanza of eggs, fruit, and pastries; lunch a cold buffet, with a semi-formal dinner that evening. Smoked salmon, blackeyed peacakes with corn salsa, shrimp satay were passed beforehand; guests frequently enjoyed extra-thick veal chops studded with garlic and fresh rosemary and grilled to order. Risotto, Caesar salad, and ratatouille were the most frequent accompaniments. After dinner, everyone adjourned to the roofdeck for digestivi and fireworks.

Meanwhile, a six-hour drive up the Atlantic shore, another member of our team was ensconced on Lily Pond Lane in a home decorated in white-on-white. The table was set for such guests as Calvin Klein, Vera Wang, Alan Alda, Senator Alphonse d'Amato, Joe Namath, Regis Philbin and many other boldface names. Hors d'oeuvres included miniature crab cakes, fresh corn arepas, and classic pigs-in-blankets; the bartenders shook rum, cachaca, fresh lime, and mint for mojitos and caipirinhas. At table the dishes frequently included fresh paella with ample ocean bounty--lobster, chicken, clams, and shrimp--from the new Citarella's in East Hampton, and dessert was often a creamy caramel flan with ripe midsummer berries. In the pool room after dinner, reposado tequila and Upmann cigars were passed to the sound of Rod Stewart's classic "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?"