Summer to me has always been permeated by the smell of sweat, sunscreen, a slight hint of chlorine that has already dried on my skin, and smoke from cooking fires. Gas or charcoal all do the job for me - I don’t discriminate as long as I am outside, sipping some sort of aperitif mixed with sparkling water (anything from Campari Group will do) and already eating some salty almonds or watermelon that has been cubed up in that perfect, effort.
I chase this type of perfect summer day feeling all year long. I visited my good friend Matthew Stith in Montclair, NJ to have an impromptu BBQ last month. We grilled a Porterhouse steak sourced from a local butcher shop in Hillsdale, NJ and tripled our panzanella salad recipe to fully reap the abundance of tomato season. We lazily ate for 2-3 hours until the sun set and Matt’s dad pulled out some cigars to end the night.
Matthew Stith captured the vibes with a playlist & photos below.
Have a great Labor Day weekend friends and see you in the fall,
Angel