Eat, Drink, & Bake

Film crews are having more than an affair with The Lobster Roll, they’re falling in love with its co-owner Andrea Anthony as she ventures onto her own cooking show, “Eat, Drink, and Bake with Andrea.”

Her show is set to air the third week in June on Optimum Altice, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Roku, and YouTube.

We Cook TV is a new station focused on a lifestyle community, united in its love for food, with seven million active users and 11 million monthly views. They discovered Anthony through her cookbook and famed restaurant on the Napeague stretch, affectionately known as “Lunch.” Anthony’s genuine smile, love for food, welcoming personality, and overall effervescent demeanor proved the perfect ingredients for her own cooking show, completely separate from the restaurant (although The Lobster Roll underwrote the show). The most surprising fact may be that it all takes place in her actual kitchen in Montauk, styled in true blue and aqua, a beach motif.

“The show took on its own life. It’s not about competition, or the throw down. This show is about high-quality ingredients, step-by-step recipes, and sharing time with friends and family,” Anthony said. In an oversaturated market of racing to the oven — i.e. “Top Chef,” “Master Chef,” “Iron Chef,” “Cutthroat Kitchen” — “Eat, Drink, and Bake” is kicking competition to the curb by focusing on the joy of eating. “It’s about building those moments together, in a busy, chaotic world we all live in. The moments with the people that are most important to us,” she said.

Despite coming from a Russian-Italian background, one often associated with family-style cooking, Anthony is self-taught. “I have a tremendous respect for chefs. I would never put myself in the same arena as Ken Arnone,” she said with a laugh, referencing the Global Master Chef who will be a guest on her show.

“I’m someone who has been cooking my whole life. I had to learn to cook really early because my mother couldn’t,” she said. At 15, Anthony watched her own mother endure a heart attack. While her mother survived, Anthony was forced to grow up quickly, having dinner ready by the time her mother returned home from work. However, growing up in Levittown, she surrounded herself with the Italian matriarchs of her friends.

Those who watch “Eat, Drink, and Bake” will get a sense of Anthony’s own motherly love. With a husband and three sons, each family gathering is an event within itself, with a six-course meal; the full treatment.

Anthony proudly shops at Citarella, IGA in Amagansett, Red Horse Market, and Stuart’s Seafood Market for all of her ingredients. She shares her feel-good, go-to meal, highlighted by an espresso cocoa rub for her filet mignon.

She takes espresso powder, mixing it with cocoa and various spices before rubbing it on the filet mignon. From there, she lets the meat sit for at least three hours so the flavors absorb fully, then she sears it in a cast iron pan. She then adds compound garlic and serves the meat with a horseradish cream on the side for dipping, and scallion potatoes in Monterey Jack cheese and onions. For dessert, a frozen Irish whiskey cream pie.

“It’s not something I do for show. It’s just who I am and it’s what gives me intrinsic joy. Cooking is therapy,” said Anthony.

nicole@indyeastend.com