Dan's White Party: Epic Culmination of the Dan’s Taste Series at Gurney’s Montauk

Overlooking the ocean and enjoying a spectacular sunset, Dan’s Taste hosted the Dan’s White Party at Gurney’s Montauk Resort. Chic guests adorned their best whites and enjoyed an unforgettable evening of gourmet bites, epic beats, and cocktail toasts.

“Gurney’s is the perfect location for the grande finale of the most successful Dan’s Taste season yet,” said Elizabeth Schneps Aloni, SVP of Dan’s Papers Events. “The best in the culinary, beverage, fashion and entertainment worlds came together for a quintessential Hamptons summer party series. Hard to believe it but the best is yet to come! Cheers to 2024 as we look to summer 2025.”

Dan’s White Party marked the epic culmination of the 2024 Dan’s Taste Summer Series as host Chef Alex Guarnaschelli welcomed guests, RHONJ’s Margaret Josephs did a guest bartending stint while all enjoyed top cuisine from the East End and the best in cocktails, beer and wines. The epic beachfront bash was held on Saturday, August 17 at Gurney’s Montauk.

“I mean, you’re on the beach, in front of the ocean, you’re eating seafood. It kind of drives home, the idea of salt air as you’re eating a lobster roll,” said Chef Alex Guarnaschelli. “I’ve been coming to Gurney’s since I was a kid, so this is a very sentimental place for me — Long Island is in my blood.”

“I feel like Dan’s Papers is an iconic staple of the Hamptons, and for them to throw the ultimate White Party at Gurneys, which is also the staple this summer with all these amazing brands — it’s just so great. Everybody wants to be here, it’s the party of the summer, it’s a white party, and it just closes up the season the way it should be,” said Margaret Josephs. “Everything just makes sense, and everybody just couldn’t wait to be here. Everyone’s having a great time — It’s a beautiful evening.”

Participating purveyors include Atlanta traveling Chef Shawn Osbey, East Hampton Shuckers, Hamptons Catered Affairs, Insatiable Eats, Newlight Breadworks, Passmore Caviar, Scarpetta, Shinnecock Lobster Factory, The Beach Club and Tilles.

“I love the people at Dan’s Papers and I love to have fun at these events. I just love seeing some of the same faces at every event — we get excited to see each other. There are certain influencers that I know now, and we will chat on Instagram and then we’ll see each other here. There are other vendors, and people that you know from going to the events throughout the summer — we make friends, and I like meeting new people too … it’s been a really great summer,” said Dana McCall of Hamptons Catered Affairs.

“We want a party over here. Caviar can be so intimidating, and what we want is folks to enjoy it, because it’s good. It’s a hell of a lot of fun. I just want to have a great time. This is our third or fourth year doing this, and it is always such a good time, so we want them to enjoy it. Don’t be intimidated. Come on up and see us,” said Michael Passmore of Passmore Caviar.

“Having people come to the restaurant and then receiving good feedback, you know, it makes me want to do it even better every day,” said Gurney’s Chef Mbaba Danso. “As a chef, you are always in the back of the house. You don’t see the guests, you only just see the reviews talking about the food. Actually seeing the guests trying your food and having a smile on their face — it’s amazing and it makes you feel good … You love what you’re doing, so that’s how you can survive. Being a chef, it’s long hours. But if you love what you’re doing, you don’t even think about hours, or anything else.”

“The events in the Dan’s series have just been A-one from the beginning. The staff is great, all the guests are amazing. It’s great to meet all these cool people. Just the whole experience was top level. I’m really happy that I decided to participate and be a part of it,” said Chef Shawn Osbey.

Sponsoring the event were Adamas, Blacklane, Blue Moon, Cadillac, Ciroc Limonata, The Cocktail Collection, Corona Sunbrew, Delola, Dillon’s Small Batch, Don Julio Rosado, Great Jones, Grey/Ven, Long Island Ice & Fuel Corp., The Loyal Nine, Mannya Cocktails, Miami Chains & Co, Mixology, My/Mochi, National Event Connection, News 12, Preferred Events, Rose Box, Sparkling Pointe, and Wilmington Trust.

“Delola Cocktails was delighted to take part in the party of the summer! Our product, the elevated RTD choice, was perfectly aligned to be served within such an elevated atmosphere. Guests were really able to experience the magic of Delola — especially magical was serving guests from our fabulous ‘Delola blue’ bar cart, which was certainly a sight amongst the sea of elegant white! No better way to close out the summer and engage with fans of the brand, both old and new,” said a Delola representative.

“It’s a great way to be a part of the community. It’s a lot more fun than just putting your name on ad’s and magazines — you get a chance to meet everybody,” said Scott Weissman of Grey/Ven. “We are really a quiet luxury type of brand. We have a capsule collection we created for The Hamptons — we make clothes to fit the demographics of where we are selling them. We create clothes for our customers for where they are — it’s now — we are a destination driven collection … our collection is white party ready.”

“We’re looking to serve excellent cocktails to excellent people in an excellent location. It’s a new product so we want to showcase the flavor and the spirit, and it’s the proper place for it. Hopefully everyone loves it,” said Matt Perroca of Ciroc Limonata.

“It just feels like a really nice way to end the summer. Everybody’s so happy to be here. It’s a very good vibe. It’s just a very festive, fun, beautiful night at the beach. Great way to end the summer,” said Jayme Loftus from Cadillac.

“We’re excited but sad at the same time, because we know that summer’s ending, but we want this event to be very exciting. It’s the last bang, so we’re just excited to be here. Hopefully, it’ll be packed, it’s sold out, and we’re just excited for people to come and enjoy the party,” said Therese Corriente from Adamas.

“I’m so excited for tonight’s event, the grand finale of all Dan’s Taste events. We are happy to be partnering with Dan’s Papers and it’s been a fun summer series, so we’re looking forward to next year. We provide all the ice for the Dan’s event, not just the bagged ice, but we provide the sculptures, light-up ice cubes and tonight we have a special surprise! It’s fun, it’s an experience — not just ice in a bag,” said Megan Conklin of Long Island Ice & Fuel.

“The season is almost over but the fun keeps going in The Hamptons,” said Chef Marco Barrila of Insatiable Eats and Shinnecock Lobster Family. “Tonight, for my grand finale, I want to say goodbye to the summer and the coming of the winter and the Autumn. Today we’re going to present a beautiful risotto, bianco garlic and oil with Mediterranean shrimp … again, even though the summer is almost over, the fun continues in The Hamptons.”

“It’s now almost September, and so it’s thinking of those last days of summer, and I do think the Hamptons represent kind of an icon of summer, and so we want to be part of that. My/Mochi was actually the original mochi, so I feel for us, having a heritage and what’s not better than representing summer with some mochi ice cream. It’s a cool pairing and mashup,” said Brigette Wolf CMO My/Mochi.

“The energy at the events is really excellent. I’ve gotten to meet a lot of these other chefs … create friendships and relationships out of it, which is a lot of fun as well. Also, I get to be a participant. You’re not just working here, you’re participating in the event and you’re actually engaged with the event itself,” said Chef Stephen Robinson of Newlight Breadworks.

“It’s so fun. The people are super friendly, everyone I’ve met has been really kind. The people who work at Dan’s Papers are some of the loveliest people I’ve had the privilege of meeting,” said party-goer Alycia Steelman.

“I feel like this event is so cool because it’s a celebration of summer in a way. Everybody’s just having a good time, dressed to the nines, and wearing their Saturday best. The food is incredible, the drinks, the vendors, and everything is just so vibrant and full of life. It’s everything you’d want out of the summer gathering and this is the vibe that every event wants to have,” said celebrity Chef Matthew Merrill.

To stay updated on the 2025 season, sign up for the Dan’s Taste newsletter at DansTaste.com.