When the chef Yann Nury, 39, was growing up in Ardèche, France, summer meant a frenzy for peak-season produce. “Melons, strawberries and peaches are my childhood,” says Nury, from the loft in New York’s SoHo neighborhood that serves as his invitation-only dining room, La Residence. “For two weeks, that was almost all we ate — but only for two weeks.”
It’s no surprise then that Nury, who cooked on Daniel Boulud’s private events team before setting out on his own almost a decade ago, is best known for delicate French fare made with ingredients at the apex of their micro-season prime. Often, he combines his fruit and vegetable obsession with formal technique: think turnip and seaweed mille-feuilles cut to sharp 90-degree angles and single-bite tartlets filled with nearly translucent petals of heirloom carrot. But he’s also hailed for his exactingly prepared versions of American comfort foods like burgers and s’mores, making him an ideal cookout host.
During the summer months, Nury brings his enormous portable grills — custom-made for him by the artisanal wood-fired grill manufacturer Grillworks — to lawns across the Hamptons, where, along with his fleet of chefs, he caters cocktail parties and elaborate barbecues for clients, many of whom work in fashion and art. At home in Westchester, he cooks solo but still prefers at least a medium-sized crowd of diners. “Eight to 12 people is the ideal number of guests,” he says. “Less and it’s not worth the effort.”
Whether in his own yard or on a job, Nury relies on reimagined summer classics that can be scaled up or down with ease — three of which he shares below. He scatters heirloom tomatoes on a bubbly, grilled sourdough pizza base; lightens the classic New England lobster roll with a sweet summer corn sauce; and nestles grilled peaches into layers of vanilla cream, mascarpone, ricotta and crumbled shortbread cookies. Each recipe features an unexpected, luxurious touch. The tomatoes are sprinkled with caviar, for instance, and the peach cream gets a drizzle of cognac. “I love a mix of high and low,” says Nury. But, he stresses, these extras are purely optional. His advice: Start at the farmers’ market. “If they don’t have it, you probably don’t need it.” Then, says the chef, “Take the extra five minutes to make it look great.”
Tomato Flatbread With Vanilla and Basil
Blanching and skinning the tomatoes might seem tricky, but when the fruit is perfectly ripe, “the skins almost fall off,” Nury says. The sweet, pliant flesh that remains, stripped of all its roughness and acidity, feels almost buttery when piled atop a grilled pizza crust. Leftover vanilla oil can be drizzled over avocados or clementines.
Yield: 2 flatbreads
Ingredients:
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Heirloom tomatoes in assorted colors (2 to 3 slices per flatbread)
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Kosher salt and black pepper
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1 lemon
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½ cup extra-virgin olive oil (plus more to taste)
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1 vanilla bean
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Espelette pepper (to taste)
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1 16-ounce ball store-bought pizza dough (for a homemade option, see below)
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Finishing salt (like fleur de sel)
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Basil (flowering if possible)
To prepare the tomatoes, cut a shallow cross shape into the bottom of each tomato and submerge in boiling, salted water for 30 seconds. Remove and plunge into a bowl of ice water until cooled. Pat tomatoes dry and remove the skin. Cut the flesh into thin slices (aim for between ¼ and ⅛ inch thick) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Let sit in the refrigerator or at room temperature to release their water for a minimum of 2 hours. Drain and set aside. Zest the lemon into the olive oil. Cut the vanilla bean open lengthwise to expose the seeds and add to the oil along with a dash of Espelette pepper. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Divide the dough ball in 2 and shape each half into a roughly 12-inch-long-by-5-inch-wide oval, stretching with your hands rather than using a rolling pin if possible. Brush the dough with the vanilla oil, reserving some to brush onto the tomatoes. Grill the flatbread over medium to high heat until it releases easily from the grill and has some char marks. Flip and cook on the other side until golden. Layer on the tomato slices, overlapping and varying the colors, and brush lightly with the reserved vanilla oil. Finish with flaky salt and basil blossoms or leaves.
Optional: Layer a bit of caviar on top.
Homemade Pizza Dough
Yield: 8 flatbreads
Ingredients:
Using a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, mix flour, water and olive oil on low for 1½ minutes. Add yeast and salt, mix another 1½ minutes on low speed, then 3 minutes on medium.
Cover the dough tightly with plastic wrap and let it rise at room temperature for 3 or 4 hours. Punch down the dough to remove all the air and shape it into a large ball. Place the ball into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator for at least 3 days, which will impart a fermented, almost sourdough-like flavor. When ready to make the flatbreads, shape the dough into 8 balls and let them sit, covered airtight with plastic wrap at room temperature, for 2 hours.
Sweet Corn Lobster Roll
Growing up in a forested region of southeastern France, “there was not a lot of seafood-driven cuisine,” says Nury. It’s understandable, then, that the chef lacks nostalgic affection for the mayonnaise-coated lobster rolls popular in New England. “To be honest, I don’t particularly love them, so I wanted to change them,” he says. His lush version tastes more like the butter-dunked variety of the sandwich but is dairy-free. Instead, sweet summer corn, blitzed into a quick sauce, coats the meat. Nury, who always likes to contrast textures, tops the rolls with popcorn for some crunch.
Ingredients:
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6 whole lobsters (live if possible, or steamed from your fishmonger)
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12 ears corn in the husk
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4 egg yolks
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4 teaspoons Dijon mustard
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Extra-virgin olive oil
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1 lemon, zested and juiced
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Espelette pepper to taste
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12 store-bought potato or brioche rolls
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4 tablespoons butter
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2 bunches chives, chopped
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Fresh cilantro, dill, fennel fronds or popcorn, to finish
If you’re cooking the lobster yourself, boil the tail and claws separately, 3 minutes for the tail and 8 minutes for the claws. Cool to room temperature in an ice bath. Remove the meat from the shells and chop.
Remove the first few leaves from the corn husk and discard. Wash and add the corn, with the rest of its husk intact, to boiling salted water. Simmer for 15 minutes. (Cooking the husk intensifies the flavor.) Let cool slightly and remove the husk, then slice the kernels from the cob.
Reserve ⅓ of the kernels and add the rest to a blender along with the egg yolks, mustard, 2½ tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon lemon zest and the juice of one lemon. Blend, then add Espelette pepper to taste. Blend again until very smooth and pass the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer to remove any remaining solids. Cool and reserve. (Sauce can be made one day ahead. Store in the refrigerator and bring back to room temperature before using.)
To serve, slice the crust of the buns and cut in half. Brush with butter and toast each side until golden brown. Mix the lobster meat with the sauce, adding the chopped chives and reserved corn kernels. Fill each bun very generously. Finish with more lemon zest, fresh herbs (cilantro, fennel fronds or dill) or a sprinkling of popcorn.
Optional: Top each sandwich with a few slices of soft bottarga.
Grilled Peaches and Cream
“Grill flavor is not something that should be overpowering,” says Nury. To get just a hit of char and caramelization on your peaches, “it’s always safer to go for a lower temperature for longer.” A maple syrup balances the tang of ricotta and mascarpone, while shortbread cookies provide crunchy texture. You could easily assemble these in advance or layer the ingredients in a large bowl for a trifle.
Ingredients:
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24 ripe peaches (local if possible)
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8 -10 ounces maple syrup
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8 tablespoons (1 stick) salted butter
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Fresh thyme, leaves stripped from the stems
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Sea salt
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32 ounces mascarpone
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16 ounces ricotta
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1 vanilla bean
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1 lemon, zested
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Black pepper
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Store-bought shortbread cookies
Slice the peaches in half and remove the pits. Melt the butter and combine with the maple syrup, thyme leaves and sea salt to taste. Brush the peaches with maple butter and grill them face down over medium heat until clear grill marks appear on the bottom. Let cool slightly and slice into chunks. Set aside.
Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape out the seeds. Add vanilla seeds to the ricotta, mascarpone and lemon zest. Add maple syrup and sea salt to taste and whisk until combined. Crumble the shortbread, then, in individual jars or a large bowl, layer the sauce, peaches and crumbled shortbread. Repeat until filled. For added sweetness, finish with a drizzle of maple butter.
Optional: Add a splash of XO Cognac to the ricotta and mascarpone mixture.