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Star power is on the menu at Georgica in Wainscott, where former “Hell’s Kitchen” contestants Robert Hesse and Seth Levine have partnered as executive chef and executive chef de cuisine, respectively.
The Long Island natives met on the set of Gordon Ramsay’s Fox reality competition, and though they seem like an odd couple—Mr. Hesse is a self-described “boy from the street,” while Mr. Levine spent seven years as a trader for investment firm Goldman Sachs—the two insist that their different backgrounds make for an incomparable dining experience at the restaurant most recently known as Saracen, and before that Sapore di Mare.
“It’s like oil and vinegar,” Mr. Hesse said of their relationship in a recent interview. “At first, it doesn’t go together, but if you shake it up with the right seasoning, you’ve got a sweet vinaigrette.”
Mr. Hesse, 31, is a fourth-generation Quogue resident. When he was growing up, his mother was a private chef for wealthy clients on Dune Road, but Mr. Hesse recently said his blue-collar upbringing made for a difficult childhood.
At 17 he left home, determined to begin his own cooking career. By the time he was 21, the aspiring chef had traveled to 22 states and three countries, working in dozens of restaurants and earning little more than subsistence wages. He eventually earned a scholarship to the American Culinary Academy in Lakeland, Florida, but Mr. Hesse said his experiences are more valuable than any formal training he has received.
“In the end, life experience is what you have,” he said.
Mr. Hesse went on to work at various resorts, including in Las Vegas and Vail, before returning to Long Island, where he worked as a sous chef at The Patio in Westhampton Beach. He became head chef at Q East Restaurant in Quogue before appearing on the most recent season of the reality competition “Hell’s Kitchen.”
And though Mr. Hesse beat out 11 contestants to secure a place in the competition’s top five, he left “Hell’s Kitchen” due to health problems.
During filming, Mr. Hesse met Mr. Levine, and the two became fast friends.
“Seth is one of the most passionate people I know,” Mr. Hesse said. “He loves fine food, and he knows how to do it.”
Mr. Levine, who was eliminated in the fourth episode of the competition, grew up in Great Neck. He learned cooking from his grandmother and a childhood baby-sitter, and like Mr. Hesse, wanted to be a chef from an early age.
“I’ve cooked my whole life,” he said. “I was making my own French onion soup at 8 years old.”
Mr. Levine eventually honed his culinary skills at Lorenzo de’ Medici School in Florence, Italy, before returning to the United States to begin a seven-year stint on Wall Street.
A trader with Goldman Sachs, Mr. Levine turned his culinary aspirations into a second job, working as a private chef on nights and weekends. He said that his connections at the stock exchange gave him access to an elite clientele, including everyone from families to financiers, CEOs to celebrities. He catered events in both Manhattan and the Hamptons, serving “anywhere from two to 200 people” at a time, but never lost sight of his dream to open his own restaurant.
After the conclusion of “Hell’s Kitchen,” when presented with the opportunity to open Georgica, Mr. Levine said he immediately approached Mr. Hesse.
“At the show there were only a few people I considered good-hearted people,” he said. “Rob was one of them.”
The two said that once they decided to open the restaurant, they sat side by side, planning each dish on the menu. They said they wanted to blend their two culinary styles—Mr. Hesse described it as “dirty South meets high East”—while maintaining a level of quality and consistency.
The two said they believe they have done that, and both pointed to the sunrise gazpacho, $9, with red and yellow heirloom tomatoes, as an example of their successful teamwork in the kitchen. They said the dish, which “looks like a yin and yang” in the bowl, blends their two dining styles.
Other starters range from pan seared Maryland lump crab cake for $14 to seared diver scallops for $20. The scallops, Mr. Hesse’s signature dish, are served with country corn pudding, quail egg, maple glazed bacon and an apple cider reduction.
The menu features specialty brick oven pizzas, ranging from the margherita with fresh mozzarella, heirloom tomatoes and basil pesto for $12, to the lobster scampi with garlic chive mascarpone cream and sautéed baby spinach for $24.
Entrées include bouillabaisse for $34, grilled double veal chop for $38, and dijon panko crusted Colorado rack of lamb for $46. The chefs offer two pasta dishes, rigatoni with ground sausage and whole baby clams for $24, and white truffle tagliatelle for $26.
The menu also features an assortment of sides, including Mr. Levine’s signature white truffle and lobster mac and cheese for $16.
Desserts include chocolate decadence, featuring warm lava cake with Chambord drizzle, and mandorla truffle with hand-rolled amaretto gelato, toasted almonds, Ghirardelli chips and amaretto caramel drizzle, both $10.
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