Chef Lucas Manteca and his wife Deanna Ebner have run several popular restaurants in Stone Harbor, including the the popular Quahog’s Seafood Shack in Stone Harbor that opened in 2008. The pair recently opened La Porteña, a “boutique steakhouse.”

There really is nothing like a Jersey tomato, and August is certainly garden tomato time here on the island. After a couple months of tending and waiting, the bounty this year is impressive, so I think a fun happy hour that puts tomatoes front and center is in order.

Dinner in your bathing suit, barefoot on the deck, farmstand produce that barely makes it to the fridge … Summer eating is casual, but the ingredients themselves aren’t always so easy. High-acid tomatoes, sweet grilled peaches, briny shellfish – these ingredients don’t always play nicely with whatever is already open.