Posted on

Local Wisdom: After-Hours Gatherings at Greiser’s

MARCH 15: GET READY FOR GROWING SEASON WITH SAL GILBERTIE

Running a small-town coffeeshop, we’re exposed every day to fascinating folks in our community.

An Olympic luger, a nonfiction-thriller writer, the creator of a leading clean-beauty makeup brand, a Barolo-trained prodigy chef, a designer of couture wedding gowns, a Broadway producer, a former big city Mayor, a painter of artwork collected by Beyoncé — they’re all among our Greiser’s regulars.

Easton  is a hive of accomplished people with unique talents. And if you frequent our shop, there’s a chance you’ve enjoyed a conversation with one of them on your visits here.

Ever since our November 1, 2018, opening day, we’ve aspired to provide a place for all the interesting and interested people in our community to connect. Lately, we’ve been thinking about how to do that in more deliberate ways.

So, we’re excited to launch Local Wisdom, a new occasional after-hours event series at Greiser’s. On these evenings, we’ll provide small bites, beverages (non-alcoholic, but byob is permitted), and a relaxed forum where you can get to know your neighbors, including some of Easton’s most creative and innovative residents. Each event will include a short “lecture” — think TEDTalk or PechaKucha presentation — and plenty of time for conversation with our featured guests — all of whom will be plucked right from our customer list.   

Join us for the second event in our series on Wednesday, March 15, at 6:30 pm to “Get Ready for Growing Season with Sal Gilbertie!“

Sal Gilbertie

If, like many Greiser’s customers, you’ve recently uprooted yourself from an urban environment and re-potted your family in Easton, Sal Gilbertie is the local treasure you need to meet.

To know Sal Gilbertie is to love him. And the opportunity to talk gardening with him is a chance to be inspired to start growing organic food in your own backyard this summer. A pioneer of organic farming, Sal has been growing organic herbs for more than 50 years. His Easton-based business, Gilbertie’s Organics on Adams Road, is the largest grower and supplier of wholesale herbs in the US.

Sal is the author of 8 books — several are available at Greiser’s — has won numerous awards, is a beloved instructor and speaker at gardening shows and conventions, and has appeared several times cooking on TV with Martha Stewart. At Greiser’s, we don’t just sell Sal’s greens, microgreens, and tomato sauce in our market; we serve them in our sandwiches. (Tickets for this event include a buffet featuring dishes flavored with Gilbertie’s sprouts and sauces.)

Reflecting on turning 86 and having two new great-grandsons, Sal recently told the podcast host Dan Woog, “As you get older, you start to get a little greedy, not for material things, but greedy for all the good things in life. You want to see more babies laughing and daffodils in the ground and you want to see more seeds being planted.”

Is there any better reason to grow more gardens in Easton?

Come spend an evening with us chatting gardening with Sal. PLUS: Meet the new General Manager of Gilbertie’s Organics, former Greiser’s barista Cimi Carreno, the first female to front the farm!

Sal will join us from 6:30 – 8:00 pm on Wednesday, March 15, for a casual conversation about gardening in Easton, organic farming, and his long life sowing seeds of love.

Space at Greiser’s is limited. Advanced registration is required. Tickets, $20, are available in-store or online here.

To learn about future events in our Local Wisdom series, please subscribe on our homepage to our email newsletter, the Flying A.

Posted on

Artist About Town: John Forgione’s Plein Air Paintings Return to Greiser’s

Opening Reception Thursday, February 9, 6:30 – 8:30 pm

The “old” Greiser’s, painted by John Forgione in 2018, two months before the “new” Greiser’s opened Nov. 1.

Easton is and has been home to many a famous artist.

Louise Bourgeois so loved her country home here that she sculpted a marble replica of it. Another globally known sculptor, Frederick Shrady, lived in Edna Ferber’s former estate on Maple Road. Naturalist painter and writer James Prosek developed an intense interest in fish as a child here and has since made a home in Easton with his own family. And now, NYC street artist Paul Richard rides around town on a vintage bicycle.

Yet part-time plein air painter John Forgione is arguably the most visible artist in Easton.

Weekdays, Forgione runs a digital marketing agency. But on weekends when the weather cooperates, he is a fixture of Easton’s open spaces. With his easel, oils, brushes, and canvas, you might find him in the orchard at Trout Brook Valley, amid the sunflowers on Adams Road, or capturing scenes at one of Easton’s bucolic farms; Gilbertie’s, Maple Row, Sabia’s, and Sport Hill Farm are among his beloved subjects. And he has been commissioned to capture on canvas several historic local homes.

Forgione also enjoys setting up his easel in other scenic Fairfield County spots, as well as on the water in Rhode Island, Barbados, Hawaii, and Positano. He’s even painted standing in the middle of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Easton painter John Forgione on the Brooklyn Bridge

But Easton is his home, and, contrary to the stereotype of the solitary, reclusive painter, Forgione is notably social. He and his wife Cara, parents of three JBHS grads, rarely miss an event at Greiser’s. They both participate in Easton Arts Council shows. And he’s been known to arrive at local parties and bars with his latest painting in tow for show and tell. He loves to talk about art and process.

On a recent Sunday afternoon at Greiser’s, Forgione engaged fellow painter Paul Richard in an animated conversation about canvas stretching techniques and employing the golden ratio in landscape painting. Richard said he thought he recognized Forgione from an Instagram post that pictured a painter on the street in NYC. Indeed, Forgione had attracted attention from passersby in October when he painted a scene at the corner of 21st Street and 9th Avenue in Chelsea.

On the day he bumped into Richard, Forgione was at Greiser’s to take some measurements. He’s getting ready to install a new exhibit here in February. It’s been nearly four years since he hung his paintings on the walls of the “new” Greiser’s, during our first year in business.

Back then, when space was even more limited than it is today, he hung his art on a wall in the kitchen — our “Galley Gallery” — and we invited guests to squeeze past the chest freezer and hand sink to view it. This time, we’re thrilled to be able to offer him professional hooks on art moulding in our dining room.

Come see how much we and the artist have grown over the years!

Opening reception Thursday, February 9, 2023, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, with musical entertainment by Mike Miles. Free admission. All artwork will be for sale. Overflow parking will be available across the intersection at the Congregational Church.