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ON THE TOWN RIGHT: Tom Scott has recruited top minds for this September's Nantucket Project, with Mikhail Gorbachev headlining the event. BELOW: Executive Chef and partner Erin Zircher's Chicken Under a Brick sits on a bed of wild ramps and roasted grapes. continued from page 72 How has your former life as the Juice Guy influenced your work with The Nantucket Project? There was a time back in the '90s when I was one of the world's leading juice experts. I know that sounds arrogant, but if you spent 24–7 making juice, you would be too. That's all I did, and I loved it. So this is what we do with The Nantucket Project. We spend all of our time on it, and we care about it. I know we are doing something different, evolutionary in our world—maybe even revolutionary. What about this kind of "juice"? There is a comeback of Chablis, and winemaker Christian Moreau was on the island in May for the Nantucket Wine Festival. I love this wine pairing. I trust that it is, but I wouldn't know a good pairing of food and wine if my life depended on it. It just doesn't make sense to my palate. I went to France on a fancy wine trip in 2000. I learned that I know the difference between good —TOM SCOTT and bad, and that's about it. Executive Chef Erin Zircher does a little bit of everything here, from the humble lobster roll to steak frites. What do you think of this chicken cooked under a brick? This is how chicken should be made: simply. I like to think RIGHT: The about food in its original form. [I can imagine] a woman in bittersweet chocolate the south making a version of this chicken dish for her kids. And Erin's whoopie pies vegetable stew is delicious, but sometimes I can get lost in the list of with sea salt ingredients. I like my food to be straightforward. I'm interested in the and Key Lime Jam Jar purity of flavor, and this is great. elevate the Your career success has been linked to the power of this island. classics to fine cuisine. Does Nantucket somehow encourage entrepreneurship? Nantucket is a globally unique place that attracts an incredibly interesting group of people. Everyone who lives here year-round has to be an entrepreneur and has to be successful in one way during one season, and then in a different way in another. It's the culture of the island. It takes You've recently gone back to school to study divinity and political intensity. You need to be able to deliver something that is real and authen- science. Has The Nantucket Project inspired your return to academia, or is this a religious pursuit? tic. That's the great lesson of this island. What are you delivering with The Nantucket Project? What is the This experience has influenced the way that I view The Nantucket Project just as much as The Nantucket Project has influenced the way that I look at my objective? There is something I want to get out of this that doesn't exist anywhere. continued education. I want to learn from the best. The Bible—it's got to be in What is different about what we do is that it's about the distillation of ideas. the top five most important man-made creations of all time. I'm not in school Other people who do something similar present a stage, which is fine. But to find God, I'm in school to read and study the greatest books in history. I wanted to create a chance for people to come together, to start in one And your life on Nantucket, how do you view that? place, end in another, and draw conclusions. The long-lasting, most valu- I'm just one of many curious people on Nantucket who loves all aspects of able takeaway is inspiration. But within that notion, there are specific tasks the island. I want to enhance the level of enrichment that you can find here. that people can take away, and that is the critical element that we want to Does dessert count as enrichment? In this case, yes! I love this whoopie pie, sweet and salty, creative and worth add to the mix. Of all the great minds, why was Gorbachev so appealing as a every bite. When I want a mix of simple and exotic, I come to Cru. Generally speaking, the food on Nantucket is right up there with the rest of the world. speaker for The Nantucket Project? He's changed the lives of millions of people, and he did it peacefully in a The quality of so many things, one being the food, just skyrockets here. The difficult environment. I'm looking for people with superior worldviews 2013 Nantucket Project takes place September 26–29 at the White Elephant hotel. Register at nantucketproject.com or call 508-904-0205. BC and capabilities. He's in a small, historic class. 74 PHOTOGRAPHY BY NATHAN COE "Nantucket is a globally unique place that attracts an incredibly interesting group of people." BOSTONCOMMON-MAGAZINE.COM 072-074_BC_SC_OTT_SUM13 _V2.indd 74 6/7/13 4:30 PM