Welcome to ImPECKable Eats, formerly Megan Peck Cooks. Previously, this blog was devoted to revisiting and modernizing my grandmother, Paula Peck’s recipes. I established this site as a look into the process of testing and updating recipes from cookbooks written 50 years ago by Paula Peck, friend and apprentice of James Beard and The New York Times critic, Craig Claiborne. I recently decided to expand to re-creating other classic recipes with a twist. I hope to reach those that may not have heard of my grandmother but still appreciate classic recipes. For her fans, Paula Peck recipes both published and unpublished will continue to be an important focus of this blog.
Category: Member Spotlight
Lizard Strategy
Lizard Strategy is a revenue strategy and ecommerce agency specializing in increasing sales for both product- and service-based brands.
For more than 20 years, our team had delivered content and ecommerce strategies needed to fuel sustainable growth in an ever-changing online retailing environment, from Fortune 500 companies to start-ups and everything in between.
Lizard Strategy partners with clients to provide interactive solutions designed to achieve maximum brand awareness, invigorate sales and increase customer retention and brand loyalty.
KLI Consulting Group
Clifford A. Metcalfe Jr has provided his customers with the commitment to provide the best possible program for whatever the owner is looking to accomplish, whether it is a remodeling, an additional location, or their first location. He builds the story that provides the best picture to provide the funds needed to turn the dreams into a reality.
Clifford was born and raised in NYC with parents that were first-generation American Citizens of European descent Raised in Manhattan and Brooklyn, then moving to Staten Island for a chance to own a home and raise their children. Clifford was educated at a few Colleges in NYC and continued for ten years while working in Midtown Manhattan.
After a career in the Oil & Gas Industry collapsed in the 80’s Clifford started his own Company, Kingswood Leasing, in 1991 and specialized in Restaurant financing. He also purchased the Leasing Company owned by Ecolab in 2005 that doubled his penetration into the Restaurant Industry.
This penetration allowed Clifford to provide financing for the customers of many well-known purveyors in the food and beverage industry. Sysco Foods nationally (30 years), US Foods, Edward Don out of Chicago, to name a few, plus over 4,000 independents in the USA and Canada.
So, for 30 years, Clifford had the opportunity to view up to 100 restaurants monthly looking to obtain financing for expansion, additional locations, and as always starting their dream to own a restaurant of their own. All the reviewing of thousands of business plans, tax returns, projections, and locations gave Clifford a unique perspective of the restaurant Industry. He always took the time to talk to the owners, visit their sites and make some suggestions here and there to ensure that the project has the best chance to obtain the funds needed to make things happen.
Comes today, now with the extreme situation that the industry is facing, a clear head with actual “Life” experience in all sorts of ups and downs in the economy to give advice and direction on what folks should be considering to survive this situation. Clifford is the one to help and is here to provide the support that is needed.
Ceriello Fine Foods
Tina Ceriello brings over three decades of experience to the specialty food industry. As a second-generation owner, she has redefined what it means to honor tradition while driving innovation. Since taking the helm of Ceriello Fine Foods—a beloved specialty food retailer founded by her father, Andrea, in 1980—Tina has focused on its core strengths: quality, service, and authentic family values.
From 2003 to 2022, Tina served as Business Manager of Ceriello Fine Foods, overseeing operations across multiple new locations from Baltimore to Milwaukee, while maintaining the flagship Williston Park, NY store and the prestigious Grand Central Terminal outpost. This period of rapid expansion and contraction brought invaluable lessons about scalability and the true cost of growth.
Assuming ownership in 2022, Tina re-developed the company’s digital presence and branding—bringing a 45-year-old family business into the modern marketplace. This fusion of old and new has become her signature: honoring the artisan methods that make Ceriello products distinctive while embracing the tools and strategies that allow small businesses to compete on a national scale.
Tina’s expertise extends beyond retail into specialty manufacturing. In 2010, she joined Licini Brothers, a USDA-certified salami manufacturing facility in Union City, NJ, supporting their business operations until 2022, when she became Partner. Her dual leadership roles at Ceriello Fine Foods and Licini Brothers demonstrate a rare versatility: she navigates both consumer-facing retail and B2B manufacturing with equal fluency, understanding how each side of the business informs and strengthens the other.
Beyond her business acumen, Tina holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Hunter College and an M.A. in Interdisciplinary Studies from Lesley University, and a BS in Journalism from Boston University. From 2005 to 2022, she taught rhetoric and writing as an Adjunct Lecturer at Hunter College. Tina also completed the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program in December 2025.
Cheddie’s Cheesecake
Cheddie’s Cheesecakes, Inc. was established in 2018 by Chef Nigel Cheddie. After spending the better part of three years fine-tuning his recipes, Chef Cheddie launched the company with limited resources and a relentless demand for perfection. With a constant focus on producing the finest cheesecakes ever tasted, we are also dedicated to a mission of social responsibility. This includes efforts to maintain a small carbon footprint and support initiatives that empower and better the People as a whole.
Based in Amityville, NY, Cheddie’s Cheescakes calls a rented co-packing facility home. We are scouting for a dedicated facility that can support an expanded production team, allowing Chef Cheddie more time to serve as the brand’s best ambassador.
Canoe Place
From unforgettable wedding celebrations and social gatherings to meetings and corporate retreats, Canoe Place is home to the most talked-about and treasured experiences.
Hotel Indigo East End
At the crossroads of the North Fork and the Hamptons, you’ll find the inviting and chic boutique Hotel Indigo East End. Quietly nestled right by Peconic Lake the hotel in Riverhead offers 100 luxuriously designed guest rooms which allow guests to unwind and enjoy the very best the area has to offer.
Beautiful beaches, picturesque vineyards and excellent shopping are all at your door step. Attend a wine tasting or stop by a farm stand to purchase fresh, locally grown produce or visit a local museum. When it’s time to dine, the hotel’s restaurant, Bistro 72, has an East End flair and utilizes fresh, local ingredients and offers local craft beer, wine and spirits. There’s live entertainment 4 days a week with an eclectic mix of local talent to help you cap the night.
Thanks to our location on the picturesque East End of Long Island, Hotel Indigo is a prime venue for events of all sorts.
Plan weddings, Sweet 16s, corporate events and any other type of private party at our East End hotel for an unforgettable experience.
We work with some of the finest local vendors to perfect every detail
of your celebration, including music, photography, flowers, hair/makeup and more.
NYS Agriculture and Markets
The Department, through its various divisions and programs, promotes New York agriculture and its high-quality and diverse products, fosters agricultural environmental stewardship, and safeguards the State’s food supply, land and livestock to ensure the viability and growth of New York’s agriculture industries.
New York State Agriculture Snapshot
About 20% of New York State’s land area, or more than 7 million acres, is farmland. There are nearly 36,000 family farms producing some of the world’s best food, helping to drive the New York State economy. New York ranks high among the major agricultural states in the nation, ranking in the top 10 in production of 30 commodities. It is the second largest producer of apples, snap beans and maple syrup, third in cabbage, grapes and dairy, which is largest segment of the State’s agricultural sector, and fourth in pears.
Compel CEOs
What We Do.
Imagine being able to share your most pressing issues, in confidence, with other business owners and get real answers that help. COMPEL is that resource…a group that acts as your personal board of directors where you can realize success and business growth. Capitalize on the collective knowledge and experience in the room by asking questions and getting answers to your most troubling issues in a confidential environment. Your peers will hold you accountable so you can achieve the success you want.
Why Work With Us?
Realize your potential and start to see success through business growth in a confidential environment. COMPEL CEOs helps business leaders address their most pressing challenges and biggest opportunities. COMPELling decisions lead to compelling results for COMPELling business leaders.
Scott Knots
I got my first job at a pretzel bakery in Bucks County, Pennsylvania on my 16th birthday. I didn’t know it at the time, but that job would shape the next 17 years of my life.
In 2013, I was in college in Asheville, North Carolina a city full of craft breweries but not a single soft pretzel in sight. So I built a push cart, developed my own recipe, and started selling pretzels to anyone who’d try one. That was the beginning of Scott’s Knots.
Since then, I’ve twisted thousands of pretzels, refined the recipe, and brought the operation to Long Island. The push cart is gone, but the approach is the same: hand-twisted, small batch, made with intention.
I’ve been making pretzels for more than half my life. This is what I do.
— Scott Schneider, Founder
Hamptons Commercial Real Estate Team
Commercial Real Estate is both an “Art & a Science”. Work with the Experts – the Hamptons’ #1 Commercial Real Estate Team.
Bake Me Healthy
Kimberle Lau is an Asian American mom of two who courageously pursued her passion for healthy baking after becoming lactose and egg intolerant and high-risk for breast cancer. Through her businesss, Bake Me Healthy, she is on a mission to fight food allergies and food waste with her yummy Top 9 Allergen-Free, upcycled, and plant-based baking mixes and cookies.
Sand Bars Handcrafted
We are a wholesale, small batch ice cream sandwich company located on Long Island.
Each sandwich is made with handcrafted chocolate chip cookies and assembled with locally sourced ice cream.
It was humbly founded on Natalia’s lifelong love affair with mint chocolate chip ice cream. She combined her passion for ice cream with her knack for baking to create a modern sophistication of the classic ice cream sandwich, providing our customers with a gourmet experience of nostalgia.
Visit sandbarshandcrafted.com
CCE Nassau County/Taste NY
Taste NY at the Long Island Welcome Center
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Nassau County has been proudly operating the Taste NY Market at the Long Island Welcome Center since October 2016.
For full information about the Long Island Welcome Center visit I Love NY’s website at https://www.iloveny.com/listing/long-island-welcom…
The Welcome Center is open 24 hours, and the Taste NY Market is open 7 days a week, 7:00am to 9:00pm.
* From December 1st – February 28th, the Taste NY Market will open at 8:00am. Normal time will resume March 1st. *
Taste NY partners with over 1,800 New York State farmers and producers. Products offered in our Markets are rotated on a regular basis and subject to change. Below are examples of products that have been offered at this location, but please contact the Market operator for most current offerings.
For full information about Taste NY visit their website at https://taste.ny.gov/location/long-island-welcome…
Electric Vehicle charging stations are now open!
Location:
5100 Long Island Expressway (between exit 51 and 52 eastbound)
Dix Hills, NY 11746
631-254-0414
Nassau Land Trust
I am a software engineer. My specialty is software development and .Net database-driven web sites and portals. As a project leader under the banner of my company, Softwhite, and as a staff person at Computershare Limited, I have been successful at bringing on the resources to meet the needs of each project. I like challenging, entrepreneurial settings. I am also a passionate advocate for the environment and sustainable food production. To support this cause, I serve as chairman of the Nassau Land Trust which operates Crossroads Farm in Malverne.
For more information, please email rwhite@nassaulandtrust.org
FSQA Solutions, LLC
Founded in 2018, FSQA Solutions, LLC offers a wide range of food safety consulting solutions, from developing food safety programs to assisting with customer, regulatory and third-party audits and inspections to on-site of virtual training. Kevin Byrne has over twenty-five years’ combined experience in managing food safety programs in small food manufacturing operations and in food safety consulting.
Noms Bar None
Looking for a sweet experience that goes beyond the ordinary? Noms Bar None invites you to indulge in a world where premium ingredients, bold flavors, and artisanal craftsmanship come together in every bite. Our small-batch treats are handcrafted with care, delivering fresh-baked surprises that excite the palate and warm the heart. From elevated twists on nostalgic favorites to bold new flavor combinations, each delight is made to satisfy your cravings and spark moments of joy. Whether treating yourself or sharing with someone special, Noms Bar None makes every occasion a little more delicious. Explore our full menu of handcrafted creations and discover why life tastes better with a little surprise.
Folks Insurance Group
Russ von Frank is currently a producer with the Folks Insurance group in Sayville, NY and former insurance agency CEO with forty years of experience in the Property/Casualty industry. He specializes in closely held and family businesses. Russ’s expertise includes Risk Management and consultative insurance program design.
He has also been a CEO for hire with his last engagement as CEO in NYC for a national manufacturer & distributor of moving industry supplies.
Russ is a Certified Coach and Facilitator working with Compelceos founded by Steve Ramerini. Prior to that he worked for many years with Vistage International, Inc. based in San Diego, CA. Russ’s expertise is in Executive Coaching, Mentoring and facilitation of CEO peer to peer roundtable discussions involving all facets of business: including Leadership, Finances, HR, Sales, Marketing, Organizational Development and Communications.
In 2015 Russ created Sales300 as an out-growth of his work with CEOs. This peer to peer group is specially designed for professional salespeople to work real time on marketing, prospecting and accelerated sales growth.
His education includes an MBA from NYIT School of Business, a BS from Maritime College, Bronx, NY. He was a Third Officer with the Interlake Steamship Company, in Cleveland, OH, and a Lt. US Navy – Merchant Marine Ready Reserve.
Russ is an active EMT and volunteer firefighter currently serving as Chief of the Nissequogue Fire Department.
Rugged Jack’s Hot Sauce
Our story begins on Long Island, New York during the summer of 2020, where Rugged Jack – thirsting for adventure and craving the outdoors – was struck by a sudden urge to spice things up, setting out to grow, harvest, and bottle the very best mother nature had to offer.
It was then that Rugged Jack’s Hot Sauce was born: a bold, taste bud-tingling experience crafted for those with an insatiable appetite for adventure.
Each drop delivers a dose of Jack’s hand-grown, small-batch herbs, and spices—a perfect companion to the meals and moments shared on the trail, in the weeds, or at the summit.
But what this well-worded bio can’t capture, a taste will.
Try one of Rugged Jack’s 6 hot pepper sauces and discover why when the going gets bland, #JustAddJacks.
J.A.G. Beverage Co. & Fine Foods
We want to share a wave of flavors that reflect the deep-rooted New York Culture. J.A.G. Beverage Co. & Fine Foods works to align with these craft created beverages, snacks & fine food products. Though we have a taste for the finer things from all over the world, we must give a shout out and recognize our locally produced LI/NY beverages, snacks & fine foods…
Our story is one of dedication and commitment to sourcing these varietals and we take pride in being a trusted distributor building relationships all over Long Island.
With over two decades of operational and sales expertise, we strive to promote the most delicious experience to you… Our valued customer!
Van’s Potato Salad
Looking for fresh, creamy and yummy potato salad? then Van’s Country Style Potato Salad, based in Suffolk County, NY is what you want– My salads are made from the finest and freshest produce. All the ingredients that we use in our salad is top quality to ensure you get only the best. If you would like to find out any more information, please give us a call on 1631-356-6822 and we will answer any questions that you might have.
The Mighty Bean
The Mighty Bean is a vibrant mobile coffee trailer business specializing in catering to various events, from lively festivals to elegant weddings and professional corporate gatherings. Our mission is to enhance your events with our premium coffee offerings, exceptional service, and friendly atmosphere. Let us bring the perfect blend of coffee and joy to your special occasions.
LGBTQ+ Woman Owned Business
The Biscotti Company
The Biscotti Company is a bakery founded by Bruno LoGreco, a passionate baker with a family history of making biscotti from scratch. Bruno grew up with his grandmother baking biscotti using a recipe that has been passed down for over 200 years. He made a few changes to the ingredients and added some simple techniques to create a crispy, crunchy biscotti that has become a beloved treat.
Bring Deliciousness Home Today
The Biscotti Company is an artisan bakery that creates delicious biscotti cookies made from almonds, chocolate, and nutritious natural ingredients. Our premium gourmet biscotti are baked fresh in small batches with only the finest ingredients. We deliver our biscotti cookies anywhere in the continental United States and Canada. 20% OFF Your First Order when you signup for our newsletter.
Anne Napolitano Consulting
Anne Napolitano, the founder and CEO of Anne Napolitano Consulting, is a highly experienced and skilled financial professional committed to helping businesses achieve their financial goals.
Anne has extensive expertise in providing outsourced CFO, financial controller, and accounting services to businesses across various industries. She and her team have worked with restaurants, breweries, distilleries, software companies, nonprofits, hospitality businesses, and more. With a tech-forward approach, Anne is dedicated to implementing technology to enhance and streamline financial operations for her clients.
As a former chef, Anne Napolitano understands the love and attention you put into your food. She also knows that your business needs to be profitable to keep operating.
The restaurant industry is tough. Margins can be razor-thin, competition is fierce, and success depends on delivering a great customer experience day in and day out. To do all of that effectively, you need accurate financial management that helps you make informed decisions.
We provide custom solutions to our restaurant clients. Here are only some of the services we offer that can help you: