Restaurants and their chefs have done a lot for the popularity of local food and the good food movement. They take great seasonal produce and make it better. They take aesthetically stunning local food and make it even more beautiful. Good restaurants and their chefs take seemingly ordinary food and can present it in an atmosphere, and with a creativity that make dishes extraordinary and memorable. Local food heroes Patti Kay and Travis Teska have done all this and represent locally what is happening on with the best restaurants on a nationwide basis. They are this year’s Farmshed Food Group’s 2009 Local Food Heroes.
Q: What are your favorite seasonal foods?
A (Patti): my favorite seasonal food is fall squash. Any thing with squash is great.
A (Travis): I tend to like the fall items as well, especially apples and cranberries, along with really robust and ripe tomatoes.
Q: Why do you buy locally? What are the advantages to doing so?
A: We agree that one of the best reasons to buy locally is because of freshness. Fresh fruits and vegetables that have not been on a truck for a week! We also appreciate that there no chemicals, etc, sprayed on your produce, Patti also likes to support other small businesses and I like tend to think it just looks better, some of the colors and shapes and sizes are so beautiful.
Q: What are the challenges to buying locally?
A: The expense for us as a business as most local food, especially organic, is more expensive. Supply issues especially when planning events because of the weather and other factors.
Q: Could you share a favorite seasonal recipe? What do you have cooking right now?
A: Gazpacho – 1 large Cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped. 3 large ripe tomatoes, cored and chopped. 1 small handful, fresh basil leaves(more if you like basil), sliced thin. 1 small red onion, minced. 3 green onions, sliced. 1 quart tomato juice, less if you like your soup thick more if you like it thin. 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil. 1/2 cup Red wine vinegar. 1 t Sugar. Salt and Pepper. Dash of Cayenne pepper. Splash of Balsamic vinegar. Splash of Worcestershire
Chop vegetables, nice little cubes make for a nice presentation later, Mix all ingredients, cover and chill for a few hours, over a day is best. Serve with nice crisp toasts and a crumble of goat cheese if you wish. Other variations can be to add roasted peppers, other herbs such as fresh oregano,etc. Be creative
Q: What Seasonal Produce is on your menu right now?
A: Right now we are featuring fresh vegetables on a nightly basis for the vegetables on the entree dishes, almost all of our salad mix is from Stoney Acres, We use local bacon(nueskes) local cheeses, (Harmony Specialty Dairy, Hooks, etc) Our eggs are from Thurs, and all the dairy products we use come from Wisconsin.
Q: How many local producers do your source from?
A: Depends on the season, but at least 10 or more.
Q: If you had a reality television show about your restaurant such as Hell’s Kitchen or Iron Chef what would it be called and why?
A: “So you think you want a restaurant?” A lot of people do not understand how much hard work goes into what we do. The cooking part is the easy part. It is a challenging industry to be in.
