Tag Archives: farm to table

FARM TO TABLE IS NOW AN EXPECTATION – WHAT’S NEXT FOR RESTAURANTS?

09 Wednesday Sep 2015

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Painted in Waterlogue

There was a time when stating that your restaurant had strong ties to local farmers and producer’s was an exciting marketing advantage. This was a statement to the public that the chef and the restaurant were concerned with quality, support of local businesses, minimizing the operations carbon footprint, and the health and wellbeing of every guest. Those days are quickly becoming a thing of the past, but, at the same time, farm to table has not lost its importance. Strong relationships with local producers are now a customer expectation. It is a given that a restaurant will be concerned with product quality and their impact on the environment; after all; it is the right thing to do. Seeing a “big box” purveyor’s truck parked outside your restaurant is something to avoid or you may face public scrutiny.

Building those relationships with local producers has not been easy. Menu planning is now a reflection of what the farmer has available as much as what the chef would like to prepare. This has meant that menus are often in a state of flux making consistency a challenge, yet if presented properly and supported by well-versed service staff, this can be an advantage. There is a downside, as has been pointed to in a few recent articles. Finding service staff members who insist on explaining the farm and farmer who touched each vegetable before it arrived at your kitchen door has become a bit tedious, and in some cases pretentious. The guest of today assumes: “Of course you buy local, work closely with regional farmers, insist on the best quality and the freshest ingredients, and change your menus based on what is available. Isn’t this what I am paying for?” Yet, with this tired reaction comes a real need to make sure the restaurants that a guest patronizes are as concerned about these issues as the consumer. We typically know that a trend or a paradigm shift in restaurant operation is gone the course when it appears in quick service operations. Once the Quick Service big guys started promoting “Farm to Table” then the expectation is no longer a novelty.

So, it is probably safe to say that buying local and considering ingredient integrity is now a part of our standard operating procedures. The question now is: “What’s next.” The following is a list of possible ideation questions that every restaurant might consider posing to their staff and decisions makers:

[]         WHAT ARE GUEST CONCERNS THAT MIGHT PARALLEL THEIR INTEREST IN LOCAL SOURCING?

  • Could the restaurant focus on the concern for employees, a respectable quality of life, fair wages and benefits, and other forms of staff investment? This is certainly something that is center stage in the press, but is it really a concern that guests share? Aside from it being the right thing to do, will it attract new business?
  • Is there a stronger market for healthier menus; or do guests really put health concerns aside when they dine out? Aside from it being the right thing to do, will it attract new business?
  • Should the restaurant take a stronger political stand on ingredient integrity (like Chipotle) and remove any items from menus that are of concern (GMO’s, growth hormones, antibiotic use)? Aside from being the right thing to do, will it attract new business?
  • Should the restaurant take a stand against excessive portion sizes on menu items? Aside from being the right thing to do, will it attract new business.

[]         ARE THERE NEW RESTAURANT TRENDS THAT MIGHT SIGNAL ANOTHER PARADIGM SHIFT IN HOW RESTAURANTS OPERATE?

  • In recent years there have been movements towards small plates and tapas, gluten free cooking, in-house charcuterie, pairing menus with wines, beer, and cider; and over-the-top salads. Will any of these trends stick for the long-term? Are there rising ethnic cuisines that stand to be the focus of the next wave of cooking?
  • Should your restaurant become pro-active with home meal replacement options?
  • A few restaurants have been experimenting with minimizing service staff interaction with guests through the use of iPad stations; is this the beginning of a new long-term trend in front of the house operation?
  • The face of fine dining has been changing for the past two decades. Formal dining rooms, pretentious menus and implied dress codes have been replaced with less formal, fun, and very active environments with equally great food as a centerpiece. Is this a direction that more restaurants should connect with?

[]         WITH THE RISING COST OF RENT AND LEASE OPTIONS FOR RESTAURANTS, IS IT LIKELY THAT MOBILE OPTIONS WILL BECOME EVEN MORE ATTRACTIVE TO RESTAURATEURS AND CHEFS IN THE FUTURE?

  • What does the restaurant space look like in the future?
  • What does the restaurant experience look like in the future?
  • Will food continue to fill the role of sustenance and entertainment and can these roles be addressed properly in a roving mobile operation?

Note, these sample questions do not focus on “trends” that may come and go like styles in clothing, rather the intent is to look at those changes that fall under the heading of paradigm shifts; changes that will re-direct a business or industry, just as Farm to Table has for restaurants. These significant re-directions will require operator’s to think to the future and see the restaurant business through a different set of eyes.

Farm to Table has become an underlying philosophy that is shared by chefs, restaurant owners, and guests. This is the manner of doing business for the foreseeable future. In recent studies conducted by the National Restaurant Association and the America Culinary Federation, chefs and restaurateurs point to sourcing local, use of organic ingredients, health consciousness, and sustainability as topics with the greatest impact on restaurant operation.

So, what is the next big change? It behooves chefs and restaurant operators to take pause and begin the process of defining and anticipating what those changes will be. It is a marketing decision that may just be the right thing to do for your business.

PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER

Harvest America Ventures, LLC

www.harvestamericaventures.com

Have you purchased your copy of: “The Event That Changed Everything”,

A novel by Chef Paul Sorgule of Harvest America Ventures? This work of fiction is an interesting and current portrayal of life behind the line and the challenges of the “big issues” that are and will continue to play a role in our restaurant decision-making.

http://www.amazon.com/Event-That-Changed-Everything-Relationships/dp/1491755105/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1441807204&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Event+That+Changed+Everything

COOKS – IN SERVICE OF THE POTATO

22 Wednesday Oct 2014

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Painted in Waterlogue

It is very easy to take for granted the raw materials that we (cooks) work with on a daily basis. We are so removed from the source, that many of the incredible items we use in kitchens have become simple commodities. Sure, more and more restaurants have jumped on the farm to plate bandwagon, but how many of those have stopped to develop a relationship with the farmer and the ingredients that he or she brings to the back door of the restaurant?

In the majority of kitchens if you were to pose a simple question to the staff: “Where does that produce come from”, they may very well respond: “From the Sysco truck.” This is not to slight the vendor, they distribute what is called for and what they find profitable. The less that a buyer cares about in regards to purchasing, the less information that he or she demands- the easier it is for the vendor to generate the sale. When the source becomes important, not just because it is marketable information, but rather because it helps cooks understand the importance of their job – the vendor must, and will pay attention.

Let’s take a look at one ingredient that is certainly taken for granted – the potato. The potato originated in South America and now grows in most climates throughout the world. There is between 4-5,000 varieties of the tuber, most of which grow in the Andres region of South America and the chosen few exceptional varieties in North America. Potatoes are propagated by planting pieces of another mature potato. These “vegetative propagates” produce genetically identical potatoes. The seeds from the potato flower, however, can also produce potatoes, but they will be genetically different.   Ho, hum, enough of the agricultural science, the important thing is that the end result is one of the single most versatile ingredients used in kitchens.

Potato farmers invest time, talent, hard work and passion in the process of growing these incredible tubers. When you pick up that potato, take a moment to look at it with a different level of appreciation.   Potatoes, like other crops, require a significant amount of time and attention from the farmer. Planting in loose soil with appropriate organic fertilizer, mounding to protect potatoes from turning green and bitter, watering sufficiently to nurture growth, but not too much or the potatoes will rot. In August, farmers are involved in harvesting at the right time with dry weather, cleaning and storing without moisture to protect the potatoes storage life, grading by size for restaurant needs, packaging and finally distributing through your preferred vendors.

That simple ingredient, so common in any and every restaurant, can be one of the most important and delicious comfort food signatures for the restaurant. Vichyssoise in summer, whipped potatoes for that braised lamb shank in winter, pommes frites for anything and everything in your bistro, home fries or hash browns on every breakfast menu, potatoes Anna, rissole, pommes Dauphine, Parisian potatoes, potato and parsnip puree under that perfect Diver scallop, turned potatoes for the Pot au Feu, and even Saratoga chips as an accompaniment for luncheon sandwiches – the potato is king in every kitchen. How much respect does the average cook or chef give to this humble ingredient and the farmer who cared for it? When you look at that potato, are you cognizant of how significant it is and how much of a privilege it is to work with it?

Painted in Waterlogue

The potato is just one example of the incredible ingredients that we have an opportunity to work with in the development of a signature restaurant cuisine. The same can be said for carrots, harvest tomatoes, onions, garlic, shallots, cipollini, celery, seasonal asparagus, zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, field greens, cucumbers, more fruit varieties than space in this article, and the enormous array of chili peppers. When was the last time we stopped to really appreciate the crop and give thanks to the person who nurtured it so that we might build it into a finished menu dish?

As cooks, we are able to do what we do because the farmer does what he or she does. The items that we buy do not simply come from the truck that delivered them. Each ingredient had a home and is remarkable because the farmer provided the same amount of caring during growth that we provide as cooks on the line.

How much care do we give to respecting the ingredients that we buy? Do we handle each ingredient properly before and during preparation? Do we work diligently to not waste what was so carefully grown and harvested? Do we make sure to use the right procedure and method of cooking to extract all of the flavor and character from a product that deserves our attention?

It would be distressing for many farmers to see how their creations are handled from receipt at the farm till it winds up on a cutting board in your kitchen. We, as serious cooks, should invest the time and effort in handling so that the end product not only tastes good, but also shows respect for the source.

Farm to plate doesn’t begin and end with buying, it is a philosophy that requires the chef and the cook to know the farm, the farmer, how the ingredient is grown and brought to the table, the optimum way to handle and store the ingredient, and the details of its flavor profile so that correct decisions can be made when creating a dish. This is what it means to be a professional cook.

PLAN BETTER – TRAIN HARDER

Harvest America Ventures, LLC

www.harvestamericaventures.com

COMING SOON: “The Event That Changed Everything”, a novel by Paul Sorgule that follows the lives of two cooks and the impact that society’s handling of the environment has and could have on how they approach their profession.

For updates on release –follow:

http://harvestamericaventures.com/theeventthatchangedeverything.html