LOCALadk Magazine

Fall 2018 LOCALadk Magazine 57 LOCALadk Well before the sun rises in the Adirondacks, bakers, break- fast line cooks, and chefs are already busy at work. Farm to Table is more than a statement that's trendy to promote —it is a philosophy. And for restaurants that are truly Farm to Table, it means a total commitment to that phi- losophy. Ever yone in the restaurant needs to buy-in to what it takes to be in partnership with farmers and the regional producer community. Chefs know that as hard as their work is, it still pales in comparison to a farmer's daily routine. Becoming a farm-con- nected restaurant means that ever yone shares a high level of respect for farmers and the ingredients they plant, nurture, and har vest. The way that a partnering restaurant operates is quite dif- ferent than those that choose a different route. Many of the ingredients that are used in a farm partnering restaurant do not come off the back of a large-scale commercial truck; they probably arrive in a pick-up truck while still warm from the morning sun—they were, after all, just picked a few hours ago. Some restaurant chefs may even visit the farms to pick up their own product. Farm to Table restaurants need to be responsive to the sea- sons, to weekly weather patterns, and to the impact of local terroir (soil, climate, and topography). A chef's menu might not be written in stone —in fact it will likely change week- ly and sometimes daily. A Farm to Table restaurant builds a menu that reflects what the farmer is able to produce. The advantage is freshness and ripeness that is lacking in many items produced on single crop, centralized farms and then shipped from coast to coast. What we now call Farm to Table cooking and eating is not a new phenomenon—in fact it dates back more than 100 years to before America began moving away from decentralized farms and towards sectionalized selective farming that fo- cused on volume production. In much of Europe, eating al- most exclusively regional and seasonal food continues to be a way of life. The farmer connections that are the trend in all 50 U.S. states are still going strong after hundreds of years in France, Italy, Germany, Austria, Spain, Greece, and the Neth- erlands. As the sun begins to rise, bakers are pulling crusty fresh- baked breads and light, air y pastries from their ovens. Line cooks are cracking farm-fresh eggs and ser ving up rashers of Adirondack bacon from Oscar's in Warrensburg, and chefs are planning out menus that reflect the best ingredients ex- pected at their receiving doors any minute. More often than not the day's menus are yet to be fully determined. The chef and his or her cooks wait to see what arrives from the farms before definitely deciding on the menu. Will it be swiss chard and baby beet greens from Ian Ater and Lucas Christenson from Fledging Crow in Keeseville? Or sugar snap peas, leeks, and late spring garlic scapes from Adam Hainer at Juniper Hill in Wadhams? In the fall will the har vest bring brussels sprouts, rutabaga, and parsnips from more than a dozen great organic farms within 50 miles for braised menu items — or maybe pumpkin, butternut and spaghetti squash? For a long while, The Adirondacks, was considered ver y dif- ficult terrain for varied crops. Aside from potatoes and early summer strawberries there was little to depend on. This is no longer the case as more and more "new generation" farmers are pushing their shovels into the soil and finding ways to maximize a diverse yield of crops, sometimes for ver y short seasons. There are more than ample numbers of chefs who are willing and excited to make the connections, learn to un- derstand the farmer, and find ways to make Farm to Table work within the Park. This new generation of chefs and cooks are deeply pas- sionate about these farmer connections—they are talented, energetic, and quite knowledgeable when it comes to build- ing menus around availability rather than forcing that avail- ability through tapping into the centralized system. Chefs Jarrad Lang from the Mirror Lake Inn, Andrea De- Gain from Salt of the Earth Bistro, Tim Loomis from Liquids and Solids, Kim Scarpa from Scape Café, Anne Alsina from the Left Bank Café, and Alan Swentusky from the Olympic Training Center all spent a season in France, where Farm to Table and a respect for the source is the only way to operate. They know that a chef is only as good as his or her ingredients and the passion with which a restaurant staff handles them. Just a few hours south of Paris in the rolling hills of central Burgundy lies a sleepy little town called Entrains sur Nohain. This was the center of activity for a French Internship that well over 150 culinar y and hospitality students called home over a 10 -year period. In this agriculturally focused commu- nity with its bolangerie, patisserie, butcher y, fromagerie, and local connection to area vineyards, these students be- came one with the origins of Farm to Table. The beneficiaries of this knowledge are the communities of Lake Placid and Saranac Lake because a few of these energetic cooks estab- lished their roots in the Tri-Lakes area. With this philosophy of regional partnerships fully ingrained into their way of op- erating, a fresh crop of inspired menus began to flourish in our Adirondacks. These are some of the chefs who are in their kitchens Over the past decade the food landscape within the Adirondack Park has changed dramatically. From Warrensburg to Elizabethtown and Lake Placid, there is a new, exciting, full-flavored evolution that includes farmers, chefs, cheese makers, bread bakers, craft brewers, distillers, and masters of curing and fermenting who are making the Adirondack Park a true food destination. This column will take a look at the people behind this movement and the impact that they have on what and how we eat. ADIRONDACK CHEFS AND FARMERS HAVE A SHARED PHILOSOPHY

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