LOVAVORE RESOURCE GUIDE From Texas cheese to Minnesota wine, local-minded chefs around the country divulge 45 of their favorite regional finds. By Emily Kaiser
Food & Wine
August, 2008
~Northeast~
Massachusetts
CAPTAIN MARDEN’S SEAFOODS
Kim Marden’s relationships with area fishermen ensure the freshest possible quahogs, haddock fillets and other New England favorites for home cooks and chefs like Tony Maws of Craigie Street Bistrot in Cambridge; Captain Marden’s will also overnight anything it sells in its retail store.
IGGY’S BREAD OF THE WORLD
“Iggy’s makes its bread old-world style, using almost all organic products,” says Maws. “The crusts bring me back to my time cooking in France.”
VERRILL FARM
Maws buys produce from Verrill’s; the farm store also carries local Stonewood Farm turkey and Shattuck’s Sugar House maple syrup.
New York
BLOOMING HILL FARM
Guy and Cindy Jones supply their Hudson Valley farm stand, CSA and chefs like Andrew Feinberg of Franny’s in Brooklyn, with produce from sorrel to cardoons; in return, chefs cook monthly reservation-only dinners at the farm.
EVANS FARMHOUSE CREAMERY
Third-generation dairy farmers Dave and Sue Evans produce exquisite organic milk from grass-fed Jersey and Ayrshire cows for chefs like Feinberg and customers at their farm store.
SIXPOINT CRAFT ALES
Feinberg loves this Brooklyn brewery, whose category-defying beers (like the chocolaty Brownstone that’s part porter, part ale) reflect the quirky spirit of 29-year-old brewmaster Shane Welch.
Rhode Island
AMERICAN MUSSEL HARVESTERS, INC
Champe Speidel of Bristol’s Persimmon restaurant gets razor clams from this shellfish farm, which harvests its clams, mussels and oysters to order.
MILK & HONEY BAZAAR
Speidel likes the cheeses, honeys and oils at Tom and Jennifer Jansen’s shop; check out Rhode Island favorites like Shy Brothers’ Hannahbells cheese and wildflower honey from Tiverton’s Beebop Apiaries.
TRIPLE EIGHT DISTILLERY
On Nantucket, this arm of Cisco Brewers has caught Speidel’s attention with its vodkas, gin and rum, but the proprietors’ real passion is their single-malt whiskey, which debuts this month.
~Mid-Atlantic~
North Carolina
CANE CREEK FARM
Chef Andrea Reusing of Lantern in Chapel Hill serves pork from Eliza MacLean’s Ossabaw pigs, descended from hogs stranded by conquistadors in the 16th century.
CASTLE ROCK GARDENS
According to Reusing, more and more North Carolina farms like Castle Rock are growing Japanese soybeans meant to be eaten fresh, not processed. “Our favorite is called Beer Friend,” Reusing says.
MOUNTAIN GARDENS HERBS
Joe Hollis sells Appalachian and Asian culinary and medicinal herbs like Indian cucumber root and sansho leaves, which Reusing serves with fish.
Washington, DC
PIPE DREAMS FROMAGE
Brad Parker’s tangy fresh goat cheese (sold at area specialty stores like Cheesetique in Alexandria, VA) is one of the best in the country, says Brian McBride of Washington, DC’s Blue Duck Tavern. Greencastle, PA; cheesetique.com.
RAPPAHANNOCK RIVER OYSTERS
RRO’s luscious stingrays, snow hills and other oysters native to the Chesapeake Bay are “so fresh, it’s like you farmed them yourself,” McBride says. Tappahannock, VA; 804-204-1709 or rroysters.com.
TOIGO ORCHARDS
“Toigo grows excellent peaches; it preserves some in bourbon, which we use for pork dishes and to make peach ice cream,” McBride says. 750 S. Mountain Estates, Shippensburg, PA; 888-323-8884 ext. 1 or toigoorchards.com.
~Midwest~
Minnesota
ALEXIS BAILLY VINEYARD
Winemaking near the Upper Mississippi? According to Brenda Langton of Minneapolis’s Spoonriver restaurant, Nan Bailly does it well, producing a range from the dry red Voyageur to the orange-scented fortified wine, Ratafia, on her family’s 35-year-old vineyard. 18200 Kirby Ave., Hastings; 651-437-1413 or abvwines.com.
DOCKSIDE FISH MARKET
Langton vouches for the “fantastic” brown sugar–brined smoked herring from Harley and Shele Toftey’s market on the north shore of Lake Superior. 418 W. Hwy. 61, Grand Marais; 218-387-2906 or docksidefishmarket.com.
FOUR ELEMENTS HERBALS
Langton recommends a stop at Jane Hawley Stevens’s lush organic herb farm outside Madison, WI, which sells salves and teas. E. 8984 Weinke Rd., North Freedom, WI; 608-522-4492 or fourelementsherbals.com.
Missouri
BOULEVARD BREWING COMPANY
Jonathan Justus of Smithville’s Justus Drugstore buys from this Kansas City microbrewery. “Its Smokestack beers in corked wine bottles make great food pairings,” Justus says. 816-474-7095 or blvdbeer.com.
FERVERE
This Kansas City bakery uses organic flour to create flavor-packed loaves like Whole Grain Travel bread, which “begs for cheese and wine on a blanket,” Justus says. 1702 Summit, Kansas City; 816-842-7272 or fervere.com.
PAWPAWS
“The exotic, tropical flavors of pawpaws get me excited,” Justus says of the custardlike fruit native to North America. Pawpaws grow best wild, but Integration Acres in Albany, OH, cultivates them for area markets and online sales. Integration Acres, 160 Cherry Ridge Rd., Albany, OH; 740-698-6060 or integrationacres.com.
Ohio
HARTZLER FAMILY DAIRY
Chef Douglas Katz of Cleveland’s Fire Food & Drink restaurant uses bottled milk from this Wooster dairy; the dairy’s ice cream shop also makes milk shakes and even a “cow pie” sundae. 5454 Cleveland Rd., Wooster; 330-345-8190 or hartzlerfamilydairy.com.
KILLBUCK VALLEY MUSHROOMS
Tom and Wendy Wiandt’s organic shiitake and oyster mushrooms are popular with area chefs like Katz; some of their crop is nourished with spent grain from Cleveland’s Great Lakes Brewing Company. Burbank; 419-846-3258.
OHIO HONEY COMPANY
Katz loves Lucy and Charlie Wellhausen’s artisanal honeys, which change flavors depending on what’s flowering. Melon and berry honeys appear at the peak of summer. 10831 Chillicothe Rd., Kirtland; 440-256-3286 or ohiohoney.com.
~Southeast~
Alabama
BUFFALO ROCK GINGER ALE
This fantastically gingery soda, which was formulated in 1901 and is sold exclusively in the Southeast, is so dark that it’s nearly a ginger cola. It’s a favorite of Christopher Hastings of Birmingham’s Hot and Hot Fish Club. Birmingham; buffalorock.com.
JONES VALLEY URBAN FARM
A collection of three organic teaching gardens in the heart of Birmingham, Jones Valley Urban Farm also provides area farmers’ markets and Hastings with amazing produce throughout the year. Birmingham; 205-439-7213 or jvuf.org.
PETALS FROM THE PAST
Although it’s known more for potted heirlooms like Jeanne d’Arc roses and Black Ruby plum trees, this nursery started marketing its produce to area chefs like Hastings to get through last year’s drought. The response was so strong, the nursery is doing it again this year. 16034 County Rd. 29, Jemison; 205-646-0069 or petalsfromthepast.com.
Florida
DELAWARE CHICKEN FARM & SEAFOOD MARKET
For the seafood and alligator sausage on his menu at Chef Allen’s in Aventura, Allen Susser makes the short trip to this store that sells alligator ribs, tenderloin and tail along with hormone-free poultry, stone crabs and grouper. 4191 North State Rd. 7, Hollywood; 800-315-7718 or delawarechicken.com.
ROBERT IS HERE
“So many people in Florida have backyard mango trees that in summer, I trade mangoes for dinners at my restaurant,” Susser says. He also likes the fruit stand Robert Is Here, which ships Florida mangoes and citrus nationally. 19200 SW 344th St., Homestead; 305-246-1592.
WILD OCEAN SEAFOOD MARKET
Susser says this is the best place for Florida’s wild rock shrimp, a.k.a. “poor man’s lobster.” 688 S. Park Ave., Titusville; 866-945-3623 or wildoceanmarket.com.
~Southeast~
Colorado
CONSCIOUS COFFEES
Chef Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson’s Boulder restaurant, Frasca Food and Wine, gets its espresso beans from this wholesale organic and fair-trade coffee roaster, which also supplies area cafés.
RED WAGON ORGANIC FARM
Wyatt Barnes and Amy Tisdale have farmed for only four years but grow more than 100 crops for Boulder’s best chefs, including Mackinnon-Patterson.
UDI’S HANDCRAFTED FOODS
Mackinnon-Patterson picks up hand-shaped loaves like cranberry-raisin and filone breads from Denver’s popular bakery, overseen by third-generation Italian baker Maurizio Negrini.
New Mexico
GOSAR RANCH MOUNTAIN MAMA WHEAT
Chef Joseph Wrede of Taos’s Joseph’s Table goes nuts for the stone-ground organic whole wheat flour from this southern Colorado farm. “It bakes a brilliant crumb,” Wrede says.
SHEPHERD’S LAMB
The Manzanares family sells organic grass-fed lamb from its northern New Mexico ranch to local chefs like Wrede and home cooks; yarn from its sheeps’ wool is sold through nearby Tierra Wools (handweavers.com).
TARA’S ORGANIC ICE CREAM
Santa Fe’s Tara Esperanza has won a cult following (including Wrede) for inventive all-natural ice creams like cherry fudge and chocolate tarragon; in June she opened a California outpost in Berkeley.
Texas
HOUSTON DAIRYMAIDS
Monica Pope of Houston’s T’afia says Kendra Scott and Lindsey Schechter are putting Texas cheese on the map, foraging for artisanal finds, like Stuart Veldhuizen’s piquant aged Romano, to sell to chefs and area farmers’ markets.
MATT FAMILY ORCHARD
Jujubes, Asian pears, blackberries and figs are just a few of the fruits available for picking on this 33-acre farm that also supplies Pope’s restaurant.
TREATY OAK PLATINUM RUM
“Rum made by hand exclusively with Texas ingredients in small batches—wow,” says Pope about this molasses-based spirit that debuted in Austin last year.
~West~
California
ANDANTE DAIRY
From the bloomy, buttery Nocturne to the nutty, melting Picolo, Soyoung Scanlan makes unbelievable cow’s- and goat’s-milk cheeses, says chef Joseph Humphrey of Murray Circle in Sausalito, CA. The chef and cheesemaker are also collaborating on a cheese for Humphrey’s restaurant. Petaluma; 707-769-1379 or andantedairy.com.
LONG MEADOW RANCH
Humphrey likes to visit this Napa Valley ranch’s farm stand on weekends to find organic herbs and produce along with its wines, olive oils and grass-fed beef. 1796 S. St. Helena Hwy., Rutherford; 877-627-2645 or longmeadowranch.com.
MONTEREY FISH MARKET
Humphrey marvels at Paul Johnson’s “absolute devotion” to sustainable seafood at his wholesale operation and unassuming Berkeley shop—and in Fish Forever, Johnson’s recent cookbook and guide. 1582 Hopkins St., Berkeley; 510-525-5600 or montereyfish.com.
Oregon
KEN’S ARTISAN BAKERY
Chef Gabriel Rucker of Portland’s Le Pigeon insists his burgers would be incomplete without Ken’s ciabatta buns. The bakery also makes tarts, croissants and, on Monday nights, pizza. 338 NW 21st Ave., Portland; 503-248-2202 or kensartisan.com.
NICKY USA, INC.
“I work almost exclusively with Nicky USA for my meats—and their customer service is the best in the business,” Rucker says of this purveyor of buffalo, Oregon lamb and other rare meats. 223 SE Third Ave., Portland; 503-234-4263 or nickyusa.com.
STEVE’S CHEESE
“Anyone visiting Portland shouldn’t miss Steve’s store,” Rucker says. Tucked inside the Square Deal Wine Company, Steve Jones’s shop favors local cheeses like the tangy Hannah Bridge from Ancient Heritage Dairy in Scio—the first sheep’s-milk dairy in the state. 2321 NW Thurman St., Portland; 503-222-6014 or stevescheese.biz.
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