Ward's Berry Farm Stone Fruit Galette
Executive Chef Jennifer Backman & Pastry Chef Rebecca Lentrichia, Waterman Grille, Providence
The inspiration for this recipe comes from Deb Perelman of Smitten Kitchen. Easier than a pie; this...
in the kitchen
What's on the Menu
Chefs Talk About the Opportunities and Obstacles of Today’s Local Sourcing
As he scooped up every piece of the first-of-the-season asparagus from Ward’s Berry Farm at the Providence Farmers Market back in April, chef Eric Brown couldn’t help but notice the disappointed looks on the faces of fellow shoppers who missed out.
But Brown, who owns Thick Neck, currently located in Providence’s Dean Hotel, quickly shook off any guilt as he thought of all the dishes he could make with his haul. Grilled asparagus with pickled egg sabayon? Battered and fried tempura-style? After all, planning a menu around what’s in season is a key part of his cooking philosophy. And because he’s serving a relatively limited number of guests as he transitions from running a pop-up to a more full-fledged operation, buying directly at the market based on what looks good makes sense for him.
Brown’s shop-the-market approach is one of many ways Rhode Island restaurants are sourcing local produce, meat, fish and pantry staples, such as honey and flour, these days. More than a decade since “farm-to-table” became a buzzy mainstream term, many chefs say that using local ingredients when they can has remained important to them. But it comes with challenges as well as opportunities.
“For us, buying from the area is at the fore-front of writing our everyday menus,” says Jennifer Backman, executive chef at Providence’s Waterman Grille. “To me, these days it’s less of a trend and more of an honest application of good practice. You’re putting the money back into your community and your farmers and celebrating them.”
Given her busy schedule and Waterman Grille’s high volume, it’s not feasible for Backman to regularly stroll the farmers market, as Brown does. Instead, she relies heavily on Farm Fresh Rhode Island’s Market Mobile program, which delivers ingredients from salad greens to Cornish game hens directly to her restaurant twice a week.
About 100 restaurants in Rhode Island and Massachusetts (Boston to Nantucket) use Market Mobile on a regular basis to buy from more than 37 farms in the state and nearby Massachusetts, with that number expected to rise at the height of the growing season later this summer, according to Market Mobile Program Director Amber Jackson.
Restaurants, along with individuals and institutions such as hospitals and schools, can easily purchase from farmers and other food producers through Market Mobile’s e-commerce platform. Once orders are submitted, producers deliver the purchased items to Farm Fresh’s Providence headquarters and then the nonprofit organization takes care of distribution.
“The farmers have full autonomy,” Jackson says. “They price their items, and they have control of their inventory. So, if they are having a high season and need to sell more for less money, or the opposite, they can figure out the best way to support themselves.”
Robert Andreozzi, a James Beard Award– nominated chef and co-owner of Pizza Marvin, in Providence, also frequently buys items, including Narragansett Creamery cheese and Maine Grains flour, from Market Mobile. “I think the real secret to being a great chef is finding great products to work with,” he says.
And having a standing order from Market Mobile helps him get those products into his kitchen more efficiently. He adds that he tends to incorporate more local ingredients in the warmer months, when they are most abundant.
While a priority, sourcing locally year-round has its challenges, Andreozzi says. It can be more expensive than buying from farther afield. He also must consider the pressure on his staff. Local ingredients, which may be less processed than those from industrial producers, sometimes require more prep work once they enter the restaurant. And it would be taxing on his cooks if he constantly changed the menu due to New England’s seasonal fluctuations. “I don’t want to be a restaurant that’s changing the menu every week,” he says. “We do too much volume.”
So, he buys locally—which for him includes sourcing seafood from Bristol-based Andrade’s Catch—whenever possible, and he tries not to stress about it when it doesn’t make good business sense.
Several other chefs say they follow a similar philosophy. Backman guesses that Rhode Island ingredients, whether meat, vegetables, dairy or seafood are the “star on about 70% of her menu.”
In addition to Market Mobile, she also harnesses individual relationships to source directly from some producers, including North Scituate’s Hopkins Southdowns and Saunderstown’s Baby Greens, grown by Jeffery Kamminga. Her current menu, for instance, features a lamb dish and a salad from those respective farms.
Sam Duling, chef/co-owner (with wife Joanna Ray) of Southern-influenced Hunky Dory in Warren, follows a similar sourcing but different procurement approach. On a typical week, he spends hours driving around the state to pick up directly from farms, including Roots Farm in Tiverton and Stony Creek Farm (for beef) in Swansea. He also frequents Long Lane Farm in Warren, which is only a five-minute drive away from his restaurant.
“What I first noticed when I moved here [from South Carolina] is that there are so many farms for the size of the state that it would be kind of silly not to buy from them,” Duling says.
He values the friendships he has been able to cultivate with farmers, who might introduce him to a new ingredient, direct some of their customers to his restaurant, or tip him off to a surplus of an item they have.
“Basically, we buy whatever is bountiful,” he says. “The margins of profit are so thin for both restaurants and farms that the only way for both to survive is to really lean on each other.”
Of course, some cuisines lend themselves to local sourcing better than others. Milena Pagán, chef-owner of Providence’s Little Sister, says it’s impossible to source some of the staple ingredients of her restaurant’s Puerto Rican food, including plantains and mangos, from Rhode Island. But she buys what she can—and sometimes that involves placing special orders. For instance, every year she asks Kristen Palmisano, owner of Little Bit Farm in North Kingstown, to grow her cubanelle and aji dulce peppers, which she uses to make her cooking base, sofrito.
“We’ve worked out an arrangement where I commit pre-season to buying her harvest and I tell her roughly what quantities I’ll need, and then she grows it for me,” Pagan says. “It’s a win-win for the farm and the restaurant.” ChipRiegel.com
Jenna Pelletier is a Rhode Island–based features journalist who has worked on staff as a writer and editor at Boston magazine, The Providence Journal and Rhode Island Monthly. Her food writing has also been published in Food & Wine and The Boston Globe.
Photo 1: Chef Eric Brown shops year-round at Providence farmers markets for his menu. Greens for this colorful summer salad are from Wishing Stone Farm.
Photo 2: Chef Eric Brown is running his pop-up restaurant, Thick Neck, out of the Dean Hotel through the summer.
Photo 3: Executive chef Jen Backman of Waterman Grille sources local foods for roughly 70% of the busy restaurant’s menu.
Photo 4: Ward’s Berry Farm Stone Fruit Galette is from Waterman Grille.
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