Two Local Food Geeks Sitting Around Talking
I promised we would be trying out some new things in Year 2 of Local Food Forum, so why not right now? The above video is a pilot of What’s Good About Local Food. The cutting-edge format, which I’ve been talking about for a few weeks with Matt Tortora of WhatsGood, is two all-in local food fanatics talking about… wait for it… local food.
In this first installment, I talk about Green City Market’s super-early outdoor season opener and Matt talks about WhatsGood Farm Shop’s first pop-up event, both of which happened last Saturday. It wraps up with a seasonality check — what’s new in the markets and what’s coming soon — that will be a regular feature of what we’re planning to be a weekly series.
The video is a Zoom recording, and the fact that it was completely unrehearsed may be evident in a couple of little technical glitches. I won’t detail them because I want your feedback about whether they are significant enough to mention.
Speaking of feedback, apart from the fact that the convo is a little long (we need to curb our enthusiasm for the subject a little), please let us know what you think. This is definitely in the beta stage and we want to give you people what you want.
Next up: Facebook Live from Green City Market on Saturday?
Love for Tracey Abundant at Frontera Fundraiser
Tracey Vowell of Three Sisters Garden in Kankakee is one of our region’s most beloved farmers. That made it extra-painful when Local Food Forum had to report that Three Sisters Garden had suffered major losses of equipment and product in a devastating fire at a nearby farm.
The local food community responded reflexively to Tracey’s request for emergency financial assistance, and fortunately was able to assess that her product losses could have been worse. It was a major setback, nonetheless, which prompted Chef Rick Bayless to throw an extraordinary fundraising dinner Sunday night that filled the space at Frontera Grill at $275 per ticket.
Tracey had spent many years as executive chef to Rick, and in that role she helped build out Frontera’s legendary relationships sourcing ingredients from local farmers; she played a major part in establishing Frontera Farmer Foundation, which just today announced the recipients of its 2022 farmer grants (Local Food Forum will publish the full list tomorrow).
In the following shared article, Tracey expresses her overwhelming gratitude to her former boss and other leading area chefs who prepared what she describes as a truly amazing meal for fundraiser guests.
Congratulations, Tracey, and your fans can’t wait for this year’s crop of sweet corn.
In the following piece, Tracey expresses the overwhelming gratitude she feels toward Rick Bayless and everyone else who reached out with a helping hand.
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Sometimes it feels like the whole world is crashing down around us. Exactly the feeling when I first looked at our fire scene. It seemed like everything in me came to a standstill, and remained that way for a few days, but the crashing sound continued.
As I started coming around, I realized there were people I needed to contact about how much our future would look very different from our past. One of my first was Richard, my former sous chef, now the Chef at Frontera Grill.
Many of you know that I was a chef in my first career, and that I spent the lion’s share of that time working for Rick Bayless at Frontera/Topolobampo. 18 years in all, traveling from lunch grill cook, to executive chef, then chef mentor/farmer, as I reached the end of my time within those walls. It was nearly 15 years ago when I took that last walk out the back door.
I provide black beans to Frontera, as you can imagine, in very large quantity. I let Richard know that there had been a fire, and I needed to have a conversation with them. Not more than an hour later, Rick texted, as they were in Mexico, and impressed upon me that they wanted to help.
It was like music, and when they returned, we discussed my problem. It seemed a party was what we needed, and they were ready and willing to make that party fly.
Well, it was this past Sunday night, and wow. Now, I know that I have maintained, pretty much, the hermit lifestyle for a while now, so I found the idea of a party both daunting and very exciting.
Jason Hammel from Lula [Cafe], Sarah Stegner from Prairie Grass Cafe, Darnell Reed from Luella’s Southern Kitchen, Greg Mosko from The Gage, and of course, the Frontera team, put together a breathtakingly delicious and beautiful meal Sunday night, served to a room brimming with such a great group of people, so full of love and excitement, that it was hard to contain.
And as the party rolled on, an online auction was wrapping up, with Boka, Vistro Prime, Vie, Gaijin, Dusek’s Tavern, and Parsons Chicken and Fish participating. Look at that lineup. Even in the aftermath of a massive fire, I will ask, How lucky am I?
Towards the end if the evening, I could feel the weight of uncertainty leaving me. What has seemed an impossibility for six weeks is moving into the range of plausible.
This morning, looking back on a very memorable evening, I feel rejuvenated and positive about the future of Three Sisters. Maybe it isn’t a given, but it is certainly much more possible than it was just a few weeks ago.
So, if you find yourself looking for a restaurant anytime soon, I think it might be worth a trip to visit with any of these restaurants mentioned. At a time when the restaurant industry is struggling like never before, they reached deep and straightened the path of a struggling farmer. Their hearts are golden, and in the right place.
I am not sure how I even begin to adequately thank this amazing group of chefs, but you can bet I am working on it.
We are rolling strong with mache for another week. Cold temperatures have at least helped that one crop. We are still looking for a little more size on the green garlic before we offer. Soon.