“Farmer Dave was one of the first and he’s really promoted the heck out of farm-to-fork,” said Garry Boyd, who manages HopCat, Stella’s and The Viceroy and has been in the restaurant biz for more than 20 years. “As we grow, it’s the direction we’re going more and more.” This year, Grand Rapids Restaurant Week, Aug. 15-25, is celebrating farm-to-fork and asking participating restaurants to showcase dishes made with Michigan products. “August is the season for the freshest farm produce, fruits and meats raised and grown locally,” said Doug Small, president of Experience Grand Rapids, the city’s convention and visitors bureau. More than 60 restaurants are participating this year. One of the first eateries to promote sustainable cuisine in West Michigan was Bistro Bella Vita, one of three restaurants in the Essence Restaurant Group. “When we started working with Ingraberg 15 years ago, there really weren’t many farms that were as readily available,” said Brad Teachout, general manager. “But it’s really evolved in recent years.” Bistro Bella Vita, Grove and The Green Well have teamed up with RealTime Farms.com, a website that maps restaurant menus to show exactly where each ingredient is from. Click on Otto’s Fried Chicken Confit on the Grove starter menu, for example, and discover that the bacon is from Creswick Farm, the greens from Mud Lake Farm, Visser Farm, Vertical Paradise Farms and Earthkeeper Farm, and the poultry is from Otto’s Farm. Click on the suppliers, and learn all about who they are and what they do. “It’s something our clients love — and they’ve come to expect it,” Teachout said. San Chez Tapas Bistro has helped small farm operations build their businesses, said Cindy Schneider, general manager. “During Restaurant Week, we’ll be telling their stories.” One of her favorites is Barbara Jenness of DogWood Farm, who started Dancing Goat Creamery six years ago after retiring from her job as a veterinary technician. San Chez was her first customer.
The farm-to-fork movement started with concerns about food safety but quickly became more about the superior taste of seasonal, farm-fresh fruits and vegetables.
DANCING GOAT BARBARA JENNESS will never forget the retirement party that launched her second career. She was celebrating the end of veterinary tech days with friends and co-workers at San Chez Tapas Bistro in downtown Grand Rapids. “The server came up to our table and asked who was retiring. I said it was me, but that I was hardly retiring. I’m a cheesemaker.” Jenness said her soap-making hobby led to making artisan goat cheese at her small Byron Center farm. She took classes in Canada, Texas and at North Carolina University — even earning a master’s certification in cheese making in Vermont. The server at San Chez later returned to the table and told Jenness the chef would be in touch about her cheese. Sure enough, she got a call. “I came with my cheese and they tasted,” she said. Jenness didn’t hear anything for a while — “I’ve since learned that chefs are very busy people” — and then suddenly she received her first order: “San Chez wanted everything I had.” In the early years, everything she had was 50 pounds a week. Five years later, when Jenness sold her cheese business to Veronica Phelps, she was making 250 pounds of cheese, both goat and artisanal cow’s milk cheese. Dancing Goat today produces fresh chevre (plain or with a variety of herbs and spices), ash-ripened St. Maure and crottin-type cheese. “Much of it went to local restaurants and local shops,” she said. At first, it was a challenge. Though Jenness knew a lot about cheese, she didn’t know much about invoicing, marketing, packaging and other details of running a business. She’s grateful to Grand Rapids Opportunities for Women and Michigan State University’s Product Development Center for helping her get started and figure out such necessities. And she’s very thankful that local restaurants were patient. “I owe so much,” she said. “San Chez and
San Chez Tapas Bistro relies on local suppliers for a variety of ingredients. At left is a sampling of small plates, including Pesto Herbed Goat Cheese made with cheese from Dancing Goat Creamery, pesto from Heeren Brothers and bread from R.W. Bakery; lamb rib and chorizo from Sobie Meats; asparagus from a Conklin farm; and microgreens from Mud Lake Farm.
others were so supportive in those early times.” Now at 64, she’s retired — again — to enjoy her grandkids.
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