The Culinary Works

Sacramento has some really great restaurants. Although certainly no easy feat of human fortitude, what sets them apart isn’t as varied or complicated as one may think. The Chef’s must obviously be talented and dedicated to their craft every single day. They have to be able to hire and train their staff to execute their culinary vision. They must be creative, inspired and they have to know how to source and use the best ingredients they can get their hands on.

If you have been in one of our areas fine restaurants lately you have undoubtedly noticed a trend of honoring the name of the farm or producer on the menu. You may see a salad made with Pt Reyes Blue Cheese or an Heirloom Tomato Salad made with Yeung Farm tomatoes and Apollo Olive Oil. These names may not ring a bell for you but even so, it’s the chef’s way of telling you, ‘I went to some extra trouble and expense to find the very best and unique product I could get my hands on to make this dish special’.

There is a fascinating concept called ‘Farm to Table’. It’s intention is, in part, to promote the movement of food from it’s origination point to your dinner table in as few steps as possible, bypassing industrial type agriculture in support of local sustainable production. Clearly, a concept that is good for you and the environment.

I set out on a mission to see how this concept is evolving in and around Sacramento. To find out what local, organic and/or artisanal products are being used in our local restaurants and how. I want to share with you what makes some of these products special so you can better appreciate what amazing foods are being offered to us, starting today with produce.

There is a local produce company called Produce Express who employs a man named Jim Mills. Once upon a time, Jim was a well-respected local chef for Randy Paragary at the once uber popular 28^th and N. He left the chef jacket in the closet in favor of procuring and selling produce to Sacramento chefs. I have signed many a Produce Express invoice as have chefs at notable restaurants such as; Biba, Firehouse, Paragary’s, Taste, Mulvaney’s B&L….the list goes on. According to well respected Sacramento Chef, Patrick Mulvaney, of Mulvaney's B&L, when asked how he is able to get his hands on such fantastic product consistently, "The linchpin to this whole thing is Jim Mills." Jim's knowledge of what chef's want and need has enabled him to become the chef's eyes out in the farm fields. "If Jim calls and says I got these berries and you have to use them, I just say I'll take 'em."

One of the farms Produce Express offers product from is called Del Rio Botanicals. All organic and all locally grown, Del Rio is likely one of the names you have seen highlighted on a local menu.

I was lucky enough, many years ago to meet Del Rio Botanicals founder, Suzanne Peabody Ashworth for the first time and be included on a chef tour of her farm. Fast-talking and clad in denim, she is comfortable among the land but let me tell you, she is a smart woman who knows her craft. She is, in addition to being the driving force behind the farm, a highly educated and noted and published expert on all things seed.

She walks and talks fast, never missing a beat, sharing her knowledge of every plant on the property and there are a lot. Tearing off leaves, fruit and tomatoes, beans, peas, whatever and giving the latin names she passes them to you to taste, she explains where they are from and why she planted them, how to use them etc. It was such a unique experience. On two of these wonderful chef tours we were treated to a meal prepared solely using products grown there. What a wonderful experience. THIS is what it’s all about. Farm to Table, a phrase you will undoubtedly be hearing more and more. Gone are the days, atleast for most of us, where your dinner comes from your backyard, but this is pretty darn close to that experience.

I met with Suzanne recently to talk about how she came to find herself named on the areas finest restaurant menus and she explained that before she started Del Rio Botanicals, about 8 years ago, she was working strictly with seed. When I asked what made her think to start all this, she laughed and said, “Jim Mills drove his truck out into my field and got out and said, I want something from here, I just don’t know what yet.” What has blossomed from this partnership is a well-respected local produce distributor and a highly knowledgeable grower making available to Sacramento area chefs the very best locally grown organic produce to be prepared and served to you. It doesn’t get much more Farm to Table than that.

But it does go a bit beyond that. Suzanne supports a concept called ‘RSA’, Restaurant Supported Agriculture, meaning she works to grow and supply the restaurants with what they want to serve. She will actually take grow requests from the chefs directly or via Jim Mills. She gave a recent example involving Chef Mulvaney. He had seen potatoes from Europe that were actually red, white and blue. Suzanne began searching for them. Chef Mulvaney added, "It's nice that I can call and say, hey, will you grow me a couple hundred pounds of Hatch Chili's for next season? And she calls next season and says ok, they are ready." She also takes calls from chefs who are just bored and want to do something new and need ideas. They want to know what she has that’s fresh and different. She is able to offer whatever is available that day and give some ideas how it could be used. Often chefs are leery of buying a lot of something they have never used before, so these suggestions can be helpful and encourage them to try it. She said, “I know the chef will take it farther or a new direction, but if I give them an idea they feel like they can do something with it”.

The partnership between Del Rio Botanicals and Produce Express is apparently unique in the industry and we, the local consumer, become the lucky recipients of this seemingly kindred relationship between the local grower, the local supplier and the local chef. This allows the chefs to have a unique albeit important connection with the food. In this, we are truly fortunute to experience the Farm to Table concept.

Next time you are in your favorite restaurant and see the name of the producer on the menu, take note of the special and unique ingredient the chef chose for you and enjoy it, knowing that somewhere close by there is a dedicated person putting a lot of loving energy into making that beet, or piece of arugula or cherry tomato especially for you.

Watch for upcoming articles highlighting other ‘Farm to Table’ products from our area.