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Local fare key for eateries
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Published: June 13, 2009
Alice Clarke, Matt Honeycutt and Allen Riddle were sitting around a table at Maestro's Cafe on Friday enjoying those few minutes between asking for the check and going back to work.
"This is special for us," Clarke said.
Usually, Clarke and Riddle bring their lunches to work or grab something from a fast-food restaurant. Clarke said she'd recommend the blackened mahi mahi sandwich she ate any day of the week, and the fresh vegetables were great.
The purple cabbage in Clarke and Honeycutt's cole slaw didn't come from a corporate food service center. It was harvested this week at Red Barn Market Correll Farms LLC in Cleveland.
Maestro's Executive Chef Michael Spencer picked it up during the Evening Farmers Market at Pecan Park on Thursday, along with eggs from free-range hens and some miniature eggplant. The fish recently arrived from the coast as well.
Locally grown and fresh products are an important part of the menu at restaurants like Mayo's Ristorante and Maestro's.
"People always ask me what I do with my vegetables," said Mayo's owner Sheryl Toukola.
Besides sauteing the vegetables, Toukola said the only other factor is the freshness. Toukola and Spencer said they use herbs from their own gardens to add flavor to their dishes.
But fresh food doesn't need a lot of manipulating to make it taste good, said Spencer, who refers to the South Center Street restaurant's spread as the 500-mile menu, meaning everything is grown within that distance.
Around 99 percent of the seasonal menu is grown in or around Iredell County. He spends a good portion of his weeks at various farmers' markets to pick out fresh ingredients for the specials.
The booth Correll Farms has at the Evening Farmers Market every week is a one-stop shop, Spencer said.
"You always look for certain staples," he explained. "Our menu will have a lot of greens from here and other local sources. One of the drawbacks is we can't have it every day."
Spencer grew up on a small farm, which is where he developed a certain level of respect for the hard work local farmers do and the quality of fresh food.
"My goal at the restaurant is to one day get nothing but local items," Spencer said.
Toukola said she's emphasized freshness since her North Center Street restaurant opened 11 years ago.
"They call me at Bi-Lo's 'The picky lady at Mayo's,' " she said, laughing.
She spends Tuesday mornings at Red Barn Market Correll Farms LLC in Cleveland picking out most of the vegetables for the week.
Toukola said her love of fresh food comes from growing up in Pittsburgh.
"That's all I've ever eaten," she said.
When she can't find the cheese or sausage she wants locally, she will order it from her hometown.
Ordering fresh food can be expensive, but it is a choice she made when the restaurant opened. Toukola introduces a new menu every so often to accommodate the seasonal flavors. She recently purchased a large number of strawberries, and started featuring a number of desserts featuring the red berries.
Toukola said her seafood nearly comes straight off the boat. She calls a company to see what they have coming in off the North Carolina shore. They will usually sell it to her the next day, she said.
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