LOCAVORING Meat of the matter: WNY’s farm-to-chef movement is going gangbusters, nose to tail By Lauren Newkirk Maynard; photos by kc kratt At first, Tucker Curtin was just looking for a better burger. J. J. Richert, executive chef of Torches, works on ham at Field and Fork Network’s screening of “Tableland” last November “It used to be tricky, finding the right amounts of beef with the quality I was looking for,” said Curtin, the irrepressible owner of the Steer, Lake Effect Diner, and Dug’s Dive. “I used to buy frozen product, and lots of it, but I was never happy with how it tasted.” Also at the event was Carmelo Raimondi, executive chef and owner of Carmelo’s Ristorante. Tucker Curtin of Lake Effect Diner, Dug’s Dive, and The Steer, with executive chef Zeff Bonsey. Adam Wahlquist from Juniper sets out samples of carrot gingerbread with White Cow Dairy’s Crème Bulgare. Hutch’s pumpkin bread pudding. Curtin Family Group’s beef ragú over polenta with mirepoix and fried scallions. Then, three years ago, Curtin contacted Christa Glennie Seychew, cofounder of Field and Fork Network, a WNY local-foods advocacy group. She put him in touch with Cattaraugus cattle farmer David Reino, who was struggling to market his small-scale, grass-fed Angus herd at Raisin Acres Farm. When Seychew, a food journalist, and Lisa Tucker, editor of Edible Buffalo magazine, began talking to chefs just two years ago, they quickly saw a need for better communication between area fruit, vegetable, and meat producers and the retailers, processors, food artisans, and public. So they formed the nonprofit and launched an annual conference to help the two groups network—not an easy task to fit into the hectic schedules of a working restaurant or farm. Now, a year later, that networking appears to be paying off in both small and not-so-subtle ways. According to Field and Fork, WNY went from having one or two farm-to-table restaurants in 2008 to more than a dozen chefs and restaurant owners offering locally sourced menu items in 2009. Local chefs and farmers are working together to provide healthy, sustainably raised produce and meat. Some, like Curtin, have farmers raising livestock and produce specifically to meet the needs of their kitchens. Curtin once worked at Federal Meats and did a stint on a 200-head cattle ranch in Montana, and says he “knows [his] way around a filet.” But the going wasn’t easy at first. He closed Lake Effect for six weeks in 2007 to reevaluate its menu and business plan. After reopening, one of his decisions was to try some local sourcing, but he found beef was expensive and hard to find in the amounts and cuts he wanted. His cooks were unaccustomed to breaking down (separating a whole animal into cuts of meat) the shipments of filets, steaks, and patties that previously came frozen and fully processed. After months of trial and error, Curtin is making sure he makes money as he experiments with buying local. With the help of area butchers, his staff was trained to break down whole cows, chickens, or pigs—ninety-five percent of his beef, he says, is sourced nearby, and he buys whole chickens from Marty Wendel’s poultry farm in East Concord—and with less waste. Centralizing his processing equipment at Lake Effect helped speed things along. “We can get through a lot more burger patties and then truck them over to the Steer and Dug’s, which has improved my bottom line while allowing me to support Dave and Marty,” he says. “Plus, as my wife and kids can attest, it really does taste amazing.” After seeing the safer methods Reino uses to breed (he has a closed herd, meaning he doesn’t board or purchase animals from off the farm), Curtin recalled the factory ranches in Montana and never looked back. For Reino, a long-time supporter of sustainable agriculture, this new partnership with chefs has been a boon to his business, too. “It’s been hard to market the animals consistently, and to sell them whole,” he says. “But after switching to a local slaughterhouse and adding restaurant clients like Curtin, I’m looking at selling 100 cattle a year.” Reaching that goal would allow Reino to quit his nonfarm job and commit full-time to pasture management, his true passion. “The cattle are just a means to an end; they eat and help fertilize the grass, and the grass is the thing,” he says. “It’s more about reclaiming our farmland and keeping it healthy for future generations.” Last November, Curtin, Reino and nearly two-dozen local farmers, chefs, and restaurateurs met at Market Arcade Theater for a public screening of Tableland, a 2008 documentary about the thriving locavore movement in North America, and the first fundraiser for the Field and Fork Network. The screening was part one of the evening. Part two was a local foods tasting and mixer in the theater lobby, where Carmelo’s Ristorante, Shango Bistro, Trattoria Aroma, the Roycroft Inn, Juniper Restaurant, Rich Foods, Sample, and McCullagh Coffee offered small plates of freshly prepared dishes—many serving as try-outs for brand-new seasonal menus. At a far end of the line, chef J. J. Richert of the appropriately named Torches pointed two giant blowtorches at a platter of smoked ham—from heritage pigs pasture-raised by T-Meadow Farm in Lockport. Verbena Grill’s head chef, Bruce Wieszala, whose velvety butternut squash soup was sourced from Oles Family Farm, estimated that close to eighty percent of Verbena’s summer menu was sourced locally this year. David Cosentino of the Aroma Group mentioned a new partnership with Blossom Hill Farm to purchase free-range bull calves next spring. The venture will put veal on his menus that, he said, “not only tastes great and is better textured than traditionally farmed meat, but is also humanely raised.” Curtin and Bonsey had spent all day braising a ragú made with Reino’s beef. It was served over soft polenta with a delicate mirepoix and fried scallions, and was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. “They all get it,” Reino said with a tired smile (he made the two-and-a-half-hour round trip from Franklinville for the weeknight event). “We’re just beginning to create something great—and not just for us, but for the consumer and the economy and the environment, too.” The Field and Fork network has grown up, too, with a board of directors that includes new chef-members Jim Guarino of Shango Bistro and Carmelo Raimondi of Carmelo’s—both of whom attended last year’s sold-out conference and are committed to seasonal, locally sourced menus. The 2010 Farmer–Chef conference on January 25 is designed for food industry types, but Field and Fork plans to launch a membership program for the public this spring that will build on a successful year of eating and living well, from farm to table. For more information, visit www.fieldandforknetwork.com. Lauren Newkirk Maynard is a regular Spree contributor and would like another taste of that ragú. SUBSCRIBE NOW Back to the Table of Contents Back to Top