Farmer Doug Raubenolt with Chef Michael
Mariola of South Market Bistro in Wooster. Farmer-chef collaborations
are becoming increasingly popular. Mariola is holding a Tea Hills-grown
pan seared chicken breast, served over slow roasted summer vegetables
with fresh herbs.
restaurant route: dining out with local flavor
story by Marilou Suszko
photos by Barney Taxel
Ten years ago, Emeril Lagasse proclaimed food in this country to be “more exciting than anywhere else in the world.”
“It’s cool to be a farmer and it’s cool to be chef,” he said. Bam!
It’s a label that flatters farmers such as Doug Raubenolt of Tea
Hills Poultry in Loudonville and chefs such as Michael Mariola of South
Market Bistro in Wooster along with a growing number of their Ohio
colleagues who partner to bring homegrown flavors into restaurant
kitchens.
For the youthful Mariola, finding farmers who can supply great
ingredients, important tools of his trade, is a standard of doing
business as well as a signature statement for his 38-seat downtown
bistro. His definition of local has less to do with distance from his
kitchen door and more to do with farmers who produce a good product and
have a reliable delivery system in place.
“It would definitely be easier to just pick up the phone and order
everything I need from a distributor,” Mariola said. “Working
one-on-one with farmers like Doug, knowing what he can supply and how
it was raised, blows every other source away. Our customers recognize
the effort it takes because they are always telling me how good the
food tastes.”
Raubenolt raises organic, pastured poultry on his 215-acre Ashland
County farm. Having the opportunity to provide a product and then have
chefs highlight it on their menus, and to their customers, is a glowing
endorsement and important approval for a job well done. “I’m just an
old farm boy,” he said. “But when I see Tea Hills Poultry on a menu,
well that’s special.
“Chefs like Michael steer me in different directions when it comes to
raising poultry,” Raubenolt said. Between all his restaurant accounts,
more than 20 from Columbus to northeast Ohio, each chef has a
particular preference for the weight and breed of the bird. Mariola
prefers birds weighing 4.5 pounds, yielding larger breast meat. So
between April and November, Raubenolt will process and deliver
approximately 500 White Mountain Cornish chickens to the bistro. “Having
a close working relationship with a chef indirectly puts me in contact
with the customer because the chef always shares their comments,” he
said.
While a natural connection exists between the field and fork,
featuring locally grown and raised meats and produce on a restaurant’s
menu requires dedication. On an average, Mariola tries to stock his
pantry and cooler with close to 75 percent locally grown and raised
products, but it’s a constant balancing act. “I have to work with the
harvest season and Mother Nature,” he said, noting the curves she can
throw a farmer such as unfavorable weather or natural predators.
Chef Mariola and his staff spend more than five hours a week talking,
visiting and working with farmers, a time consuming and demanding
aspect of seeking out product sources. To assist chefs like him, Local
Matters, a nonprofit, volunteer organization funded in part by the Ohio
Farm Bureau Foundation, nurtures business relationships between local
chefs and growers throughout Columbus and central Ohio. Martha Balint,
the project coordinator, said it’s all about getting good food on the
table.
“During the height of the harvest season, we publish a weekly ‘fresh
sheet’ featuring local producers, what they have available for chefs,
as well as ordering and delivery or pickup details,” she explained. The
sheets are circulated to more than 30 different restaurants, grocery
stores and institutional buyers but “it’s the chefs’ demands that
really drive this program.”
Across the state, farmers and chefs are forging working relationships
with something as simple as a handshake to seeking each other out
through organized collaboratives and farm-to-chef networks. Every time a
farmer and chef connect, they help strengthen the regional food
economy and provide quality products on the plate. One bite, and the
customer will immediately recognize what is at work between the two.
Marilou Suszko is a freelance writer from Vermilion.
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"Because I did all of the purchasing, I developed relationships with local farmers and began sourcing some of the great products being grown in and around Ohio....I met Doug Raubenolt, of Tea Hills Farms, in Loudonville, who to this day raises the tastiest chickens in Ohio."
Marilou Suszko
been there, ate that!
tea hills poultry, loudonville
One of my favorite memories of Thanksgiving is a
recent one. I was standing in the midst of Shaker Square, near
Cleveland, with a whole bunch of other people the day before waiting
for Doug Raubenolt to arrive with a truck load of turkeys. We had all
ordered birds months in advance and this was the big moment. When Doug
finally showed up with “the stuff,” we dutifully arranged ourselves in a
straight line to pick up our order. A passerby saw all the activity,
turkeys being handed off the back of a truck to very happy people and
asked if we were getting free turkeys. Free? Not quite. Yes, we do pay a
little bit more for the turkeys from Tea Hills Poultry, maybe almost
twice as much as a boulder-like bird from the grocery store freezer
section, but after five years of bringing a heritage breed
to my table, it’s an investment that pays off in wonder flavor. Some
years, I brine my bird in buttermilk before roasting. Oh, my. Silky and
extra succulent! Doug says, "It's the best turkey money can buy—if you
can find us." He admits that it might take a little digging to find
him, but he always delivers! So here's the number to call to order your
bird at 419-368-3831. My suggestion: order a Bronze Turkey. Big and
meaty, about 5 pounds heavier than a Standard Market White. Don't wait
too long to make that call. These things don't grow on trees.
Center for American Progress
Give Thanks While Being Green!