Local, Seasonal Sourcing: A Tale of Two Chefs in Two Cities

Professional culinary schools often train students to celebrate fresh produce, focus on seasonal sourcing, and support local growers as much as possible. This model can work well in independent restaurants that can change menus frequently, but it works differently depending on where the chef and restaurant are located.

A chef in Northern California, for example, can walk the local farmers market in early October, decide what to feature that week or month, and have local farmers bring produce to the back door of her restaurant, or, if she’s lucky, have all produce delivered by her local produce distributor.

Managing the logistics of local sourcing is a big challenge for chefs. Local produce distributors who assist with local sourcing are the unsung heroes of my chef friends across the country.

Meanwhile, a chef in Boston can also walk the local farmers market in October, decide he needs more options, call his produce distributor, and opt to buy seasonal produce grown in California. They are both seasonally sourcing produce, but only one can do local sourcing.

That same chef in California may want to feature a specific variety of yellow potatoes on her menu in October, but she is disappointed to learn she’ll need to buy potatoes from Washington or Idaho, the only two states with fresh harvest potatoes of a variety that doesn’t store well. If she chooses to feature small creamer potatoes, she can get them from the Bakersfield area any time of year, with California being the only state harvesting potatoes year-round to fill the growing demand for those darling smaller potatoes. She’s struggling to decide whether to change her menu or change her mind on the importance of local sourcing.

Back in Boston, the chef is eager to feature red potatoes on his fall menu, pairing them with his many seafood offerings. He knows a local farmer who grows them, but the farmer sold nearly his entire crop at the local farmers market. The chef can buy 20 pounds for a one-day special, or he can turn to his produce house, which says they can possibly source from Maine, but more likely from Michigan, Minnesota or North Dakota.

He’s upset he can’t get what he wants from a Massachusetts farmer because he doesn’t appreciate the complexities of potato-growing regions and seasons, but he’s delighted with the quality he gets after deciding to source from North Dakota, the top-producing state of dryland red potatoes. The chef is now committed to sourcing from North Dakota each fall to offer his customers the best flavor from potatoes paired with fresh-caught New England seafood.

The California chef’s next dilemma is cost control. Her silent partner is putting pressure on her to reduce food costs to offset increasing labor costs. How is she going to continue to offer the produce-centric seasonal menu her customers love while reducing food costs by 5%?

Local produce distributors who assist with local sourcing are the unsung heroes of my chef friends across the country.

Her not-so-silent partner suggests she source from a larger produce distributor that sources globally, offering more competitive prices. She opts to keep a few farmers’ names on her menu, featuring their much-loved produce items, like tomatoes and peaches on her menu, while sourcing other produce from whoever will give her the best quality and the best price.

As we move into January in Boston, the chef is considering adding another restaurant to his portfolio, this time a lunch spot in Cambridge that features salads, but he doesn’t feel good about buying leafy greens from California. How can he offer locally grown leafy greens to his tech clientele in Cambridge who are willing to pay more for their food?

He opts to buy lettuces and other leafy greens from companies in the Northeast that grow in indoor controlled environments. His tech clientele loves the tech story of indoor vertical agriculture, and the chef loves that he can continue to celebrate seasonal and local throughout the year.

It’s now February in California and the chef wants to feature strawberries on her menu for Valentine’s Day, but vocal team members are saying, “It’s not strawberry season, is it, chef?”

The chef learns California farmers can harvest strawberries year-round, but she wonders if that means strawberries are no longer relevant to a seasonally driven menu. Maybe she should just focus on chocolate desserts and forget the fruit, she ponders.

The Boston chef also has strawberries on his mind, knowing he can get them from Florida just in time for a new salad that features strawberries on this winter menu. He knows winter in New England can get long, and his Cambridge customers are yearning for signs of spring. The Florida berries are just the answer. Maybe next year he can get them from a controlled indoor environment in New England, he ponders.

Amy Myrdal Miller, MS, RDN, FAND is a farmer’s daughter from North Dakota, award-winning dietitian, culinary nutrition expert, and founder and president of Farmer’s Daughter Consulting, Inc. She is the retail nutrition marketing and foodservice partnership specialist for the Buy California Marketing Agreement/CA GROWN, a member of the Texas A&M Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture AgriLife External Advisory Board, a member of the Bayer Vegetable Seeds Horticultural Advisory Council, and co-author of Cooking á la Heart, a 500-recipe cookbook based on plant-forward eating cultures from around the world. You can learn more about her business at farmersdaughterconsulting.com and follow her insights on food and flavor on social media @alaheartamy.