Spotlight – The Chef’s Garden

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The Chef's Garden

Farmer Lee Jones owns The Chef’s Garden sustainable farm along with
his father and brother. He was awarded a Who’s Who in Food & Beverage Award
by the James Beard Foundation in 2011 and is the first farmer ever to judge the
popular Food Network show, Iron Chef America. The Chef’s Garden is known for
“growing vegetables slowly and gently, in full accord with nature,”® applying
sustainable agricultural practices of our great-grandfathers. These include
allowing land to sit fallow, and using cover crops, compost and crop rotation
to enhance the soil naturally rather than chemically. Research and development
on the farm involves reviving unusual and heirloom vegetables, selected for
flavor rather than yield or shelf-life. The belief that healthy soil and
healthy seeds produce the most flavorful and nutritious vegetables drives
everything they do on the farm; after all, some of the most discerning chefs
around the world rely on The Chef’s Garden for ingredients.

We are excited to Spotlight some great products with two area Chef’s from Deep Plate.  The Chef’s Garden website is a great resource for sustainable agriculture and products for your menus. Please visit their site.  www.chefs-garden.com

Stephen Spyrou, Chef Owner, Vertigo Food Services, Dayton, OH

Amuse
Petite Carrot with Carrot Top “Paint”

Appetizer
Broccoli Panna Cotta with Cheddar Frico, and Baccon

Soup/Salad
Potato and Garlic Chive Soup
Petite Garden Collage Salad with Radish, Pine Nuts, Local Honey and Lemon Vinaigrette

Pasta
Orecchiette “Carbonara” with Petite Radish, White Turnips, and Petite Rainbow Swiss Chard

Entrée
Assorted Small Root Vegetables en Papillote with Roasted Romano Beans

Next:

David Dovell, Executive Chef, Medallion Club, Westerville, OH

Seared Ahi Tuna & Heirloom Tomato-Olive Jam, Petite Cucumber with Bloom

Tempura Shrimp with Marinated Sea Spears, Sriracha Aioli & Black Pepper Dipping Sauce, Accompanied by Flowering Herbs & Coriander

Pan Roasted Muscovy Duck Breast with Balsamic Eggplant, Petite Squash Melange, topped with Potato Gratin & Peppercress, Red Wine Maderia Demi, Crab Stuffed Baby Bell Peppers & Popcorn Shoots

Ohio Peach Crisp with Basil Ice Cream, Fried Opal & Genovese Basil, Micro Basil Oil, Peach Puree with Candied Bacon

Special thanks to our Chef’s and Alexandra Scheufler of The Chef’s Garden!

Spotlight-Phat (Pat) Chau, Culinary Student, Scottsdale, AZ

Tags

basil, bell peppers, bulb onion, chipotle, Confit, furikake, garlic, glaze, Gnocchi, morel, Mushrooms, Oil, pan sauce, peanuts, peppered, polenta, Potato, red dragon, red wine, reduction, rice, sauce, Sautéed, shiraz, shrimp, soy, spicy, spring roll, steak, stewed, Stuffed, sweet, tomato, tomatoes, vegetable, Wasabi

Currently working as a cook at Casino Arizona, Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona

Born in the country of Vietnam, my father is half Chinese half Vietnamese and my mother is Vietnamese.  At the age of 2, my family immigrated to the United States and ended up in Wichita, Kansas.  From there we moved to a small town called Liberal, Kansas where I spent the early years of my childhood.  With a brief year spent in Rockport, Texas, my family moved out to Southern California, where I have lived for the past 20+ years.  In April of 2009 I moved Glendale, Arizona.

Straight out of college I entered the Real Estate Industry and spent the next 5 years doing Escrow transactions.  Very boring work and if you don’t know what Escrow is, you don’t need to, until you buy a house.  After 5 years, I did not want to continue down that career path, so I quit.  In the next few years, not knowing what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, I bounced around a few jobs and ended up a Transportation Logistics manager in 2007.  In 2009, the company moved me out to Arizona to manage a small office and a team of drivers. 

At the end of 2009, I did some soul searching and realized want I really wanted to do in life.  My passion has always been in the kitchen.  My parents had a brief stint in the restaurant business, but worried that it would be a life of hard work for me, so they steered me clear of that industry.  However, the calling was there, so I promptly and respectfully resigned from my job and enrolled in culinary school at the Art Institute of Phoenix in the beginning of 2010. 

As if a huge weight has been taken off my shoulders and a heavy fog has lifted, I can clearly see my path.  Words cannot describe the overwhelming feeling of happiness you get when you realized that you have found your passion.  I now have a sense of where I’m going, I have clear aspirations, goals and my dream is now a reality.  Not to say that changing careers and starting over has been easy.  Currently, I work 50 hours a week at Talking Stick Resort, which is a part of Casino Arizona in Scottsdale, Arizona and go to school 20 hours a week, not including homework assignments.  I am in the beginning stages of my new journey, and it is filled with hard work, low pay, long hours and I still have to go to school in the morning, but I would not change it for anything.

Even though I am at the beginning of my career and have mountains of experience to climb.  I don’t consider myself just a culinary student.  I believe that I am already far beyond that, and I plan on making leaps and bounds in my culinary career.  I have always been really good at a lot of things, but never great at anything.  I plan on being great at this.

 

potato gnocchi in a spicy chipotle tomato sauce with basil oil

vegetable spring roll with red dragon sauce and peanuts

furikake seasoned rice stuffed shrimp with a wasabi soy glaze

sautéed morel mushrooms with polenta, garlic and sweet bulb onion confit and red wine reduction

peppered steak with stewed tomatoes, sautéed bell peppers and mushrooms on top of rice and shiraz pan sauce

Good Luck Pat!

 

 

Spotlight-Lucky Leaf Gardens-Dessert Course

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Apple-fig, Bauscher, Bouk Management, Bradley Labarre CEC, Caramel, chef, Chervil, Chocolate, Concord, Deep Plate, Executive Chef, Facebook, house-made, ice cream, Local, Lucky Leaf Gardens, Micro, NC, red raspberry, sauces, Spotlight, Tafelstern, tart, vanilla

Bradley Labarre CEC, Executive Chef, Bouk Management, Concord, NC

 

 

 

Apple-fig tart with house-made vanilla ice cream and choice of sauces (red raspberry, chocolate and caramel) featuring local micro chervil by Lucky Leaf Gardens

Spotlight-Lucky Leaf Gardens-Entrée Course

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Bauscher, Beet Fluid Gel, Charlotte, chef, Deep Plate, Executive Chef, Facebook, Myers Park Country Club, NC, Roasted Beet and Micro Mustard Green Salad, Scott Craig, Spotlight, Tafelstern, Warm Beef Short Rib Torchon wrapped in Brioche

Scott Craig, Executive Chef, Myers Park Country Club, Charlotte, NC

 

Warm Beef Short Rib Torchon wrapped in Brioche, Roasted Beet and Micro Mustard Green Salad, Beet Fluid Gel

Spotlight-Lucky Leaf Gardens-Salad Course

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Anson Mills, Applewood, Ba Ba, bacon, Bauscher, Blood Orange, Blue Cheese, buckwheat lettuce, Carr Valley, chef, Deep Plate, Domenic Battistella, Executive Chef, Facebook, faro piccolo, fresh, honeycomb, Huntersville, juices, lacquered, Lucky Leaf, maple, NC, Nueske's, pomegranate, popcorn shoots, Red Rocks Cafe, reductions, Salad, Shallots, Smoked, Spotlight, squeezed, Summer, sunflower shoots, sweet pea, Tafelstern, tendrils, tobacco

Domenic Battistella, Executive Chef, Red Rocks Café, Huntersville, NC

 

Summer salad of Lucky Leaf  popcorn shoots, sweet pea tendrils, buckwheat lettuce, and sunflower shoots accompanied by Carr Valley Ba Ba Blue Cheese,  maple lacquered Nueske’s applewood smoked bacon, Anson Mills farro piccolo, honeycomb, tobacco shallots, and reductions of fresh squeezed pomegranate and blood orange juices

Spotlight-Lucky Leaf Gardens-Appetizer Course

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Apple, Asian, Brioche, champagne, Charlotte, Cherries, Dried, Foie Gras, Formal Dining Sous Chef, Gelee, Mathew Tilman, Micro, Mix, Myers Park Country Club, NC, Plumped, Poached, toasted, Torchon

Mathew Tilman, Formal Dining Sous Chef, Myers Park Country Club, Charlotte, NC

 

 

Apple Poached Foie Gras Torchon, Champagne Gelee, Plumped Dried Cherries, Toasted Brioche and Micro Asian Mix

Spotlight-Lucky Leaf Gardens

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Kate Brun, Lucky Leaf Gardens, Microgreens

Microgreens are vegetables and herbs at their first stage of growth, shortly after they sprout from their tiny seeds, and just before they grow their first set of “true leaves”.  Lucky Leaf Gardens practices organic farming on all of our products (we don’t use any pesticides, chemicals or harsh soil additives).  Our microgreens are packed with nutrients, picked fresh and delivered the same day, allowing our customers to enjoy the longest shelf life and the highest quality product.

Lucky Leaf Gardens was established in May, 2010, hoping to fill a local void in microgreens production.   After our first crop was harvested, we made one appointment with a local chef, and walked away with our first customer.  Then we tried a few more restaurants, and quickly had requests for more.   Not even a year later, and we’re custom growing for over 25 restaurants and grocers in town, and compiling requests for our products outside of the regional delivery area.  

Lucky Leaf’s products are grown in soil, packing these little gems with more flavor and nutrients than through hydroponics.  We take great care and precision during harvest to improve the shelf life and overall quality and appearance of our products, allowing you to enjoy them to their fullest potential.   Each of our 40+ varieties were selected by chefs and culinary experts for their specific needs – if it’s not on our list, we’ll attempt to grow it for you – a true benefit to working directly with your grower.  

Lucky Leaf’s philosophy is to build relationships with our customers, and provide a consistent, quality-driven, custom-grown product.    We have created mixes specifically for one restaurant or another, depending on the desire as it relates to flavor or appearance.   We’re also growing custom products that focus solely on the nutritional properties.     Our customers feel comfortable knowing that they’re going to receive a top quality product that will hold up to their expectations, and will exceed their plating needs.   

Kate Brun

m: 704.773.9355

www.luckyleafgardens.com

Spotlight: Christopher Ivens-Brown

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076214, 149th Distinguished Visiting Chef, 9th DVC, Academy of Culinary Arts program, Albert Roux, Amsterdam, and Classroom Central, Anton Adelman, avocado puree, “Planet to Plate, Baby chicken Boudran, Bank of America’s Roux Fine Dining Restaurant, Bauscher, Bloom, Bowl, Braised ‘Bottom’ of New Season, Café Roux, Cannelloni, celery root, Charlotte, Chef Chris’s Maryland Crab Cakes, Chocolate, Chris Ivens-Brown, Compass Group, Cooking at Home with Chef Chris, Cooking for Change”, Corporate Executive Chef, Demetrius, Elderflower, Eurest Dining Services, Flower, Fruits of the Forest, goat cheese, Grand Restaurant Hotel, Grilled, Hermia, ice cream, Johnson & Wales, Johnson & Wales University Charlotte, Kimberly Consolo, kimberly.consolo@compass-usa.com, Lavender Sauce, Leaf 072635, Loaves and Fishes, London’s Academie de Culinaire de France in 1991, Malt, Menu, Michel Roux, milk fed, Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch, Oberon’s Crown of Asparagus, olives, Peter Kromberg and Richard Shepard, Pineapple, Plate “Spiral line” 077227, platter, Pot-Pourri, potatoes, Prosciutto, Provencal, Providence, Pucks Enchanted, Rainbow Trout, RI, rieling, Rose, Roux Restaurant Group, Roux’s, Salad, Sorbet, Spotlight, Spring, Stoli Doli, sustainability, sustainable foods, Tafelstern, The American Heart Association, The Duke Mansion, The Make-A-Wish Foundation, The Restaurant at Hurlingham Club in London, Titania, Tortellini, Truffle, Veal, VP Culinary Development, Whispering Woodland Mushroom Elixir, www.chefcib.com, www.dukemansion.com/, Zucchini

Spotlight:   Chris Ivens-Brown

VP Culinary Development & Corporate Executive Chef, Eurest Dining Services

Chris Ivens-Brown is Vice President of Culinary Development and Executive Chef for Compass Group, Eurest Dining Services, as well as a local celebrity in the city of Charlotte. Chef Chris’s passion for advocating culinary sustainability has been very apparent over the past six years. Chris’s dedication to raising awareness and promoting sustainable solutions for both sea and land based food supplies has led Compass Group, one of the largest food service companies in the world to adopt sustainable food practices. Chris has made it his mission to educate the food industry, as well as the home cook, about simple and effective methods for cooking and eating fresh, seasonable, and sustainable foods.

Education: Graduated from the Academy of Culinary Arts program at London’s Academie de Culinaire de France in 1991; additional training with Anton Adelman, Albert Roux, Michel Roux, Peter Kromberg and Richard Shepard.

Culinary experience: Apprenticed with Roux Restaurant Group and Academie de Culinaire de France, 1985 to 1994; spent 1993-1994 with Albert Roux in Amsterdam at the Grand Restaurant Hotel/Café Roux; executive chef at The Restaurant at Hurlingham Club in London, 1994-1995; moved to Charlotte, NC in 1995 as executive chef manager of Bank of America’s Roux Fine Dining Restaurant, Roux’s first in the United States; named vice president of culinary development of Compass Group in 2002. 

In his spare time, Chris has hosted two successful seasons of Cooking at Home with Chef Chris, with a guest line-up including sports, government and media celebrities. Chris has also had the honor of cooking for a myriad of celebrities and public figures, including Phil Collins, Martha Stewart and Queen Elizabeth. In the community, Chris donates considerable time and culinary talent to numerous fundraising events and charitable organizations including; Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch, The Make-A-Wish Foundation, The American Heart Association, Loaves and Fishes, and Classroom Central. 

Chef Chris has recently been named as the 149^th Distinguished Visiting Chef for Johnson & Wales, Providence, RI. In April, 2009, he was recognized as the 9^th DVC at Johnson & Wales University Charlotte. Chris is in the process of completely his book “Planet to Plate, Cooking for Change”and  developing a National TV show that promotes sustainability. Chris travels to his hometown in the UK, every six weeks to spend time with his amazing daughter, Sophie.

Featured Menu:

 A Mid Spring Night’s Dream

April 24^th, 2009

The Duke Mansion – www.dukemansion.com/

Passed Hors d’oeuvres

The Confused Lovers

Helena - Sumac roasted lamb, pea puree and eucalyptus foam

Lysander - Cucumber crowns, blue cheese and bacon

Demetrius - Chef Chris’s Maryland Crab Cakes

Hermia - Baby chicken Boudran, avocado puree

Sokol Blosser, Evolution #9, 12^th Edition

White Blend, Dundee Hills Oregon

 Dinner

Whispering Woodland Mushroom Elixir

Provencal and Goat Cheese Tortellini

Sokol Blosser, Meditrina, 5^th Edition

Syrah, Zinfandel, Pinot Noir Blend, Dundee Hills, Oregon

 

Oberon’s Crown of Asparagus

Spring Truffle Salad, Prosciutto Rose

B.R. Cohn Chardonnay, 2007

Sonoma County, California

Grilled Rainbow Trout

Pucks Enchanted Zucchini Flower

B.R. Cohn Chardonnay, 2007

Sonoma County, California

 

Elderflower Sorbet

Fruits of the Forest, laced in rieling

Braised ‘Bottom’ of New Season milk fed Veal Cannelloni

Crushed new season Potatoes and Olives, celery root

B.R. Cohn Cabernet Sauvignon, 2006

North Coast, California

 

Pineapple Titania Pot-Pourri

Spicy Lavender Sauce, Jeweled Stoli Doli ice-cream, Chocolate Malt shot

Vanfi Rosa regale Brachetto d’acqui

Italy NV

 

Triple Certified coffee by Pura Vida and Artisan teas by Mighty Leaf tea available upon request.

 

 

For more information on Christopher Ivens-Brown, visit www.chefcib.com or

Contact Kimberly Consolo –  kimberly.consolo@compass-usa.com