Following the Trend

Writer / Kristen Parker
Photographer / Forrest Mellott

Across the country, restaurants are trending toward using local suppliers and farm-to-table offerings. In Greenwood, several locally owned and operated restaurants are no exception to the trend. From their main staples of meat and veggies, all the way to their condiments and desserts, restaurants in Greenwood are looking to their neighbors to meet the supply demands of their restaurants.

Why Source Locally?
While there are many reasons to source locally, each restaurant has their individual reasons for doing so.

For Revery, in Old Towne Greenwood, it is a variety of reasons. “Everyone’s trending to source locally. People want to know where their food is coming from,” said Danny Salgado, executive chef at Revery. “Plus there’s less carbon footprint. And it’s always just good business to support local companies.”

“Plus when you work with a local supplier, you can pinpoint exactly what you want,’ owner Mark Henrichs added. “And they are open to doing what you want…whether it’s a certain cut of meat or something else.”

Focusing more on what fresh product brings to the table is the local-sourcing philosophy of Bistro 226 in Bargersville. “Customers just respond to fresh, custom-made food,” said Dave Woodman, general manager of Bistro 226.

“The taste of food is all about freshness. It’s always freshest when you buy local,” said Bistro 226’s head chef Shawn Ferguson. “I want people to be wowed by the food; if they can’t get something at the grocery that tastes fresh, I want to be able to provide that for them here.”

Paul Zoellner, owner of Zoey’s Pizzeria, just off 135, realized that sourcing locally helps create his restaurant’s identity. Zoellner explained, “There’s a lot of commercialized restaurants here and they do great in what they do. However, there’s no identity to them. Here in Greenwood and Center Grove, because we live in an agricultural area, we have a great opportunity to source locally. What an exciting opportunity for mom and pop places! We are in the secondary market…we can’t afford to be on 135. It’s too expensive so instead we’ll be in places like little strip centers. Many places are overlooked because of their location. I encourage people to look for those small independents who source locally. It’s important to know that those places are there.”

Local Sourcing Not Without Difficulty
However popular it may be, this trend of local sourcing does not come without its share of difficulties. “The problem with being consistent to local suppliers is that the availability dictates the pricing,” Ferguson. “When something is market value and the price goes high, it becomes too expensive for the customers.”

In order to combat this problem, Bistro 226 utilizes small amounts of fresh, local fare into their Weekend Specials. While creating their regular menus seasonally, according to what is typically available, they do add specialty items for weekends only; these are dictated by the items local farms or producers have for purchase.

This addresses another issue with local sourcing: local farms with a smaller production cannot meet the on-going demands of the restaurants. “Some of the smaller farms won’t have enough product for us; they can’t always keep up with our demand,” Salgado said.

Revery, however, has discovered how to turn this into a positive. “We can change our menu as needed; using local ingredients allows us to cook seasonally, weekly or even daily if needed,” Henrichs said. “Our menus are printed locally on brown paper grocery bags so we can change them as often as needed, based on what is available.”

One other major issue prevents local farms from producing what restaurants need. “Bottom line: we do live in Indiana; the weather doesn’t allow us to grow year-round,” Henrichs said.

In such cases, restaurants must turn to local vendors with access to produce from other parts of the country instead of locally to provide them with the freshest possible ingredients. “You have to be prepared either way, and unless you had your own indoor garden that’s the only way you get past the cold Indiana weather. You have to push your vendors to send out the best product they can, and that’s where that relationship with your vendor is important. Zoellner said, “They have to understand that vision and work with you.”

For the Experience
One last thing that locally sourcing restaurant owners want customers to understand about their business is that they need to have a different mindset when looking to them. “There’s a learning curve to what the customers think: we aren’t the cheapest but the experience will be 10 times better. We want the food to be an experience and not just for consumption only,” Zoellner said.

Home
Article 1: Fresh Food is Nothing New
Article 2: Changing Grocery Stores
Article 3: Following the Trend
Article 4: Cookin’ Up Farm Fresh Flavors
Article 5: Cars & the Cafe