Great Meals

This weekend I shifted from bagging the leaves in the yard, to raking them onto a tarp and dragging them out to the road. We are now at the “tapping the leaves” stage of Fall, but the tree canopy still has plenty of leaves to give back to the earth. The 86-degree heat partially made the decision for me.

The air was considerably cooler at the Culinary Vegetable Institute, up near Lake Erie in Milan, Ohio yesterday. Members of EO Columbus traveled there to enjoy to enjoy an evening together. The CVI is essentially the R&D lab of the Chef’s Garden, a niche wholesale vegetable distributor led by the Farmer Lee Jones. At some point (in the mid-1980s, I think), the Jones family farm was on the brink of bankruptcy and foreclosure. They decided to try a different approach that was something of a “Hail Mary” attempt at turning the enterprise around. Instead of producing commodity crops for low margins, they decided to explore a wide range of niche crops, selling them at high margins to Michelin-starred fine dining establishments around the world.

Elite chefs from around the world travel to Huron county to play in the CVI kitchen and sample new varieties of interesting fruits and vegetables. Farmer Lee spoke to our group last night, and one thing stood out more than anything else: flavorful vegetables tend to be more nutritious. When your customer base is made up of the world’s best restaurants, flavor is everything. It turns out that replenishing the soil with a wide range of cover crops and other regenerative farming techniques ensures there will be more micronutrients in the vegetables, and more flavor.

Chef Jamie Simpson delivered an outstanding meal to our group. I have no professional culinary training, and I’m not a food critic. But it is hard to imagine a higher standard of cooking technique applied to a meal. And the ingredients were off-the-charts outstanding (including the beef for the Beef Wellington - yes, they serve proteins, even though their focus is on the vegetables). The highlight for me was the dessert - a Black Sesame Cake, paired with Grilled Eggplant Ice Cream, Basil, Potato and Red Pepper. When I saw this item on the printed menu, I immediately thought “This is an homage to Baba Ganoush,” one of my favorite summer dishes. Tiny sprigs of basil were placed on the eggplant ice cream (eggplant puree was combined with a creme anglaise ice cream base, so it had some sweetness). The potato was an ultra-thin waffle-cut potato chip, with dark chocolate brushed on one side of the chip. Lastly, the red bell pepper was somehow (no idea the technique) incorporated into a caramel sauce that complemented the cake and ice cream.

This meal will certainly stand as one of my favorite dining experiences. I’ve been fortunate to have enough of these special nights that I recognized it as it was happening. The most special meals are not solely about the food. They are very much about the people with whom you are experiencing it, the atmosphere, and even the circumstances of the days leading up to that moment. In this case I was at the end of a very packed 4-week stretch on my calendar, where each day felt like every hour was committed to a specific task. Last night was the first time in quite a while where I felt I could relax - and I was able to do so with people I have known and admired for a long time. The air was cool, the night sounds magnificent.

Like comedy, for a meal to be extra special, there often needs to be an element of surprise. In this case, I drove to Milan with minimal expectations. I knew that I liked Farmer Lee Jones, but had never heard of the CVI or Jamie Simpson. Cruising up the nondescript gravel driveway, I was not expecting the beautiful building, or any of the food that would be served.

The CVI is just two hours from Granville. Put together a group and book a seating. You will not be disappointed.

Sunday Supper

This week I continue to celebrate eggplant. The Spiced Roasted Eggplant is simple, and wonderful. This White Chicken Chili is something to explore as the air gets cooler in the week ahead. These Black Sesame Rice Krispie Treats are a perfect homage to last night’s dessert.

Sunday Music

This week’s music recommendations are inspired by the playlist I enjoyed on the drive home from Milan last night. Here’s a vintage video of Martin Sexton performing Glory Bound. Here’s The Police doing their thing just 43 short years ago in England. And here are the Talking Heads back in their heyday. Enjoy!

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Have a great week ahead!  You can do anything you set your mind to. Let me know how I can help.


Peace & Love,