Loading ...Reading the bit in the aforementioned Sheepless article where he talks about how The Linkery “would love for you to open another one around the corner” really resonated with some things I’ve been pondering lately about the growth of San Diego restaurants in this recession.
As background: By 2008 or so, the Linkery was fairly well known in town for our commitment to sourcing produce from local farms and meat from independent farmers who raised animals right. We were hardly the first to carry this banner, though when Region restaurant closed perhaps we afterwards became the most prominent in the center city.
The Linkery at New Roots Farm, January 2010
At Wingshadows Hacienda, 2007
In those years, it seemed like most serious restaurants at least had to make the choice about whether to be farm-to-table in produce: diners and the media were asking these questions. It was really great for all of us, as neighbors and eaters, that so many new restaurants in the 2006-2008 years chose to pursue getting the best produce from the best local farms. (Off the top of my head, I think of Alchemy and Spread and Sea Rocket and Ritual Tavern and Starlite and J6, but there are lots of others.) With such an explosion of quality ingredients throughout the region, one had the sense that San Diego was really coming into its own and that we would soon live in a food town that could be as worthwhile as first-tier dining regions like the Bay Area, North Carolina, and Georgia.
Pastured cows on the farm operated by Farm 255 restaurant in Athens, Georgia
Since that time, even though the market has contracted due to the larger economy, for the first time in my lifetime it’s become really quite feasible to operate a high-volume San Diego restaurant offering principally local produce, grass-fed meat, and local pastured poultry. The growth of farm and distribution infrastructure, including complex operations like Suzie’s Farm, has finally brought this to fruition.
This is a huge moment for San Diego dining, when finally we can develop restaurants on the kind of food that great restaurant cities are built on — real food that tastes better, is more nutritious, and is better for the economy and the ecology. It was because of this wonderful inflection point that we jumped at the opportunity to open El Take It Easy, knowing that we could at last serve a menu comprising world-class ingredients without having to spend a lot of effort developing the necessary infrastructure. This moment should be a great opportunity for many other restaurants and eaters as well, to hop on this moving train of delicious real food that is suddenly easily available.
Lettuce from Suzie’s Farm, grown in the City of San Diego
And yet.
And yet, at this moment that we should finally see an explosion of great and locally-farmed ingredients being served in restaurants across the city and across all price ranges, it seems like the consciousness of the city is going the other way, and is now trending toward ignoring the provenance of what we eat. Gleaning the many new “New American” gastro-type places that are becoming popular, one senses dwindling interest in the best local produce, and no interest at all in pastured meats.
That’s what I notice, at sense, but perhaps I’m missing something. Has any restaurant started serving grass-fed meat this year? I can’t think of any fixed place, I can only think of the MIHO Gastrotruck (though, thank Gaia for these guys pushing the quality of local street food far, far forward). And as far as I know you can’t buy a local pastured chicken in any San Diego restaurant where the chef’s name is not Max Bonacci. Even when it comes to fish, it seems there’s less local yellowtail or local grouper on menus now, and more and more farmed cod and trout and salmon (fed corn and soybeans, no doubt).
Max Bonacci with poultry (and more) farmer Curtis Womach
Anybody who’s looked into where their food comes from, or has come to really trust their palate, or is serious about nutrition, knows the myriad reasons why industrially farmed food is inferior to real food in terms of flavor, human well-being, and environmental and economic health. This is why the real food movement was growing so much just a couple years ago. But is it the case now, with fewer dollars to spend, that we are so reluctant to give up the luxury of eating meat with every meal, that we’d rather go back to pretending that commodity meat is worth eating? Or at least, is it the case that the incentive to eat better quality food is being overwhelmed by the fear of not being able to afford to eat out as much as we want?
I wonder if that’s what happening — if we as a community are surprisingly ready at this point to stop, or at least slow, our pursuit for better food, made from the best ingredients. If we want to eat better, it has to come from us as diners: for the most part, restaurant operators tend to offer what the market is ready to buy. Yes, at the Linkery/EZ (along with a few other notable places in town) we try to do it a different way than most places, where we generally offer what we believe in and then encourage our community to believe in it too — a method which both makes us the target for a lot of personal derision and also makes it harder to sustain the business financially*. I don’t think we as a community are likely to get many more restaurants to sign up for that program. Nonetheless there are plenty of chefs and restaurant owners who would prefer to work with these ingredients, but are stymied because they believe that their customers just won’t pay for them, or won’t understand what they are paying for.
So, if we want to eat joyously, real-farmed food when we go to our neighborhood place, we have to ask for it. We can demand that we not be served feedlot beef, even if it is being disguised by being called “natural” or “certified” or “heritage” or even “Meyer” or “Niman” or “Brandt” (yes, all of those are feedlot beef). Demand to eat eggs that come from chickens that live like chickens, not that exist as part of some billion-egg-per-year factory. Demand to be served meat chickens that were raised by people that we could call on the phone; and greens that come from farmers who live in our area, and tomatoes that taste like tomatoes, peaches that taste like peaches, and fish that tastes like anything other than bland fish fat. Demand better. Demand the best.
Michael dressing turkeys at Womach Ranch, Thanksgiving 2009
Yes it will be more expensive, and it may mean that we eat out less and eat at home more. Is that a loss? I think not, particularly since we now can buy such great food at the farmers markets, on par with what the best restaurants can get — and of course, the best food at farmers markets is a whole lot cheaper than even bad restaurant food.
I’d sure like to see us as a city revive the pressure to make more restaurants step up to that plate, of great local produce, pastured meats, outdoor chicken eggs, locally caught fish. It would make our city a better place to eat, and to live, and it would make our communities economically better off. And, frankly, we at the Linkery would like you to increase the number of our serious competitors, ’cause it’s fun to have more company in what we do, and ’cause we’d like to have more places we want to eat.
Chelsea and friend at Tierra Miguel
* You know what makes money? French fries. Particularly if they come with truffle oil and/or aioli. We don’t serve “an order of fries” at the Linkery, because that wouldn’t make any sense with our cuisine. But it really would be profitable if we did, as Russet potatoes cost a hell of a lot less than green beans. In December 2010, we changed our cuisine a bit and now serve french fries, from Kennebec potatoes. They’re tasty, and they help pay the bills. I eat them. C’est la vie.
I think the biggest obstacle to the principle you’re writing about, Jay, is people’s desire for familiarity wit hwhat they’re eating. You’re right that it just doesn’t make sense that people wouldn’t enjoy locally grown food and healthily raised meats with terroir-influenced flavors, more than the ambivalent factory-farmed products of industrial agriculture.
Look at people’s reactions when they go to Europe–what’s the first thing they say? “Oh, the food is amaaazing.” It’s not only because their food was doused in a sauce known only to the French or the Italians. It’s because that sauce, and the stuff under it, is grown according to local values. (Traditionally, anyway…I’m not trying to get into a state-of-the-EU address.)
But that’s when they’re traveling–their minds are open by virtue of being away from home. When they’re at home, they want the flavors of home. And what they–we–generally eat at home is factory-farmed food. The best among us eat produce we buy at Whole Foods, which, though grown under certific “organic” conditions, was picked before ripe and stored in refrigeration for a good while before it landed on the shelf.
I think there’s a number of diners who love the Linkery the way they love going to church on Christmas and Easter…or whatever moral equivalent you care to substitute. It makes them feel good about themselves and it’s a little culinary adventure. But eating local food is not yet a way of life for them. So when they’re tired at the end of the day and don’t feel like cooking, they’re not looking for an adventure…they want something tasty and familiar.
Can’t blame them. But we can try to educate them. The Farmers’ Market dinner a few weeks ago was a great step in that direction. We’re trying to let folks know that the food we serve isn’t our food–it’s really their food, grown for them by their neighbors. They can get the same peaches, or pastured chicken, that we serve, and prepare them exactly the way their mom used to, and it’s going to taste just like mom used to make, only way better because it was practically just picked.
I think we need that “try this at home” factor as much as we need restaurant competitors.
You’re right, of course. It’s a lot easier to start eating real food at home than at restaurants — it’s a lot cheaper, for one, and it’s super accessible: there’s a good farmer’s market or two every day of the week in San Diego, and one near your house every week.
I never think of the idea that when people eat real food at the Linkery, that it’s like a joyous little timeout, I always think of it in context of eating real food all the time, like, you cook good stuff at home, so when you go out, you expect a restaurant to use the same quality ingredients. But as you point out, that’s probably not true.
I’d be super happy to see people eating real food at home, as well at restaurants other than the Linkery. I’d be happier if the Linkery were run out of business because people we eating so much good, real food at home and other restaurants, that there was no longer a market for us. It just makes me sad, in the meantime, whenever I see people choosing to eat industrial food, when real food is available and so much better in flavor and health.
I wish we had a better way to educate people, all we can really do now is put stuff out on the internet, and feed the people who walk through our doors. Obvs the better we are at both, it will help. But I wonder if it’s enough.
It also strikes me, Che, that if you’re right about most people treating farm-to-table as like going to church on Christmas and Easter, than the reason we stopped seeing a growth of farm-driven cuisine in town is because we reached a capacity enough to host everyone twice a year.
If that’s true, that’s a shame, because the biggest joy of eating real food comes when you do it a lot, and get to feel the taste and health and community benefits of it.
I wish I could get everyone to go the farmer’s market, and to the potlucks at La Milpa, and the farm tours at Suzie’s, and get to know the people and the flavors that make this city and community so awesome. Not because of how that would help support the farms, though that’s important too, but because it would make people so happy if they got to eat this food all the time — particularly now that it’s so accessible. And it makes me happy when our neighbors live well, eat well, are happier for it.
This is a powerful conversation which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed over my morning coffee. Clearly we need to bring this discussion to more people (though I know you have an amazing fan base)…I look fwd to El Take it Easy apologies for my overwhelming delay in getting in there. I am psyched you included Spread in your post, they have long been overlooked in this town and their food is truly unique and truly market driven. My recent experience w/ health related “veganism” and the process of eating more fruits, vegetables and very little protein has only reinforced an appreciation for the things you are battling for. A close friend recently became a vegan; a short time before she had expressed over the top empathy for my diet change bordering on pity. Now she is feeling more healthy than she has ever felt and apologized.
I look fwd to supporting your message, as best I can, in the future.
Thanks for your thoughtful article (and the tip on the Gastrotruck). We definitely have a long way to go. It is especially sad that our children are losing the connection to real food. Although not as committed as the Linkery and El Take It East, there are a few bright spots worth noting. Farm House Cafe is one of out favorites. Burger Lounge brings grass fed burgers and other organic choices at good prices. However, we were disappointed that the new Bankers Hill Bar and Restaurant did not have more organic and local ingredients. Thanks for all that you do.
Thanks so much for writing this entry, Jay. It’s so encouraging to see that real effort is being made for such quality ingredients that lend to quality lifestyles.
Best wishes,
Billy