Preferred Hotel Group™ Members Play It Straight From the Garden
10-20-2009
CHICAGO – October 20, 2009 – Whether it’s working with local area farmers or raising ingredients right in their own backyard, some of the finest chefs at Preferred Hotel Group™ member hotels and resorts are greening their award-winning tables across the globe. The result – cuisine that excites the palate with the use of authentic local flavors, nourishes the body and celebrates the earth’s bounty.
From Coast to Coast
Located along Georgia’s pristine coastline The Cloister at Sea Island, a member of Preferred Hotels® & Resorts, takes the relationship between farmer and chef to a whole new level. In 2006, as word spread that Sapelo Farms, a local farm run by mother-daughter team Betty Anne Lewis and Gabe Haman, was in danger of closing, Sea Island’s food and beverage team intervened with an offer the farmers couldn’t refuse. They decided to become Sapelo Farm’s best customer. Three years later, nearly 90% of the produce served in the Five-Star Georgian Room is being sourced from Sapelo Farms. Lewis and Haman work closely with Chef de Cuisine Daniel Zeal on everything from perfecting micro greens to locating rare heirloom seeds for Southern delicacies such as Sweetie Corn.
The Jefferson, a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts and Historic Hotels of America® in Richmond, Va., celebrates Old Dominion flavors in its menus for Lemaire, the historic hotel’s fine dining restaurant. Chef Walter Bundy and his culinary team tend an onsite urban garden dubbed “Bundy Farms” that yields herbs and produce for the kitchen and bar, from several varieties of basil to verbena, lavender, eggplant and cayenne peppers. Chef Bundy also relies on his relationships with as many as 15 local farmers and purveyors for the finest local products, including wildflower honey, fruit butters, micro greens, poultry, bison and that southern staple – grits.
In Highlands, N. C., Old Edwards Inn and Spa, a member of Preferred Boutique™ and Historic Hotels of America, honors the area’s local farmers and providers by highlighting them right on the menu of Madison’s Restaurant and Wine Garden. Many menu favorites created by Executive Chef Johannes Klapdohr bear the names of these valued partners, from the Dave Taylor House Salad to Barker’s Creek Fish and Grits. Chef Johannes and his team also raise their own pigs for the restaurant’s charcuterie. An image makeover of Madison’s furthers the focus on farm-to-table, exposing natural wood tables, and adjusting music and lighting to bring the ambience in line with the more relaxed and approachable seasonal culinary offerings.
Louisville, KY.’s historic Brown Hotel, a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts and Historic Hotels of America, showcased the goat cheeses of local purveyor Judy Schad of nearby Capriole Farms in a recent dinner this summer at its esteemed English Grille Restaurant. The dinner grew out of a visit the hotel’s culinary team paid to Schad’s farm a few weeks earlier. The experience, which included a tour and tasting, complemented Executive Chef Laurent Geroli’s commitment to working with local farmers and producers.
The MGM Grand Detroit, a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts, partners with local Michigan farms and purveyors to supply its signature restaurants with the finest produce, meats and chicken, creating a veritable “garden of earthly delights.” These range from the all-natural Piedmontese beef steaks and whole-fried organic chicken on the menu at Bourbon Steak to the all-natural, organic seasonal menus of Wolfgang Puck Grille.
Heading west to Colorado, The Broadmoor, a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts and Historic Hotels of America, grows many of the herbs for its 11 restaurants, including the award-winning Charles Court, under the direction of Chef Greg Barnhill. Corn, melons, peaches, strawberries, lamb and buffalo are all sourced from local farms for the historic hotel’s classic American menus.
For the new Trula restaurant at Tulsa’s historic Mayo Hotel in Oklahoma, award-winning Executive Chef Neall Bailey showcases the finest products from local farmers in menu items designed for sharing, from a lobster mac & cheese with baby greens to pan-seared diver scallops with apple-wood smoked bacon, sweet corn and green onion risotto. Meats are sourced exclusively from farms dedicated to raising animals humanely and without the use of pesticides, antibiotics, drugs or steroids. “Chef’s favorite” is a slow-cooked pork belly with natural reduction, mashed potatoes and baby greens. Formerly of The Willard Intercontinental, Chef Bailey brings to The Mayoa stellar pedigree that includes serving as host chef of the Relais & Chateaux XXXIII Annual Congress. The Mayo Hotel is a member of Historic Hotels of America.
The Houstonian, a member of Preferred Hotels & Resorts, serves locally sourced Texan produce and meats in its premier restaurant, Olivette. These include seafood fresh from the gulf – shrimp, snapper, flounder, oysters and blue crab – as well as locally grown tomatoes and pecans, and locally raised organic chicken and quail.
Near Pismo Beach in California, Dolphin Bay Resort & Spa, a member of Preferred Boutique, relies on fish and oysters from nearby Morro Bay, and obtains most of its produce – other than tomatoes grown right at the resort – from surrounding farms. Apple-fed lamb and whey-fed pork are also locally sourced. Wild mushrooms and berries are supplied by foragers who deliver their harvest to the resort’s back door when the season is in full swing. A local micro green farmer is contracted to produce specific sprouts for Dolphin Bay’s Lido Restaurant each week, and the restaurant’s cheeses and crème fraîche are all produced within 50 miles of the resort.
The new Allison Inn & Spa, a member of Preferred Boutique located in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, and its Jory Restaurant, showcases world-class Oregon Wine Country cuisine under the direction of Executive Chef Nathan Lockwood. Acclaimed local wines, microbrews and hand-crafted distilled spirits complement a menu of seasonal delights grown from the inn’s expansive estate gardens, which will yield almost 100 separate crops, from agretti and artichokes
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