Is it the middle of winter? Nope. The end of April and beginning of May are the hardest two weeks for a restaurant like ours, working to promote seasonal and local food in a climate with a pretty short growing season. The ground is no longer frozen, but nothing has started to grow. Michael Docter’s spring parsnips have been harvested and used up (mostly by us). All the winter storage crops (carrots, beets, etc) are done.
During these two weeks, we reach about 40-50% local on the menu. You’ll see us working heirloom beans from Baer’s Best in Maine, cheddar cheese from Grafton, VT, winter tomatoes from Backyard Farms in Maine, early green-house greens. Ayr’s dreaming up a shoyu daikon radish sandwich we’re going to launch next Wednesday. And on the 3pm special menu we’re running baked potatoes from Prince Edward Island, Canada.
In a week or two we’re expecting the first asparagus from Hadley, MA. I can’t wait!
