Brandon Johns is the executive chef and co-owner of
Vinology, wine bar and restaurant on Main Street in Ann Arbor. I met with him
last week to talk about his passion for local food and how he highlights local
ingredients at Vinology.
Chef Brandon says that he started seeking out local foods
because they are simply the freshest, most flavorful ingredients available. No
tomato picked green and shipped from California can possibly compete with a
truly vine-ripe juicy red wonder picked less than 24 hours ago. Shopping
seasonally also lets him vary menu items every couple of weeks. He doesn’t try
to coax life out of asparagus in October; instead, he’ll feature winter squash
instead – just coming into its peak.
To get his local ingredients, Chef Brandon often visits the
farmers’ markets in both Saline and Ann Arbor every day they are open, as well
as some individual farms. If this sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it
is.
“I do enjoy it,” he told me. “I like talking with the
producers and hearing what looks good this week and what new things I can
expect soon. I used to just dash in, pick up my ingredients, and leave, but
it’s getting to the point where it takes me half an hour to pick up a box of
produce!” And at least the farmers’ markets are close by and bring a number of
local vendors together – otherwise, he’d also be spending endless hours just trying
to locate producers of individual items.
Part of our goal at Eat Local Eat Natural is to help ease
some of the time investment for chefs like Chef Brandon by researching local
meat, egg, and dairy producers, vetting the products for quality and
sustainable growing practices, and offering “one-stop shopping” for several
locally-produced foodstuffs.
One of the difficulties remains the way we restaurant
patrons order meat. Certain cuts are far more popular than others – think filet
mignon vs. chuck roast. But there are only so many servings of these preferred
cuts per cow or pig, so a restaurant can eat up the entire local supply of,
say, tenderloins long before the rest of the meat is used. Chef Brandon gets
around this, in part, by finding delicious ways of serving less well-known cuts
of meat, such as making his own sausage.
In September, Chef Brandon held a special “100-Mile Dinner”
event. Everything but the salt, pepper, and olive oil came from within 100
miles – not a terribly difficult task, he assured me. The event was very well
attended, and guests raved about the food. Chef Brandon says the upcoming
Harvest Celebration Dinner (Nov. 12, 7pm) will also feature nearly 100% local ingredients.
Contact Vinology for reservations, and tell Chef Brandon you love to Eat Local,
Eat Natural!
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