Gardens are now showing signs of new growth, with seeds you may have planted a few weeks ago now reaching upward, struggling to escape the soil and reach toward the sun. What that means for us is delicious fresh produce on our plates at home, and diners will relish farm-to-table fare in area restaurants, whether it’s for takeout due to coronavirus or dining in, albeit at a distance.
Back when farm-to-table food was just a trend, 212 Market was the only game in town offering food using ingredients from nearby growers. Now, you’ll find it in countless restaurants around the city and beyond – Public House, Feed, St. John’s, Easy Bistro and Stir, just to name a few.
Back before all the self-quarantining and social distancing began – and all restaurants, hotels and resorts were open – I had the pleasure of spending a couple of nights at Barnsley Resort in nearby Adairsville, Georgia (Barnsley is currently scheduled to reopen on June 12.) While there, I experienced a brand new menu in the newly renovated Woodlands Grill and the lovely Rice House restaurant, now under a new executive chef, Nicolas Lebas, a graduate of the Sevigne Culinary Institute in France. Talk about some incredible farm-to-table food, with much of it grown on-site.
Before joining the team at Barnsley, Lebas served as the executive chef consultant for Universal Hospitality Solutions Worldwide in La Quinta, California, where he was responsible for training the culinary team and elevating quality standards. And before that he was at Kimpton Hotel Monaco’s Panzano restaurant in Denver, Colorado, and Bull & Bear at Florida’s Waldorf Astoria Orlando.
Serving the freshest of seasonal produce is important to him, and, he says, he considers it his highest priority. It’s a common sight seeing him out in the expanded Barnsley gardens, checking on what’s growing for the week’s menu.