Top 10 Farm to Table Restaurants - 2009

So the list is out from Epicurious.com for the Top 10 Farm to Table restaurants of 2009. This is a group of restaurant that have been recognized for their commitment to promoting local product and sustainable foods. Check out the ones in your area and if your favorite restaurant didn't make the list , talk to the chef and see how they feel about incorporating this logic into how they approach food.

Food Of Love

Tre'

http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/diningtravel/restaurants/farmtotable_intro

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Eat the Spring!

hey Friends, spring is here and I'm so excited to start to plant my fresh veggies and fruits and to get to all the farmers markets just opening. I absolutely love the http://www.eattheseasons.co.uk/ website and I recommend all of you guys go check out! I'm encouraged by all of the fresh food popping up and the fresh catch rolling in. Have a blast and get out there and get your hands in the dirt and grow something wonderful!

VEGETABLES
broccoli*, carrots, cauliflower, cucumber, jersey royal new potatoes*, leeks, lettuces & salad leaves, onions, potatoes (main crop), purple sprouting broccoli, radishes*, rhubarb*, rocket*, samphire, salsify, spinach*, spring onions*, watercress*, wild nettles*
FRUIT
bananas*[i], kiwi fruit*[i], lemons[i], oranges[i], passion fruit[i]
HERBS, FLOWERS, FUNGHI, NUTS
basil, chervil, chives*, coriander, dill, mint, mushrooms (cultivated), parsley (curly), parsley (flat-leaf), sorrel*
MEAT
beef, chicken, lamb, pork, rabbit, turkey, wood pigeon*
FISH & SEAFOOD
cockles*, cod*, coley, conger eel, crab*, dab, Dover sole, eel, john dory*, langoustine, lobster, mackerel, mussels, oysters, prawns, salmon*, scallops, sea bass*, sea trout*, shrimp*, whelks, whitebait*, winkles

http://www.eattheseasons.co.uk/

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BIN 36 - Chicago

Hey friends, I hope you have had a fantastic week because I certainly did. I have been on vacation visiting my family in Michigan and I had an amazing time. I was out with a friend last weekend in we decided to check out a restaurant in downtown Chicago he had been telling me about. The restaurant was BIN 36 a very upscale sophisticated wine and cheese bar next to the House Of Blues. This is a little different for this blog because it isn't a organic or farm to table kind of place, but I such a wonderful dining experience I thought I'd share it with you guys. I arrive about a half an hour or so ahead of my friend who was still working. I was greeted by two very nice hostess and I explained that i was waiting for a friend but he wouldn't be joining me for a bit and i wanted a little table out of the way to relax after a long train ride from Minneapolis, MN. There was some light jazzy house music in the background (which always reminds me of Chicago no matter where I am). She sat me next to a large window overlooking north Deerborn ave, which was buzzing with people coming home from work or going to a show at the House of Blues. I started with a glass of 2007 Four Vines "Naked" Chardonnay which was amazing so clean and crisp. The wine had hints of apple and white peach and finished with just a hint of citrus. Needless to say I finished that rather quickly and decided to order some of the fresh cheese that they had in a bar specifically for cheese, I ordered a 2006 BIN31 California Merlot and had it paired with Burrata a very mild cows milk cheese from Puglia, Italy and Calbral Vino, a sharp but very flavorful goats milk cheese from Murcia, Spain. The cheeses paired so perfectly with the wine and the buttery crispy thin slices of toasted baguette. The brought little pieces of paper with the description of every new wine my friend and I ordered. When he arrived we ordered a few more appetizers and shared them and talked about how amazing the wonderful city of Chicago is. We had a few more cheeses and a fig and apricot terrine as well as a bowl of assorted olives marinated in anise, orange zest, thyme, whole roasted garlic and a very lovely olive oil. We had such a wonderful time just talking and enjoying the experience that we decided to leave and take the train to the north Chicago Lincoln park neighborhood and have crepes and wine at the wonderful little French restaurant with maybe 25 seats, but I'll leave that story for another day. All i want to say is get off the beaten path and rediscover your city. You have to be willing to let go of the norm and open up your noise and smell the city and let it take you to something new and undiscovered. Food Of Love!

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