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Last Thursday evening at ACME Chophouse, managing chef Traci Des Jardins hosted a lovely holiday tasting party featuring delectable organic fowl and pork, organic/biodynamic wines, and a panel of speakers that included ACME's executive chef Thom Fox (pictured at left), Jim Reichardt of Sonoma County Poultry/The Heritage Turkey Project, Judie Geise of Marin Sun Farms, and Sam Mogannam of Bi-Rite Market. The panelists each discussed the growing pains of their sustainable businesses during a time when the terms "sustainable" and "green" weren't hip.
ACME was one of the first restaurants in town to feature local grassfed beef, sustainable seafood, and organic produce on its menu and have paved the way for the fledgling sustainable movement. For the past decade, Bi-Rite's co-owner Sam Mogannam has been committed to selling local and sustainable meats, dairy, bread, and produce and has now gone one step further than the competition by growing Bi-Rite's produce on a third of an acre in Sonoma.
More details after the jump!
Photos by Liz Einbinder
Jim Reichardt and Judie Geise both talked about the difficulties of finding a small poultry processing plant amongst numerous industrialized factories. Both businesses currently have to trek all the way to Sacramento to process their fowl, which sparked some shout-outs from notable Sacramento residents, Sonny Mayugba of Bite Club and Adam Pechal of Tulí Bistro. Jim's Heritage Turkeys can be ordered (PDF) in advance for Thanksgiving, and his Liberty Ducks can be delivered to San Francisco, the East Bay, and Sonoma and Napa Counties. Marin Sun Farms meats are available at many Bay Area retail locations, as well as at the Ferry Plaza and Marin farmers markets.
The featured wines and meats were flavorful and wonderfully paired, but the biggest hit seemed to be the sinfully delicious Scalloped Potatoes with Roth Käse Surchoix, which chef Thom Fox kept saying was really easy to make. (But not easy to pronounce.) We will be trying to replicate these potatoes for our Thanksgiving meal in the Midwest, along with the Quince Chutney and Pepper and Anise Huckleberry Relish. We have pre-ordered our turkey at a small Northern Indiana farm that our confused family has been instructed to pick up at the Menards parking lot on November 8.
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Is that plate of coldcuts the entire entree? I'm all for presentation, but they might as well just put a peach on a plate for that one.
The meat does look a little lonely. There were two plates of meat served per person, along with various side dishes and sauces that were passed around. (The food didn't quite sop up the numerous glasses of Prosecco and wine though.)