A Farm-Minded Chef

By Virginia H. Harris
Progressive Farmer Contributing Editor

Frank Stitt, clad in a white chef's coat and white ankle-length apron, offers coffee and water before sitting in the empty dining room of Highlands Bar and Grill one Friday morning in July. It's quiet, but muffled sounds of kitchen staff prepping for the evening's menu echo from the kitchens of the iconic Birmingham, Ala., restaurant.

With pleasantries attended to, he's ready to delve into his favorite topic: farms and food. Obsession with local food may seem a recent trend, but for chefs like Stitt, it's been his passion for decades.

He developed a wealth of knowledge under chefs in San Francisco and working in France, where he began to understand that good meals start on the farm. But, the seasoned chef points to a childhood in Cullman, Ala., as inspiration for his locally minded approach.

"Those are some of my fondest memories—those summer riches with my grandparents," Stitt recalls, face alight. He describes a farm that supplied the family's kitchen with fresh milk from Jersey cows, apples from bursting orchards, plump strawberries, honey flowing from buzzing hives and eggs plucked from chickens' hidden roosts.

Those memories brought Stitt back to Alabama. His three restaurants sit nestled in Birmingham's historic Five Points South district, a mere 60 miles south of Cullman and his family's roots.

Starting from Scratch. Stitt recalls his early forays to the only farmers' market in Birmingham when his first restaurant opened in 1982. Back then, variety was slim, but doing business at the market built a foundation with farmers he purchases from today.

"As I developed as a chef and as a restaurateur, my real excitement [grew] from those relationships," he recollects. "Being able to put on the menu 'Haynes Farm sweet potatoes' and 'White Truck tomatoes' ... that's something I really enjoy, and now it's better than ever."

Stitt relishes relationships with local farmers. Working with producers directly allows honest and immediate communication between chef and farmer, he says, and with no middleman, farmers retain a higher percentage of profit from sales. But even at its best, Stitt acknowledges all of his restaurants can't source 100% of their ingredients locally year-round.

Down on the Farm. That enthusiasm spills over to his staff, as well. The restaurateur owns a small farm 30 miles from the city that supplies vegetables, eggs and poultry to his restaurants. Stitt loves hosting staff there, saying many have never visited a farm before. An annual party for all restaurant employees features such standard Southern accoutrements as delicious fare, live music and dancing well into the night. However, some take a more utilitarian air. Stitt has hosted chicken-plucking parties, with roosters becoming coq au vin and hens contributing to chicken soup. In other words, an up-close-and-personal view of how food ventures from farm to kitchen to dinner plate.

"There's that circle of life," Stitt explains, "when you're a part of [it], you have more respect for those ingredients that come into the kitchen, and you put a little extra love and care into how you prepare them and how you serve them."

Advice from the Chef. With 30 years of experience, Stitt knows certain characteristics make farmers great business partners. He visits farms and works closely with farmers, and he expects a few things in return.

-Variety. Stitt encourages farmers to grow flavorful and unusual crops. He enjoys helping producers plan what crops to grow and has discovered new varieties from those who branched out from standard vegetables. He especially praises growers who look for additional revenue during winter months, pointing to greens, such as chard, and root vegetables as examples of valuable winter vegetables.

-Quality. Suffice it to say quality is a hallmark of Stitt's style, and that starts with the best ingredients. "[Farmers] have to have a real eye for quality," he explains. "That means they know bruised, overripe, poor quality is not going to work for us. We would rather have the best quality even if we have to pay a little bit more."

While he supports farmers by purchasing their products, Stitt isn't shy of discontinuing business with a farmer if the quality is not consistent. "There will be times when you have fallouts, but in my opinion, so long as you are producing a good-quality farm product, there's going to be a good market there for you."

His eye for quality isn't just a personal mantra, it's been noticed nationally. The James Beard Foundation awards, considered the highest honors for restaurants in the United States, have nominated and awarded the Southern chef individually for his exceptional taste and style since 1996. Highlands Bar and Grill has been nominated six consecutive years since 2009 for the Foundation's outstanding restaurant award.

-Communication. "You've got to have a relationship with someone where you can both be honest and count on someone," he stresses.

Farmers can provide a weekly summary to a chef or restaurant, including available products, volume, prices and delivery dates, a method Stitt uses with his suppliers.

He encourages farmers to visit restaurant kitchens to better understand how they operate and the variety, quality and quantity needed to fill the restaurant's bins and coolers.

-Prioritization. Stitt is clear about wanting to be the priority with suppliers. Small farmers can choose customers from restaurants to farmers' markets to CSAs (community-supported agriculture). While those options are great, Stitt expects to be at the top of the list to receive the best quality.

-Collaboration. Two producers, one a plant nursery and the other a peach grower, now deliver their goods together to gain savings. This kind of collaboration can help local farmers maximize returns, Stitt points out.

In another case, he recalls a former waiter who started a small dairy and needed a loan to purchase a cow. Stitt paid up front for six month's worth of milk deliveries, allowing the purchase of a new cow.

(CZ/AG)

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