Valley meats, produce, alcohol and more… at the Taverne de la Ferme in Ormstown, head chef Mathieu Dugas has made it his goal to include as many such products as possible on his menu. Dugas says that while the goal isn’t to have a 100-per cent local offering, he is trying to use as many homegrown products as possible. He works with an array of producers, creating close working relationships with many.
The ingredients come before the menu. Dugas explains that he “starts with the producers and what they have, and then I create the menu. We do have to change the menu pretty regularly, which can be a challenge, but it’s also good because it forces us to be creative.”
The constant changes in the menu mean close attention to the budget must be paid. Depending on what products they’re bringing in, the price of shopping locally can fluctuate. Luckily, they have the freedom to adjust a dish as needed to keep the menu affordable. One of the biggest costs is the labour it takes to prepare the food: “Since we’re using fresh products, we’re not getting premade sauces or things like that, you know; we’re cooking everything from scratch, so there is a lot more labour involved,” Dugas says.
His relationships with local producers involve dialogue between producer and consumer. He shares that he has learned about products that he’s never used before through these conversations. “I’ll say that I would like some kind of special variety of a vegetable, and then they’ll come back to me with something that I didn’t even know existed,” he says, adding that this is especially exciting, working with unconventional foods and flavour combinations.
Dugas sources red Wagyu Akaushi beef from Rapid Bay Farms in Ormstown, which is run by Stephen Borland. This is the only red Wagyu herd in Canada. Recently, Borland visited the Taverne and says that seeing his products on the menu “is really a good feeling. My hat’s off to them.” He says it is exciting to learn just how much local produce is on the menu at the Taverne. “I noticed this time especially; they have a long list of local producers on their menu. It’s pretty impressive.”
Of course, seeking out new products can take time. The biggest challenge for Dugas is that schedules are very different for local producers, compared to wholesalers who have the same delivery schedule every day. He sometimes drives directly to farms to pick up his orders. Otherwise, he says there is no downside. “What we get in return for it is definitely worth it,” he says.
The region is a driving force for the kitchen’s creativity. “Our goal is to showcase our region. We are in a very agricultural area, so having a restaurant in the middle of this area, it just feels right for us to use what grows right around us,” Dugas says, adding, “Why order like bell peppers that come from Spain or from Vietnam or whatever, when we can get them just around the corner?” The environmental impact of buying locally is noted also: they are sourcing products from down the road, not across the planet. “To us it just feels like the right thing to do,” he says.
For Dugas, buying local requires year-round dedication. He reminds people that when a community commits to buying local, it really supports the regional economy, and “Everybody benefits from that.”