Chef Izzo, of Simply Red Bistro, created the five course menu, which ranged from carrot ginger soup infused with lemon grass to braised rabbit and hand-made sweet Italian sausage with a soft polenta. To plan the menu, she started with a list of available ingredients from farmer Nathaniel Thompson.
At the event, a torrential rainstorm hit between the first and second courses, but diners remained dry under a tent and servers emerged from the barn-turned-food-prep-area with umbrella-toting assistants.
Using food available from nearby farms is nothing new to Izzo, who grew up in South Africa, where international boycotts led to reliance on locally-produced goods. So when she opened her first restaurant in Trumansburg in 2002, she says, "Using local food was naturally what I knew." Izzo now runs Simply Red Bistro at Sheldrake Point Vineyard and La Tourelle Resort and Spa.
"In the last 7 years, this area has grown by leaps and bounds," she says, explaining that in the early 2000's, finding quality local ingredients in quantities needed for restaurants was difficult in the Finger Lakes. "Now, we have all kinds of fantastic artisan cheeses, heirloom meats, lots of organic farms, and more people trying to extend the growing season."
Izzo is an entirely self-taught chef. She started in the restaurant business at 16 and eventually working her way through jobs as as a waitress, bartender, and manager. In the 1990s, she worked with the Cheesecake factory before realizing her true calling: creating inventive food with local ingredients here in central New York. "I'm 100% sure that this is what I was meant to do with my life," she says.
Learn more about Samantha Izzo from this great "Eating Ithaca" Podcast.
For future Harvest Dinner events, check out the Ithaca's Food Web calendar.
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