Farm to table dinners highlight area produce
By Tracy Ouellette
Editor
Tyler Sailsbery, executive chef and owner of The Black Sheep Restaurant in Whitewater, says he’s on a mission to educate people on where their food comes from and show them the bounty in their own backyards.
“I’m blessed, I grew up in the country,” he said. “I got to see what I ate before I ate it, people don’t get to do that today and it’s so important. I believe food should be fresh, local and simple.”
Sailsbery, an advocate of “farm to table” dining in all three of his restaurants in Whitewater, will be cooking dinner for guests at Michael Field Agricultural Institute’s Farm to Table Dinner in the Gardens on Friday, Aug. 21, using the produce grown on the grounds and local vendors for wine and protein.
“People need to know where their food comes from and this is a great way to do that – to get them connected,” Sailsbery said. “I love farm, I grew up on farms, so this is always fun for me to do. Especially since Michael Fields is all about is education as well as farming, and we love that because our mission is eating great food, community partnership and education, so this allows us to incorporate all of those things.”
Sailsbery, who also owns Fin and Hooves and Casual Joe’s, was a Food Court Wars winner on the Food Network in 2013.
According to The Black Sheep’s website, Sailsbery received some of his training through Fox Valley Technical College’s Culinary Program, and further honed his skills while working for caterers and restaurants throughout the Fox Valley. His focus on farm to table meals stems from his agricultural history – a combination of growing up on his family’s small farm and his experience with the Wisconsin FFA association. He enjoys adapting and combining French and Italian classics to provide customers with a twist on traditional favorites.
This is the first time Michael Fields is hosting a dinner like this, but Molly Roamer, marketing and communications coordinator for the institute, said the response so far has been “wonderful” and they plan on making it an annual event.
Michael Fields garden manager Christine Welcher said they’ve had a bumper crop of specialty tomatoes this year and after talking to Sailsbery, they decided to feature them in the menu with as much of the other produce from the farm as possible.
“We’ve got kale, cucumbers, a tri-colored green bean mix, dragon tongue green bean, tons of peppers, three kids of eggplant, okra, zucchini, pattypan squash, radishes, carrots and beets to work with,” she said.
Welcher is also hoping the pears will be ripe for picking by the dinner so they can be used as well. “We’re crossing our fingers to use them in our dessert or maybe a salad if they’re ripe in time. They’re getting pretty good size and the latest heat wave is helping things.”
“I’m really excited because they grow such a variety of things at Michael Fields,” Sailsbery said. “I love to do creative and different things and come up with recipes specific to the event, four courses of tomatoes sounds like such fun to me, a lot of people don’t realize tomatoes can be both savory and sweet.”
Sailsbery said one of the things he loves about putting on these farm to table dinners, he’s also doing one in Fort Atkinson in September, is that it’s a chance to offer people something they wouldn’t usually order off the menu and show them something new.
“We challenge their eating habits, so they’re trying things we wouldn’t get them to order off our regular menu. People play it safe when they do that, they order the chicken parmesan or the Alfredo and they miss out on so much!”
He also likes the chance to show people what locally grown food actually looks like, since the grocery store produce is, a great deal of the time, engineered to fit into people’s perceptions of what a vegetable should look like. Heirloom vegetables are often shaped differently and can come in a wide variety of colors with different flavor profiles. Sailsbery said working with those type of ingredients allows him to create meals with a “real” quality to them that taste “amazing.”
He said another great aspect to the farm to table dinners, is that everything is done outside and guests can watch him cook.
“Chef Tyler will be here cooking and explaining every entrée you can watch him cook, he’ll be right out there,” Roamer said.
Sailsbery said it’s just one more way to get people connected with their environment.
Michael Fields can’t produce all of the ingredients for the meal, so some of the dinner fare will be obtained from local vendors. Staller Estate Wines in Delavan will be providing the wine pairing with each course and Welcher said they are looking at Pinn-Oak Ridge Farms in Delavan to provide lamb for the protein.
Sailsbery said he liked using Staller wines whenever possible, “We really like working with them.”
The dinner
Michael Field’s Farm to Table Dinner in the Gardens begins at 6 p.m. on Aug. 21 with appetizers and garden tours given by the garden interns at the institute who have been working all summer on the grounds.
The dinner tables will be under a tent and Roamer said if a “typhoon” decided to strike that day, they would move the dinner inside the facility. Otherwise, like Sailsbery said, rain or shine, they’ll be outside.
The dinner is a fundraiser for the institute’s Student Farm Program. Tickets cost $65 per person. There will also be a silent auction.
Roamer said reservations by Aug. 7 are required. Groups of six or more people can request a reserve seating section to stay together for the meal, otherwise guest will seat themselves after the tours. To register, go to www.michaelfields.org or contact Roamer at mroamer@michaelfields.org or (262) 642-3303, 124.
Michael Fields Agricultural Institute is at W2493 Highway ES in East Troy.
For more information, visit www.michaelfields.org
To learn more about Sailsbery and his restaurants, visit www.eatatblacksheep.com.
