Gourmet Goes Local

This month's Gourmet has two great articles about local eating. "Plow to Plate" focuses on farmer-chefs and restaurants with their own farms. It highlights Arrows in Ogunquit, ME, Cinque Terre in Portland, ME, Dan Barber's Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, NY, and, from my home state, Roots Restaurant and Cellar in Milwaukee, WI.

The second article isn't positive, but it is illuminating. "Local Heros?" discusses the false promise of eating locally at many restaurants. The author complains of chefs that sing the praises of local eating, meanwhile hoping that patrons don't notice that the menu is full of items from the four corners of the world. I share his concern that the fad of local eating may inspire more flowery verbiage than fabulous cooking, but the article would have been stronger if he'd named the restaurants he critqued.

Gourmet's articles aren't online, so you'll have to pick up a copy. If you still want to read about local eating but don't want to shell out a few bucks, then check out this recent article by Los Angeles food legend Jonathan Gold in the LA Weekly, Certifiable.