Why NRG Loves Farm Fresh Market Mobile!
Market Mobile is the newest way for chefs, schools, and grocers to obtain their fresh produce. Market Mobile works in collaboration with Farm Fresh RI, local producers, and local buyers.
An online inventory is set up to let all purchasers know what each farm has available each week (selection, quantity, and price). Purchasers choose what they want from each farm online, and later in the week, one large truck is packed up with all the produce and delivers orders to each buyer around the state.

Buying local produce is a great step in the push for a sustainable environment and Market Mobile just made it easier, by offering a delivery service. Now, instead of each chef, grocer, or school representative driving to and from the farms to purchase their produce, one round trip around the state is made weekly. Market Mobile not only makes it easier to buy fresh produce, but also reduces the amount of carbon emissions released into the atmosphere in the process. It’s a win-win! For more information on Farm Fresh Market Mobile click here.

Calling All Chefs! Farm-to-Chef Tours this Spring!

Farm Fresh Rhode Island is back in action this spring, sponsoring tours of farms throughout the state, specifically for chefs so they can meet the local farmers and taste the local flavor. This is a great opportunity to get to know the farmers directly. Tours will be held (almost) every Monday and some Tuesdays. Tours are free, but space is limited! Gather your staff and sign up today!

SIGN UP FOR A FARM-TO-CHEF TOUR

All tours begin at 10:30 a.m. and are FREE for chefs and other wholesale buyers. Space may be limited so please RSVP to Jenn at jenn@farmfreshri.org for you and your staff at least 5 days prior.
• May 11: Schartner Farms – Exeter RI
This farm produces acres of some of the most delicious carrots you will ever taste….

• May 17: White Barn Farm – Wrentham MA
Run by Christy Raymond and Chris Kantlehner, young farm is a great example of sustainable growth in our region!

• May 24: Blackbird Farm – Smithfield RI
These guys don’t mess around. Their Angus beef is their pride and joy and they want you to visit so they can share their knowledge with you.

•  June 8: Cooks Valley Farm – Wrentham MA
Warren (Cook) will show you the ins and outs of this 90-acre farm…and we bet you will try something delicious this June day.

• June 15: Wishing Stone Farm – Little Compton, RI
Wishing Stone is the largest organic farm in RI. Come explore all the food that will be put in your CSA, found at the markets, or on Market Mobile!

And in the Fall: Orchards!

•  September 6: Hill Orchards – Johnston RI
This 50 – acre orchard is run by Allan Hill. The trees will be ready for you and you will most certainly be ready for the apple (and peach!) trees!

•  October 5: Barden Family Orchard – North Scituate RI
The Bardens want you to participate in their space with everything in bloom. Join them (and us) for a beautiful tour.

We recently checked in with Castle Hill Executive Farmer, eh hem I mean Executive Chef Jonathan Cambra – to see how the fall harvest was going out at the Castle Hill garden. Here’s what he had to report:

“We have had much success this season even with the challenging weather we had in June and July. We have been harvesting veggies all season and utilizing them for menu items, menu additions, the nightly amuse bouche. The dinning room staff have really enjoyed learning about the garden so they can see for themselves where the veggies come from and how they grow. The fall crop of veggies are coming up which include white turnips, kale, collard greens, Brussels sprouts, assorted lettuces and a variety of herbs. We have also planted a blueberry bush patch. The last item to go into the ground will be garlic, this we be planted in late October for a late 2010 spring and summer harvest.”

Can’t wait!

Like most chefs Jonathan Cambra, Executive Chef of Castle Hill, starts his day planning what to prepare for the day. Unlike most chefs, Cambra can now step out the door of the Castle Hill kitchen and select a choice of ingredients to use in that day’s dishes. Located on the grounds of Castle Hill is their culinary team’s newest venture; the Castle Hill Organic Garden. Here is where the team is harvesting potatoes, chard, red scallions, early summer onions, zucchini, collard greens, Thai basil, chocolate mint, sage, chives, parsley, thyme, oregano – all that are used in the Inn’s cuisine. A true example of our Culinary Philosophy come to fruition – Bon Appetit!

Celebrate Earth Day with a little Greens. Our culinary team has partnered with local farmers to bring a ‘farm to plate’ Earth Day Salad. 

Available on Wednesday, April 22 at all our restaurants, the Earth Day Salad will feature organic greens, a poached egg, cider-cured heritage pork belly, white corn lavash, truffled cider vinaigrette, and a crisp apple-beet slaw, all from local farms including Baby Greens Farm in Exeter, Little Rhody Farms in Foster, Simmons Farm in Middletown, and Hill Orchards in Johnston. A portion of the salad proceeds will benefit Save the Bay and Farm Fresh Rhode Island. Delish!

This past Saturday, members of each of the Newport Restaurant Group kitchens visited the Farmer’s Market in Pawtucket, taking part in a companywide event bringing chef and farmer together. Armed with $100 each and an hour to choose ingredients, each culinary team was then on their way back to their respective restaurants to create unique menu specials highlighting the bountiful ingredients available in RI during the winter. I was able to enjoy Castle Hill’s Chile Braised Simmons Farm pork and Matunuk little neck stew. Other offerings included Waterman Grille’s Kenyon’s Blue corn meal crusted Boston Blue Cod served with roasted creamers and Asian vegetable slaw, finished with Farm Fresh grapefruit segments and Geoffrey’s micro greens, while the Mooring served up Narragansett Creamery ricotta ravioli, butter poached Maine lobster, Farm Fresh butternut cream, seven stars foccacia. Hope you were lucky enough to have joined us for a memorable night of cooking.