We’ve been several times since then. Place continues to draw crowds, though not much sitting around outside these days. And luckily we still continue to have luck and quickly grab a table (there’s about 8 tables total I’d guess). My daughter would tell you there’s nothing better than the Nutella crepe with bananas (I’d likely concur based on the bites mommy has to “test” first). I like the roasted portabella with goat cheese and artichoke pesto; Jamie’s a fan of the various paninis.

For Olivia’s baptism, we used Luna for the cake – a giant tiramisu cake to be exact. I think I gave out their number to at least 6 people. I am not a cake person, never have been. This cake would be the exception to the rule. I was also quite impressed with their biscotti – something I never, ever buy because I always find others’ to be too dry or over flavored, so it’s easier to make my own. I don’t have to do that anymore.

Luna was started by pastry chef Bridget Thibeault of Flour Girl and the duo behind Stone Oven.

What are the top 5 spices that should be in everyone’s pantry? I like to use fresh herbs for cooking but there are a few spices I consistently use: cinnamon, smoked paprika, chili powder, cumin and ginger.

When did you decide to become a pastry chef? Why? In 2001 I was bored at my corporate advertising job in Chicago and decided to take a few classes at a local culinary school.  I loved it and quit my job to finish the degree with hopes of becoming a caterer or personal chef. I ended up moving to NYC to become a food stylist and culinary consultant because of my marketing background. But I loved the artistry and pace of baking, creating and decorating so I started a side business called Flour Girl, focusing on wedding cakes and custom pastries.

Where did you grow up? Cleveland Heights, a few streets away from Luna!

Favorite meal from your childhood? Homemade macaroni and cheese and rum cake for dessert (looking back, I’m not so sure I should have been eating rum cake!)

What can people do starting now to instantly improving their baking skills? Read and practice. Baking is science and I am constantly learning to this day. I think too many bakers don’t understand the reason things work or completely fail. A cake can bake perfectly one day and end up a flat mess the next. There are lots of environmental factors and ingredients need to be measured exactly.  At Luna, we are one of the few bakeries in Cleveland baking from scratch because it takes lots of trial and error and is generally more expensive.

What TV show do you never miss? I don’t have much time for TV these days, so it’s got to be good. Most recently, we watched all 5 seasons of The Wire, and I’m bummed it’s over.

If you could trade places for the day with one person, who would it be? Right now, I would love to trade places with my 2-year-old son and experience life the way he does. He is overly excited about every simple, basic thing and has so much energy! The 2 hour nap every day is appealing.

You’re mayor of Cleveland for the day. What are you changing or what law are you implementing? Wow, that’s tough. I’m passionate about a lot of issues and can’t imagine being in that position. I know the mayor can’t control this, but I’d love to see a Cleveland sports team win a championship.

Signature dish? Probably caramel nut bars (“crack bars” to some).

What do you love about Cleveland and what drives you nuts? I love the culture, food scene, friendly people and affordable housing. I lived in Chicago and NYC so I do miss the buzz of living downtown and I think the shopping could be improve.

Future plans for Luna? Expand! We only have 25 seats inside and we need to have additional seating for our busy lunch rush and weekends.  Plus we hope more people come check us out and become regular customers.

Biggest obstacle as a local, small business owner? Advice for someone looking to open their own business? The biggest obstacle is keeping sales up everyday. The weather and seasons play a big part as to when people go out in Cleveland. We are hoping to increase our bakery and gift box sales to counter that. Advice for a chef looking to open their own business: Be sure to get some management experience under your belt. I have over 20 people on my staff and it’s a big change from working out of my house. You just need to take it one day at a time and find some great people you can trust to work for you.

Disclosure: Cleveland Foodie worked in trade with Luna Bakery (ad space for cake; meals were all paid for by us). Thoughts on cake truly aren’t altered based on agreement – it was simply that good. Just ask Natalie (or guests!).

1. What prompted you to take a cheese making class and get started in this business? We had a small 30-acre farm and had been raising Boer goats for several years. The herd had grown to 30 animals twice and been sent to the slaughter house twice. Immediately after sending the last group “to camp”, my partner, Jim Zella, and I looked at each other and realized that, as cerebral as we thought we were about where our food comes from and that the animals were treated humanely while they were with us, we could not do this again. We had become attached to each and every one of the goats and sending them off to slaughter was getting harder not easier! I wanted to do something here at the farm and the idea of making goat milk cheese was much more appealing than producing goat meat. So, I did some research and found out that PASA (Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture) offered a cheese making class each year and the class was just a few weeks away and they still had room.  What was your previous career? I had been in real estate for 13 years when I was hired by the then Chagrin River Land Conservancy  (“CRLC”) to head up their real estate division, Conservation Buyer Program. It was during my seven years with CRLC that Jim and I found our farm in Hiram – the beginning of our love for farming, local food, goats and cheese making!

2. What’s your favorite way to enjoy goat cheese? I love our fresh chevre in so many ways that it is difficult to say which way is my favorite. I love creating our new flavors throughout the year. I love the plain chevre straight up or on eggs or in a salad. Can you share a recipe? I have attached a wonderful peach tart recipe (below).

3.  Any flavors you’ve tried that weren’t quite right? Absolutely! We thought that horseradish would be wonderful . . . and then we tried it and the chevre completely “flattened” the horseradish. So, we are not giving up, but have not mastered that one yet! What flavors are you currently working on? We just introduced Apricot Ginger which is divine! We have close to 100 ideas for new flavors. Working in the test kitchen is one of my favorite tasks.

4. If you were mayor for a day in Cleveland, what law would you make or what would you change? Oh! Wow! What a great question! I would pass a law that every school have its own garden and that all the scholastic curriculum be structured around that garden, history, math, science, art, creative writing. I would also order that every school purchase their food from local producers.

5. If you could trade places with anyone in the world, who would it be? Michelle Obama. She is gracious, strong and has the opportunity to really make a difference in so many ways.

6.  What book are you currently reading? Every day I work on a New York Times crossword puzzle. I just finished the Millennium Trilogy and am just beginning Six Month in Scotland, An American View of its Salmon Fishing – I’m an avid fly fisherman!

7. It’s karaoke night, what are you singing? Oh boy! You don’t want to hear me sing! I’m a dancer not a singer!

8. Favorite restaurant in Cleveland? That’s an impossible question; there are so many restaurants that are over the moon. What restaurant do you miss? Years ago there was a wonderful small French restaurant on Coventry, Cafe de Artist.

9.  What are the health benefits of goat cheese? Compared to cow milk cream cheese, which is the closest to goat cheese, goat cheese is 50% lower in fat, saturated fat and cholesterol. It has 20% few calories and higher in protein and Vitamin A. It is gluten-free and lactose tolerant. Just a much easier cheese to digest that cow milk cheeses.

10. What local producers and farmers do you work with? We work with both the Yoder and Hostetler dairies that milk exclusively for Mackenzie Creamery. We give all of our whey to a local organic farmer for his hogs, chickens and fertilizer. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream uses Mackenzie Creamery chevre to make their goat cheese ice cream flavors. We are working Tom Foolery, a local brandy producer, for our aged Banon-style cheese that will be available later this spring/early summer. All of our grape leaves and chestnut leaves that we use to wrap our aged cheese are from local vineyards and tree farms.

11. Is your farm open to the public? Yes, we welcome visitors but ask that they call first to assure that someone will be at the creamery. Best time to visit? The spring, summer and fall are all lovely times to visit the farm. We are closed on Sundays.

12.  What are the biggest challenges with running a farm? There are always unexpected events whether it’s clever goats that jumped through the electric fence or repairs of the barn, roof, fences or hay to be brought in, vegetables to be picked, drives to be plowed and, of course, cheese to be made. It is the most rewarding lifestyle. The most important thing to face all the challenges is having the right equipment! Tractors, come-alongs, tillers, pumps, trailers, and on and on!

13. I’ve heard you say that this has been the most amazing journey. What’s next? The most exciting thing is that my son, Rob DeMuch, and my daughter, Liz Alvis, have both embraced the business. Rob joined Mackenzie Creamery last November and Liz is launching Mackenzie Creamery West in Portland, OR this March 2011. I am also working on a cookbook, which has been a very fun project.

Fresh Peach Tart with Sweetened Chevre and a Shortbread Crust

Ingredients

• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  1/3 cup sugar
  1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  1 cup plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
  Pinch of salt
• 4 ripe but firm peaches, peeled if desired and chopped
• 8 oz Mackenzie Creamery plain chèvre
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix butter, sugar, vanilla, flour and salt until well combined.  Press dough into a 9-inch tart pan and bake at 375 degrees for 18-20 minutes, until golden brown.  Crust will puff a bit. Set aside to cool.

Whip the plain chevre with the heavy cream, honey and vanilla until fluffy and smooth.  Once the crust has cooled, remove from pan.  Spread from edge to edge with the fluffy chevre. Top with peaches and serve.

When people ask me where they should go to eat, I always make a restaurant suggestion based on the occasion, preferences and a few other fact-finding questions. But almost always, my recommendation is capped off with a visit to the Velvet Tango Room.

Paulius Nasvytis, founder of the Velvet Tango Room, was raised in North Collinwood and moved to Ohio City in the late 80s. He shares that his dad thought this move was crazy. His dad had said, “We worked hard to move from neighborhoods like that.” His mom found it romantic. He says he takes after her side of the family (lucky for us!).

If you were mayor of Cleveland for one day, what law would you implement or what would you change? Here is a link to a Yelp thread I started.  Longer than a day, but…

What’s your favorite thing about Cleveland and what drives you nuts? I love younger people’s pro-Cleveland attitude in the ones that have it.  I’d hate to see city hall stifle their creativity.  Our food scene is phenomenal for a city in our tier.  I get nuts seeing the city waste opportunity such as the West Side Market.

What is one cocktail everyone must try and why? A flawlessly made Ramos Gin Fizz.  Aside from its historic qualities,  it is very hard to get it made right.  (I can think of only a handful of places in the U.S.)

What should every home bar consist of? First, those old aluminum ice cube trays for large cubes.  Then as many spirits as you would use.  I would not have any “flavored” vodka, rum, tequila etc.  I would also only have 1 or 2 vodkas.  Vodka is the tofu of spirits.  If you think about it, all it does is dilute the flavor of other ingredients.

You make nearly everything in the bar. Why is this so important and how long did it take to perfect the cocktail? The VTR goal is perfectly consistent and balanced cocktails.  I have developed a bullet-proof system to build them, however, each cocktail takes time.  Rushing = inconsistency=a poorly balanced cocktail.  We work on ours for weeks before presenting it.  Also, a lot of ingredients are no longer made, or the recipe has been changed from the original.  For example, Roses Lime Juice bares no resemblance to its original formula.  So, we recreated the original.

What’s behind the bar’s name? Music, romance, a wink and a nod.

What’s your most requested drink? No question.  The VTR Manhattan.  People who found Manhattans overbearing have an epiphany.  People who like Manhattans do too.

Have you ever refused to make a drink? What drink do you/your staff hate making? At times, depending on the situation.  If we do not have the right ingredients, we won’t compromise.  First timers can be intimidated by our menu and default to a vodka/tonic, but usually it is an opportunity to introduce them, gently, to real cocktails.  It shocks people to find that they actually LOVE gin when they are served a well-made cocktail, for example.

If you could trade places with anyone in the world for a day, who would it be and why? No clue on this one…  OK, I’d trade places with “The Most Interesting Man in the World” guy.

What book are you currently reading? The Devil’s Eye by Al Ruksenas, a local author.

In your opinion, what other places in town make a good cocktail? The VTR has “raised the bar” to unparalleled heights.  You can get a damn good drink in Cleveland.  The Greenhouse Tavern does great work.

What’s the biggest challenge or obstacle in your business? Enough hours in the day to start.  Also, growing business without sacrificing quality and consistency.  Also, I get frustrated when we get too busy and we have a lot of first timers that do not really understand why they should wait 15-20 minutes for a cocktail.  Again, we do not sacrifice quality for speed.  And the VTR is not a big space, but we do our best to seat people in order, employing 2 hostesses on weekends to keep things cool.

When dining out, where do you end up most often? Greenhouse Tavern, ABC Tavern, Bac, and Ty Fun.

When hosting a dinner party, what’s a good go-to cocktail we can make at home that would be to the VTR standards? I would suggest a French 75.  I started serving them as our “house cocktail” almost 15 years ago.  They seem to be gaining popularity as of late as well.  They can be made with either Brandy or Gin as the primary spirit.  And I would love to be at that party BTW!

1. How many bow ties do you own and what’s the story behind it? I got the privilege of meeting Freddy Girardet, one of Charlie Trotter’s mentors, a living legend from Switzerland.  He is in his 70s now; many people say he closed his restaurant too early and I’ve actually met people who have been tearful that his restaurant is no longer there.  But I had the privilege of speaking with him one night and he said to me, “Back when I was your age, the farmer and chef got very little respect for what they did.  It is so ironic to see that we have gained respect for what we do now.”

I think regardless of what occupation we have, we can take pride in it.  There used to be a saying, “If you can’t make it in the real world you can always go back and work on the farm.” It wasn’t a career that was looked upon highly.  So one of the things behind the bow ties is, I am a farmer and I am not afraid or ashamed to be who I am.

My dad has a saying, “You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, so you might as well go as what you are.”  On my best day you couldn’t place a $500 suit on me.  I am what I am and I am not ashamed of that.  I don’t like to be boastful or proud, but I take pride in what we do and the way we do it.  We do it to the best of our ability.

One of the few books I read in high school, and they also have a movie, was “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck.  Every once in a while I watch it when it’s on television, and every single time I watch it, I cry.  It’s about growers during the Great Depression that were displaced out West and in Oklahoma; farmers were pushed off their land and lost their farms and were looking for a way to survive.  Through it all, there was a scene where they were so destitute, they lost all their money and they had very little hope.  Yet, on a Saturday night, they cleaned up and had a square dance.

The overalls they wore were torn and tattered but they were clean.  The farmers put on their bowties.  Even as down trodden as they were and with as little respect as they had, they held their dignity and they were proud of who they were.  I think really that is what the crux of it is.

We have a registered trademark on the overalls and red bowtie; it is part of our brand and I try to represent all the family farms out there in America, to show that we can be proud of what we do and that there is a place for us here.  It has been so rewarding in so many ways to see society coming around to the fact that we do have a worthy place in society and value what we do.  It’s fun and it’s exciting to see the renewed interest and resurgence of farmer’s markets and other farms doing well.  It is just a very rewarding thing, taking pride in what we do.

But, to answer your question, I have about 24 bowties.

2. What is your advice for home gardeners? Several things come to mind when you ask advice for home gardeners.  My first advice would be to keep gardening!  My second advice would be to continue to make mistakes.  Document, document, document your work: document your mistakes; document what worked; document what didn’t.  From planting to planting and from year to year, it all runs together, so I think good records are imperative.

Another suggestion would be not to farm all of your land or all of your plot at once.  Continue to rebuild nutrients and find ways to do that naturally with rye or vetch clover; rye in particular is a cheap seed.  Take a third of your land and plant rye, or if you can, plant your whole garden to rye in the fall at least the first year.

It is our belief that God designed a system far superior to anything we can fake out.  If you can visualize a plant as an antenna, it will accept natural energy from the sun and emit it out through the roots to the next set of crops.  So, in the spring, leave one-third in rye and allow it to continue to collect energy.  Plant your spring crop in the second third and then as you get to a frost-free date, plant the third section with tomatoes and eggplant and squash and other things that are frost sensitive.

In that first section that you leave fallow, you can start the rye as early as March or April in our region.  Then plant the things that like the cool temperatures.  Radishes, spinach, lettuces, and greens will all tolerate a freeze.  Plant peas or potatoes here too.  Then, as your radishes and lettuces start finishing up, go ahead and begin to till in the rye in the first planting.  Go ahead and do your second planting of radishes and lettuces in mid summer in the section you had the rye in. Just continue to rotate and allow the land periods of rest.

Rotation in commercial farming means something totally different because they plant all three thirds of the land all the time.  They rotate the crops between the fields, but never give it a rest.  Can you imagine your body if you never took a vacation or a rest or allow it to rejuvenate?

Without writing a book on gardening, that’s some sound advice I recommend.  Essentially you are trying to work in harmony with nature and not outsmart it.

3. Explain how the vegetables from your garden differ from those at the grocery store? Wow, we can fill a whole page with this.  We have a saying that we farm the soil rather than the crop, again, working in harmony with the soil and trying to get the biology right.  We do lab analysis on soil and based on the deficiencies plant different types of cover crops that will accept different types of energy from the sun.

Then it comes down to seed selection.  The varieties we select are grown for flavor rather than yield.  The Seed Savers Exchange is something any one of your readers can become a member of.  It’s a group of us that thinks maintaining old heirloom varieties is important and if you have a variety you can share it with other folks.  I would recommend anyone that is interested to become a member.

Beyond the seed and the soil, only a third of our land is in production.  We have about 100 acres in production, 100 sitting fallow and another 100 growing very specific ingredients for compost.  We harvest those, fold them into the compost and put those composts back into the soil.  The result is unbelievable that you can see with working in harmony with nature and not trying to out smart it.

The final difference is the way the product is handled.  We don’t believe the product should be harvested and wait to be sold.  Product remains in our “growing” inventory until the chef’s order them, and for the first time home users can purchase online.

4. If you weren’t a farmer, what would you be doing? Well, I would be very, very disappointed.  I can’t imagine, absolutely cannot imagine, what I would be doing.  From five years on, I was helping in the field up until we lost the farm.  It was never a question if whether we were going to farm, just how we were going to do it.

5. What’s the best plate you’ve ever had and who was the chef behind it? Oh golly!  As you can tell by the size of my belly, I love food and it would be really hard to hone in on a best dish, but I can identify one of the most special occasions, food related.  My folks, my dad especially, felt he had failed the family when we lost the farm.  He was devastated; they crawled away with nothing.  For 10 years we worked without a check, yet there were so many rewards that came along other than monetary ones, for example, to be able to work together as a family.  It’s the only reason we survived.

It’s hard to really point out specific chefs because there have been so many that have helped.  But Charlie Trotter has been a huge mentor and guide for us.  Many of you know Ferran Adrià; he is the fella who invented the foams. He is from Madrid, near Barcelona, and is considered by some to be the greatest chef in the world.  I don’t know how you judge that, but I have heard it said many times.  Charlie Trotter flew out here with his team and brought Ferran Adrià and his wife.  About 16 local chefs were invited to help, and they prepared a 12-course lunch one day for my parents, my wife and me, Ferran Adrià and his wife, Charlie Trotter, Ray Harris, a fella from Inc. Magazine and a few others.

We got to sit down and break bread together for a lunch with that group of people and as long as I still have a memory that will be one of the most special days – for my parents to be able to sit down with someone who people think is the best chef in the world and to have him tour what we are doing.  It is truly, truly, truly one of the most special days in my life.  So I guess that would be the best plate of food I have ever had and the chef behind it.

6. What is the biggest challenge that faces the farming industry? It is very difficult for a farm to remain a farm.  There are so many challenges.  We have to compete for the best farm ground with other industries and real estate, so that is certainly a challenge.  Producing food cheap continues to be what’s important in industrial food production.  About 5 percent of the farms produce about 80 percent of the volume.  They have a lot of power and they are changing laws to benefit themselves rather than the small farm.  I think we got real issues facing us there.  We could go on and on about that subject.

For that reason, I think it is important for users to continue placing an emphasis on knowing where their product is from, although I don’t get wrapped up in local.  I think if we make the emphasis on the distance a product travels from where it is grown rather than how the product is grown, we could lose sight of what got this movement started.  It is important for us to have that connection, or re-connection, with users and producers who share like-minded philosophies

7. Most unusual item a chef has requested you grow? That is a tough question.  Different chefs recognize needs for different things.  You know, about twenty five years ago we started researching radicchio.  It was unknown in the United States and several folks said it actually couldn’t be grown here, so early on that was one of the most unusual.  It took us a while to get used to things like purple Brussels sprouts.

Micro Greens were pretty uncommon once too.  We were instrumental in developing those 20 years ago, and they are a mainstay today.  White Asparagus is something that was unheard of in this country and we developed a way of growing it so it doesn’t have to be peeled.

One of the most difficult ones, up to this point, has been crosnes.  It’s a starch, tuber type plant that is grown in Crosnes, France. With a similar flavor and texture to nuts, it’s a great substitute when nut allergies are an issue.

8. What TV show do you never miss? Well, gee, it is hard to miss the Food Network.  It is so amazing to sit and watch television and see so many of the folks we work with, chefs who are committed to what we do and have this nationwide platform to tell others about it.

“Iron Chef” is obviously one that is close to the heart since I have gotten to judge that a couple of times.  “Chopped” is another we like to watch, and my good friend Kenny Gilbert is doing great on “Top Chef” this season.

9. How many chefs have stayed at CVI?  What is their overall involvement? I’m not sure of the total, but there have been many hundreds of chefs that have stayed at the Culinary Vegetable Institute.  There have been even more than that who have been instrumental in supporting the project and helping us build it.  To help connect us to people who had kitchen equipment and china and things like that.

I am speechless at the enormous help and support.  The culinary industry is one of the most giving groups of people and we are eternally grateful for our relationship with all the chefs.  It is so hard to pinpoint any one particular chef because there have been so many that have helped in so many different ways.  We just would not be here without them.

10.  The Food & Wine event is the biggest event for you each year.  Tell us a little about it and why it’s a must-attend for readers? The Food and Wine Celebration is one of those things that’s almost mind boggling for me.  There are folks who work with us all year who come and help us put on this event on behalf of our Veggie U program – a program that empowers children and lets them know they have a choice in food while weaving in the math and science end to help prepare them for their proficiency tests.  As important, we believe, as empowering children and letting them know they have choices in food, they get seeds, soil, compost, a worm farm and a grow light.  It is a hands-on program.  The Food and Wine Celebration is to generate awareness and revenue for Veggie U.

There are so many synergies that happen.  Chefs come in, literally, from all over the country.  There are high school and college culinary students and instructors who come to work under the tutelage of the visiting chefs. Because we do so many different Earth to Table events at the CVI, in addition to the Food & Wine, students get to come build relationships with chefs, and then you move on with those networking connections.  I know Russell Ashton from Lorain JVS under Tim Mitsich volunteered much of his time here when he was a high school student and graduated from the Culinary Institute of America and went on to do a stage at Stein Ericksen.  Chef Zane Holmequist out there let him come out and spend three months, and he met him here at the Food & Wine event.

For food enthusiasts, it is one of those opportunities to really explore the entire United States and sometimes out of the United States.  There is no place else in the United States on the third Saturday in July that has more talent under one roof.  There are huge tents with tasting stations where chefs are preparing their dishes, obviously with products in season and proteins, and you can taste as much as you want.  It is not a vegetarian event, but certainly the proteins ties in with the veggies.  There are some great wine producers and vintners pouring their specialties and an auction that goes to support Veggie U.

It’s just a really a great atmosphere with a tremendous collection of some of the top talent in the world for a great cause.  It is the culinary event of the year in Northern Ohio.

11. Did you eat your veggies as a kid?  What’s your favorite now and how do you prepare it? I did.  As you can see, I love to eat.  I love vegetables but unfortunately, I love it all.  It’s been one of those things that has been tough for me to control, because every chef wants to share what they’re excited about and I love to eat.  It’s one of those things I do struggle.

When somebody asks me what my favorite veggie is, I always say, what season is it?  My point is I want to eat asparagus three times a day when it’s in season and then I will lust for it for 10 months.  I don’t want to see asparagus on a menu in November or December.  There is a cyclical rhythm to things that is natural.  I think our bodies look for and need and demand different types of nutrients that only vegetables offer. I truly believe if we listen to our bodies and eat seasonally,  that we’ll be a healthier society.

And yet, for how much joy food brings us and how central it is to our very existence, many of us either abuse it or don’t fully grasp just what that piece of cheese or scoop of ice cream does to our bodies. Now I am in the camp that believes everything in moderation. I have a weakness for cheese and realistically, can’t imagine the day when I’d pass on Brandon’s never-ending cheese selection at L’Albatros anytime soon. Though I am the first to admit that I can be healthier and could easily stand to lose a good 15 pounds (I guess I can no longer say I just had a baby since she’s a few weeks shy of turning 2…).

I try to eat smart when dining out as well as cooking in. I’m a regular at area farmers’ markets. I tend to just shop the parameter of my local Heinen’s, stocking up on fruits and veggies, whole grains like quinoa, beans, chicken and fish (they have a wonderful seafood department where I get most of my fish). But I am far from perfect and there is so much I need to learn.

And one person I’d gladly listen to at anytime and trust all that he shares is Dr. Michael Roizen, chief wellness officer for the Cleveland Clinic (or Dr. Mike as his staff affectionately calls him). Dr. Roizen, who is in his early 60s, but real age is an impressive 42, is an incredibly impressive figure and Cleveland is truly lucky that he calls our city home. I’ve read a few of his books, watched him on Oprah and Dr. Oz and was recently fortunate enough to have a quick chat with him.

Where do you eat out? Since I live near Shaker Square, we tend to stick around there. I like Fire, Anatolia Café, and Sarava. Near work, I like Table 45. He acknowledges just how privileged we are to be surrounded by such great restaurants, and also shares that he is looking forward to the new Crop and enjoys Flying Fig, too. Finally, Roizen admits to favoring Subway for lunch (veggie sub, no cheese – because cheese is a saturated fat and slowly kills us, he shares – on wheat).

Roizen adds that he likes Fire because he can look into the kitchen and see what they are adding and trusts the chefs there. If a restaurant is adding fat to a dish, he says, that’s killing you. For 3 – 21 days, that added fat is killing you, he says, clearly passionate about this fact.

What do you order out and always avoid? I tend to be fairly careful and not overdo it. I mostly get two appetizers and a glass of wine. I immediately try to get rid of the bread. I ask for cut up veggies instead. And that should be the first thing everyone does, and good restaurants will accommodate. That would actually be my plea for Cleveland restaurants, get rid of the bread and substitute fresh cut veggies. And to avoid – anything white, fried or that has cream sauce he says. The exception, he explains, is cauliflower, white fish.

Do you ever cheat? Food is not, let’s make a deal. It changes us. The joy you get from ice cream may last two hours, but the pain from that scoop will last 180 days. It causes inflammation in the body. Cheating isn’t cheating, it’s killing you. Though Roizen does share that once in a blue moon, he enjoys molten chocolate cake, but other than that, doesn’t sway from healthy noshing.

Tips to not over eat when dining out? Eat six almonds 30 minutes before eating and have a glass of water as soon as you sit down. The almonds he says help slow the stomach and can take 30 minutes.

5 things we should be eating more of? I can think of six: salmon, spinach, kale, walnuts, chocolate and wine.

What does typical day look like for you, in terms of food and exercise? I take 10,000 steps a day; three days a week I do 45 minutes of cardio, and another three days 10 – 20 minutes of strength training. For breakfast, a green smoothie, a veggie omelet – no cheese – or banana and coffee. Lunch usually consists of a salmon burger, healthy soup, or foot long, all-veggie sub from Subway, no cheese, no oil. Dinner is usually fish and a salad.

Roizen’s green smoothie:

• 1 Cup              Cleaned spinach leaves
• 1 Cup              Cleaned Kale, rough chop
• 1 Cup              Green seedless grapes
• 1 ½ Cups        Bartlett pear, core and seeds removed
• 1 cup               Orange, seedless and peeled
• 1 cup               Banana, peeled
• 1 tsp                Ground Chia seed
• ½ Cup             Water
• 1 Cups             Ice

Here’s more information on why Dr, Roizen is so adamant again cheese, ice cream and other everyday weaknesses from one of his books, You: The Owner’s Manual, which he co-wrote with Dr. Oz:

Page 55: “Avoiding more than 20 grams of saturated and trans fats every day has another benefit – it keeps your arteries able to dilate, providing you with more energy. Meals laden with saturated and trans fats lead to block laden with saturated and trans fats, which in turn paralyzes that muscle middle wall of your arteries. And you want that artery muscle to be functional, so when you ask a leg muscle to move, it gets enough energy to do so. So to be energetic, keep your saturated and trans fats to fewer than 20 grams a day.”

Page 60: “…limit your saturated and trans fat (a mostly artificial form of aging fat) to less than 20 grams a day. No food has been more closely linked to arterial aging than these kinds of fats, found mostly in meats, luncheon meats, full-fat dairy products, baked goods, fried fast foods, and palm and coconut oils. They increase arterial inflammation, which promotes plaque build-up, and they also turn on the mechanism that increases LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream – yet another way to slap more plaque onto your arteries. They’re truly the four letter words of heart disease.”

This is just a small snapshot into the wealth of information and knowledge we can learn from this great mind. If you have the opportunity to hear him speak or read his books, I highly recommend it. A special thank you to Dr. Roizen for taking a few minutes to chat, and to Stephanie Jansky for setting this up and providing me with some additional information for this post.

Farmer Lee Jones has a lot to say. And I can certainly appreciate anyone who has the gift of gab. I asked him a handful of questions and I got a whole lot in return. It’s all good stuff and therefore don’t want to cut anything, so I’m going to share this latest Q&A as a three-part series. I hope you’ll take the time to read. Not only is Farmer Lee a great individual, but he (and his staff) are doing some pretty wonderful things that I am always happy to help spread the word (like Veggie U).

When did you start farming this way and why? It was about 1983 when we lost the farm to excessive interest rates and a hail storm, that we started farming sustainably, and it’s been a continuous evolution ever since. Losing the farm was very devastating.  Nineteen at the time, I stood and watched 25 years of my parents work sold at a sheriff’s auction.

They had 100 percent commitment and complete devotion to farming for 25 years.  They even had some successful years, but they got wrapped up in 21 percent interest rates and a hail storm, and ultimately they could not compete with the massive 5, 10, 20-thousand-acre commercial operations with cheaper labor on the West Coast or in Mexico.  So ultimately, it broke their back.  It also allowed us to re-evaluate what we were doing and where we were going.

Before 1983 we were farming commercially, about 1,200 acres, and we were doing it chemically the way the universities taught.  They gave you a book that showed pictures of let’s say, for example, a healthy cabbage and a diseased cabbage.  If it had this disease, here is the chemical to use to get rid of it.

It is much like our Western culture of medicine today.  When you have a strep throat, you go to the doctor to get your penicillin or amoxicillin; we’re constantly treating the symptom. In the Eastern culture of medicine, the methodology behind it is to get your body in a perfect balance, so you can defend against strep throat or another disease.  That’s really similar to how we try to farm today.

In commercial farming, the emphasis was on the cost of the product rather than the quality of the product.  It became about those growers that could produce food cheaply rather than the best flavor or the integrity of the product.  So, one by one, individually owned grocery stores and small family farms were pushed out of business.

At one point we had over 330, small family vegetable operations in Erie County alone, and all the way up through Avon and Avon Lake was peppered with small growers.  In fact you can still see some of the skeletons of old greenhouses.  Family grocery stores and family farms were pushed out of business because the economy of scale kicked in and large mass farms and mega grocery stores became the standard.  It all became about convenience rather than the quality.

Our area has a micro climate because of Lake Erie. Lake Erie is the shallowest of all the Great Lakes and consequently the warmest.  European settlers recognized this area as a tremendous growing region.  We had the first winery in the United States was right here in our county, so there used to be a ton of family owned grocery stores and small individual, I don’t know if they would have called themselves artisanal farms, but small family farms, and there was a connection between the user and the producer.  As roads and refrigeration got better in the 1950s, chain grocery stores came into play and they put the pressure on small individually owned grocery stores.  It all became about how they could produce food the cheapest, and those were the growers that survived.

So we lost the farm and the farmer’s markets were a place for us to start over because it was instant cash.  There wasn’t even the luxury at first to sell to restaurants because they would all want credit, so selling at farmer’s markets were really one of the few choices we had.  But farmer’s markets in the early ‘80s were really at an all time low.

Our grandparents (or maybe in your case, Michelle, great-grandparents) spent a very huge percentage of their time in the kitchen preparing food.  My mother’s generation said, look we are not going to spend all this time in the kitchen, and it became about convenience with the advent of instant mixes and TV dinners and microwaves.  Now we have the history in place to see 50 years later that cheap food is not the answer.

Really it’s about balancing the soil, selecting the right seeds and properly caring for a plant that supports it against diseases and insects rather than trying to treat them after the fact, and I think this is really critical to sustainability and the future.  We believe there is a direct correlation between the health of our nation, or the lack thereof, with commercial farming practices over the past 50, the way we eat, what we eat and the way what we eat is grown.

It is really wonderful to see your generation reconnect, reclaim control and demand to know where product comes from. It’s just really great to see the producers being embraced and supported.

Who was the first chef you worked with? The very first chef we worked with was Iris Bailin, but I don’t think she is still in the industry.  She was an executive chef for a brokerage firm back in the 80s and she was one of my first customers at the Coit Road Market off of E. 152^nd on the east side of Cleveland.  Drove that route many, many mornings.

I’d leave the farm at 2:30 in the morning to be there by 4:00, if we didn’t have a truck break down.  My dad was at the West Side Market, my brother was at Orange and Woodland, my mother was at Jamie’s Flea Market in Amherst, and my grandmother and aunt were selling out of the back of a Ford Fairmont at the Sandusky Farmer’s Market.

Iris Bailin had trained in Europe and she came back home looking for the quality of ingredients that she had seen there but couldn’t find them.  At that time, nearly all of the family farms had been pushed out of business.  What she was looking for really didn’t exist here.  We were flat broke and desperate for a way to survive in agriculture.  The only trucks we had were trucks that didn’t get a bid when I stood and watched every single thing my folks owned sold at a sheriff’s sale.  These trucks were in rough shape; a lot of them had over a million miles on them before we started using them for farmer’s markets.

Iris Bailin was very persistent in looking for any farmer who would listen to her, because she was looking for specific varieties harvested at particular sizes and grown without chemicals.  She was looking for products grown in a healthy way rather than a commercial way.

We were used to the philosophy of Earl Butts, the secretary of agriculture who said rip out every hedge row – get big or get out.  Then here was this lady from France looking for zucchini blossoms and lettuces that were three inches tall.  It was a hard concept for us to grasp when we were used to selling by the palette.

However, what she was looking for really resonated with my dad because it had existed here at one time: quality ingredients grown for the varietal selections in a healthy way where the crops and land were rotated and nutrients were rebuilt naturally rather than chemically.  It really has only been the last 50, 60 years that we decided we could replace a natural input with chemical or synthetic one. It faked the plants out, but with health care costs continuing to increase at an alarming rate, we now see it didn’t fake our bodies out.

My dad asked how many growers Iris had asked to grow in the way she was recommending, and about 15 to 20 growers had refused. That was really the clincher for my dad.  That none of the others were willing to do it was the signal that we needed to go that direction.

Iris went on to be the food editor at the Cleveland Plain Dealer. She introduced us to Parker Bosley, and Denise and Bill Fugo at Sammy’s in the Flats, chefs who were ahead of their time in Cleveland and I think had European influences as well.  Parker Bosley was one of the first chefs on the farm and early on we met Ken Eddy who was at the French Connection at the time.  Paul Minnillo and his brother at the Baricelli Inn were again ahead of their time and sought out quality ingredients.  Mark and Julie Sherry had started Players in Cleveland which was a really hot place.  Of course, Gary Lucarelli runs it now I believe.  Places like Raintree by Fritz Campbell on the East Side; Bob Buehner at, gosh, I can’t remember the name of the place he was at. Then there’s John D’Amico and Matt Mars at Chez Francois, which is right in our backyard.

They were a part of that early group; but ultimately the Cleveland chefs at the time were not fully prepared to embrace what we were doing, and we could not survive on what we could generate from the Cleveland chefs at that time. We sought out like-minded chefs all over the country.  It is satisfying now to see that it is fully embraced in Cleveland and chefs here do fully support a return to pre-commercial agricultural philosophies.  When we opened the Culinary Vegetable Institute we flew Iris Bailin in and recognized her for her contributions to our direction and success.

How did the CVI come to be and what is its mission? The Culinary Vegetable Institute (CVI) was my dad’s vision.  For years we had had chefs come in from around the country: Jean-Luis Palladin from the Watergate Hotel was one of the first French chefs to come into the United States and he, like Iris, was looking for quality, custom ingredients that they had become accustomed to in France but couldn’t find here.  Basically his message to growers was the food was shit and if we wanted to grow for him we had to get it figured out.

He was very instrumental, much like Iris, in guiding the vision.  And once he figured out we were willing to pay attention and do it the right way, he got on the phone and called other chefs and said, “There is a farmer who is willing to listen.”  He introduced us to Daniel Boulud, Alain Ducasse, Thomas Keller, Charlie Trotter, Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Norman VanAken, Ritz Carlton chefs.  They were also instrumental in developing the CVI.

The Culinary Vegetable Institute was conceived as a place for the most forward thinking chefs in the world to be able to come and do R&D and R&R, to be able to work with vegetables they hadn’t been able to work with before.  We have anywhere from 250 to 300 types of vegetables that we found or a chef has found in their home country or in Europe and brought over.  We will experiment with it and chefs can take it into the test kitchen and play with it to decide if it is something worthy of going into full production.

Chefs drive and dictate our business.  The only reason we exist is because there has been that group of chefs that supported us and allowed us to be their gardener.  We really look at ourselves as vessel for their vision.  They guide, direct and edict our business.  We are here to take care of the chefs.

The CVI’s sole purpose, initially, was for that.  We’ve expanded that into a place for large corporations to do research and development.  We do pharmaceutical dinners, rehearsal dinners, wedding receptions, corporate team building.  It’s a great place for a company that wants privacy to be able to do experimentation and team building, or it can be used if an individual food enthusiast wants to have a private party.  We will bring in a chef to cater to their specific needs and have a party around the specific foods they like.  Obviously we’re embracing Earth to Table, seasonal sensitivity and that whole concept.

To be continued…

1. What five things should be in everyone’s pantry? Kosher salt, rice wine vinegar, white pepper, coriander (either fresh or dried), red pepper flakes. I generally prefer everything to be a little spicy.

2. What is your favorite spice to work with? Coriander because of its versatility.

3. First job? McDonald’s

4. Why did you become a chef? Became I love food and I hate paperwork.

5.  What’s it like working for Zack Bruell? How much liberty do you have with the menu? Zack is great to work for. He trusts me to execute his concept and expand upon it. We see eye to eye in terms of flavor profiles, so it is a very good relationship.

6. Favorite restaurant in Cleveland and which one do you miss? My favorite restaurant in Cleveland would have to be Bar Cento. The combination of the perfect French fry and great pizza is hard to beat. They also have amazing salads and I cannot wait until it is ramp pizza time.

7. Where did you grow up? Favorite meal from your childhood? Akron. Swenson’s hamburgers, creamed chicken.

8. You’re having a dinner party, top five songs on your playlist? I have no top five because I’m not really into set playlists. I prefer something more like Pandora because you never know what will come on. It would be some combination of Wilco, Erykah Badu, My Morning Jacket, Hall and Oates, and Calexico.

9. What book are you currently reading? What show do you never miss? Since my girlfriend, Colleen, is getting ready to have our first child any day, there has been a lot of baby books. Other than that, I read a lot of cookbooks, currently it’s Momofuku and Real Cajun by Donald Link. Right now we are watching Rescue Me and Nip/Tuck on Netflix.

10. If you could be any other person for a day, who would it be? Somebody with a boat, someplace warm and doesn’t have to work.

11. If you had 2 minutes with LeBron, what would you tell him? Remember that you are just a basketball player – a great basketball player, but just a basketball player nonetheless.

12 What’s your favorite thing about Cleveland and what drives you nuts? I love the selection of ethnic restaurants and markets. What drives me nuts is the lack of quality fried chicken and barbeque.

13. What is one dish at L’Albatros everyone needs to try? Escargot for an appetizer and the 1/2 roasted chicken for an entree. Both are classic brasserie dishes.   We use the same snails that they do at Charlie Trotters, Daniel, and Le Bernardin, so you could say that they are good quality.  For the chicken, we use a red wine and tarragon brine that makes it incredibly moist with great crispy skin.

14. Favorite cooking trick we could use at home? Making different pickled vegetables is a great trick for home cooks because they are easy and affordable to make, and they add an exciting layer of flavor to dishes.

Each blogger only got a few minutes. The goal was to promote his two new shows: The Next Iron Chef and Food Feuds. But of course, I wanted to talk about Cleveland. And a little bet we made at a Christmas, er Festivus, party last year. Truthfully, I don’t expect or want him to pay up. Knowing I won a bet and know just a little bit more about his beloved Guns N’ Roses than he does, is tastier than any dish he could whip up. Ok, maybe not, but you get where I’m going with this.

Food Feuds, which decides  once and for all which dish defines a city, premiers October 14. Iron Chef  Symon sought out the  most intense, long-standing culinary rivalries across the country – including right here in our backyard. The Next Iron Chef, where Symon will be a first-time judge (watch his thoughts on this experience here), premieres on October 3. And you can also watch him on The Cooking Channel during Cook like an Iron Chef. On a side note, we ordered this channel just for this show. I think it’s my favorite program of his to date and I really like the set up. I’ve also found several new shows on the channel that I regularly set the DVR to so it’s worth ordering it if you don’t already have.

I almost didn’t do this interview. My first thought was not to promote those that leave Cleveland. I generally like to call out those that choose to keep their talents here and all the good happening within our city. Then I realized I was being silly. There are great people from Cleveland doing great things all over the country. Sure, ideally we’d like to retain these people and have them be a permanent part of our make-up and help perpetuate our city. But no city can claim zero turnover. Instead, we should look at it like there are true Cleveland ambassadors spread throughout. And with any luck, those people will return home – which they seem to do more and more these days. As is the case with chefs Ryan Harkins and Matt Chernus, the duo behind Grill ‘Em All. While they are still in LA, it sounds like we are part of their future plans. Until then, you can watch as they take part in The Great Food Truck Race on The Food Network.

1. What does Heavy Metal have to do with food?

Matt: We, as humans and fire breathing dragon slayers, use food to sustain our life forces. It keeps us focused, healthy and of stable mind. Heavy Metal does these same things. It defines who we are as it powers our inner dragon – slaying guts and stuff.

Ryan: It’s actually quite strange how heavy metal and food go together. I’d like to thank and honor Ronny James Dio for that. Not sure why, I just would like to take any chance I get to honor that man.

2. If you had to listen to one song over and over, every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Matt: That is a tough question as I feel equally strong about ‘Angel of Death’ by Slayer and ‘I Wish I Was a Little Bit Taller’ by Skee-Low.

4. Secret to cooking a good burger?

Ryan: Damn dude, you stole it. ‘Angel of Death’ is such a brutal song! Not out of line saying it’s by far the best thrash song ever written. The album though would have to be ‘36 chambers’ by wu-tang!

3. Favorite burger topping(s)?

Matt: Of all the insane Grill ‘Em concoctions, I would have to vote for seared fennel sausage gravy.

Ryan: I gotta say the “Paul Baloff” — dijon, pickles, swiss, 7oz burg, 1/3 lb pastrami and a fried egg. That burger rips!

Matt: Ryan says love, I say hate. Therefore we have what kind of relationship?
Ryan: Skills son! Haha!

5. If you could cook for any band, who would it be and what would you make?

Matt: Let’s, as the world, cook for U2…and poison them.

Ryan: Appetite for Destruction era Guns and Roses. Loads of tacos and pizza. They’d like that…oh Slash.

6. Where did you grow up in Cleveland?

Matt: Rocky River, son. Represent Center Ridge! I’m a full on East Side hater. I’ve, as a smart adult, lived in Lakewood, Cleveland and Tremont. As, a dumb adult, I’ve spent way too much money drinking in all those neighborhoods!

Ryan: The mean, mean streets of Rocky River, beware those Center Ridge crips! I don’t know anything about the east side except the grog shop. I like that place though.

7. What do you think of the culinary scene in Cleveland now? Will Grill ‘Em All make its way here?

Matt: The Cleveland food scene is far better than I ever remember it being when I lived there. That’s in large part due to our good buddy, Iron Chef Michael Symon. There’s so much good food and drink in Clevo…of course we want to be a part of it! Cleveland is where I learned to eat!!!  Oh yeah, and expect us in Cleveland. Seriously.

Ryan: The Cleveland food scene continues to blow my mind on a daily basis. I follow it closely out here and it makes me so jealous. I swear to you, people out here don’t even know what a pierogi is!

Chef Symon brought our dearly missed city to the forefront of the food movement, and god bless him for that! Raddest dude out, for real!

There are so many great up and comers as well, you guys are so lucky. And on top of that, my absolute favorite place in the entire universe, the West Side Market – I’m drooling! Sokolowski’s, Lola, Lolita, Melt, Greenhouse, Leloli, Flying Fig, Hot Sauce Williams, Steve’s, Old Fashioned, oh boy, I could seriously turn this into the longest interview answer ever. Needless to say, we REALLY love Cleveland!

8. Why are gourmet food trucks so popular right now?

Ryan: Because it’s nerdy and awesome! Fact!
Ryan: It changed my appreciation for all the detail and attention it takes to film a TV show. Our business rules and continues to rule even harder! People of Cleveland, take a well-deserved vacation and come to LA, find us, and we will feed you so well. And if you don’t, Matt and I will see you over the holidays at one of our favorite restaurants feeding our faces and growing our bodies and we will say hello….and also tell you that you missed out!

Matt: Because people loved that movie XXX with all the cars and Vin Diesel. And people get hungry thinking of Vin Diesel.

9. How has participating in this experience on the Food Network changed you and/or your business?

Ryan: It changed my appreciation for all the detail and attention it takes to film a TV show. Our business rules and continues to rule even harder! People of Cleveland, take a well deserved vacation and come to LA, find us and we will feed you so well! And if you don’t, Matt and I will see you over the holidays at one of our favorite restaurants feeding our faces and growing our bodies and we will say hello….and also tell you that you missed out!

__________________________

Speaking of food trucks, let’s not forget our favorite local food truck Dim and Den Sum. The Great Food Truck Race has launched a contest for America’s greatest food truck. Cleveland’s own Dim and Den Sum has been nominated in the top fifteen and needs our votes to win. The contest begins on Sunday, August 29th on the Food Network’s website. The winners will receive a cash prize (enough to bring another truck to Cleveland they declare) as well as a spot on the second season of The Great Food Truck Race.

Let’s be sure to rock the vote for these guys and send them to season 2. And if you haven’t tried their food yet, what are you waiting for – follow that truck!

1. How did you get into organic garlic farming? Our friend, Curt VanBlarcum, was growing garlic and would give us a few bulbs off and on. Then he taught me how to plant it and we put our first garlic in a little 8’X5’ area in 1998. Our farm got more sunlight then his land, so we tilled up some land, ordered several varieties of garlic off line and grew garlic together for a couple of years. We got up to around 2,000 plants. My wife Chris’s family is Italian and lives near by and every time they came to visit they would want a large bag of garlic to take home. So every year the size of the garlic field got larger just to meet the needs of the family and friends. Then four years ago Chris read that Hudson was going to start a farmers’ market. We applied and sold out of crop in four weeks. So we tilled up more land and planted more crop. We have been expanding every year. To date we have a little over a ½ acre in garlic. We plant organically because the produce is healthier to consume and it’s better for the earth (soil, water, and organisms in the soil.)

2. How much garlic do you grow each year? How many varieties and what’s your favorite one? Every year we expand a little to try to keep up with demand but maintain the quality of our garlic. This year we have 14,000 in the ground. We will take 12 varieties to market and have a couple others varieties we are still working to increase their numbers so in the future we will be able to take to market.

3. I understand you teach science – do you incorporate farming into your lesson plans? Do the students have any interest in knowing where there food comes from? Both Chris and I teach science. She teaches AP environmental science and ecology at Hudson High School and I teach biology and nature studies at Cleveland Heights High School. We both incorporate farming into our lesson plans. We both show the video Food Inc. and Diet for a New America to our students. Both videos do an excellent job of showing how our food choices affect the earth and the animals. I try to stress that what we eat effects both our external and internal environment (the earth and your body). Some of our students live on farms and understand where their food comes from. Others don’t know what goes on before it gets to the store. After teaching this unit some of the students want to come and visit our farm, others want to taste the garlic and a few of them want to help with the planting and harvesting so they can learn more.

4. Favorite use for garlic – other than cooking? In the winter when I feel a cold or sore throat coming on, I eat raw garlic and also make a garlic tea. I dice up a couple cloves of garlic and put them in a tea cup, sometimes add I bullion cube and pour hot water over it. Then I drink the fluid and eat the garlic. This seems to reduce the symptoms.

5. Favorite way to enjoy garlic? Garlic dip with ciabatta bread with a salad and a good beer or glass of wine.

6. What’s your favorite restaurant in Cleveland? The Greenhouse Tavern. It has great food, neat, friendly staff and an interesting space.

7. What chefs do you work with? John, Kevin and JJ Altomare –  they are the owners and chef of Hudson’s Restaurant on 80 N. Main St. Hudson, Ohio. They buy garlic scapes and make garlic scape pesto pasta. Also Jonathan Sawyer from The Greenhouse Tavern buys scapes and garlic.

8. Where can we buy your garlic? At the Hudson Farmers Market on Saturdays from 9 am-12:30 pm from June until the 2nd of October. Also at the Chagrin Falls Farmers’ Market on Sundays from 10 -1:00pm until the 22^nd of August. Also most Saturdays and Sundays after the market at our farm. Please call 330-283-6137 to make an appointment.

9. Best way to grow garlic at home? You should buy quality seed stock (bulbs to separate into cloves). Garlic is a winter crop. Should be planting in the fall, around the third week of October in good, fertile soil. Shoots will appear through the snow in the spring. Usually harvest in early July and hang to dry.

10. Favorite thing about Cleveland? The new restaurants, micro breweries and entertainment that keep popping up all around town.

11. If you were mayor for a day, what’s the first thing you’d change or what law would you establish? If I were mayor for a day I would have people spend a couple hours outside, so they would get more in touch with the environment that we so depend on as a population.  Thus we would become better stewards of the earth. If Chris was mayor for a day, she would establish a law to get rid of all the fast food places so the kids would be healthier.

12. Biggest challenge or misconception about organic farming? Biggest challenge about organic farming is the time and energy spent hand weeding since no herbicides are used and garlic doesn’t like competition (weeds).

13. If you could be any other person for a day, who would it be? If I could be any one for a day I would like to have been Lewis of Lewis and Clark, so I could have explored the virgin forests.

14. Last meal on Earth? Garlic dip with ciabatta and an IPA beer, my wife’s spaghetti and meatballs with a salad and red wine followed by a piece or two of my mom’s homemade pies (one peach) finished with a nice porter or stout.

15. Best way to store garlic? How long does it keep? Cool, dry place so air can circulate around it. Hard necks will store 6-8 months and soft necks will store up to 9 months.