Prepare for thy appetite to be whetted.
Tomato, avocado, arugula, cheese and ginger aoili. An egg sunny-side up. Served open-faced on an English muffin – homemade.
All ingredients fresh and/or local. Say hola to the Southwest Sunrise. Say hola to The Local.
“We’re both creative. I love to bake; he loves to cook. We’re a good team. We’re very collaborative,” said Sheryl Strong, who, with chef Rob Mackey, owns and runs a new breakfast diner with a twist.
“We source as much local as we can,” said Strong. “It’s difficult to do, it’s cost-prohibitive. We do strive for no GMOs and as little processing as possible. We use as much organic as we can,” including milk products and a fair-trade special blend from Prescott Coffee Roasters.
Strong and Mackey embrace the L-word: Local.
“We get our eggs from Nowhere Farms in Kirkland, produce from Whipstone in Paulden and Mortimer Farms in Dewey, meat from Kelly Beef in Williamson Valley, bacon from a pig farm in Phoenix,” Strong said. “It’s nitrate-and hormone-and antibiotics-free and I think the pigs are happy there.”
“We get produce from Peddler’s Son, a private organic farm in Phoenix,” chimed in the chef. “And organics from Costco,” added Strong.
Their professional ties date to 2008, when Strong owned Prescott’s Firehouse Kitchen and Mackey was chef. Their paths separated after Strong exited the industry.
“About three years ago, I played the ‘restaurant game,’” she said. “What would I do if I had a restaurant, what would I call it? Not that I ever wanted one at that time. I came up with the name The Local. I just liked it. ‘Let’s go to The Local.’ It sounded hip, fun, cool. It had nothing to do with local food at the time!”
Fast forward. Strong and her former chef reunited at The Local, which opened April 23. It has been a smashers – uh, smashing – success from the start. Smashers are a menu item. Sweet potatoes or Yukon Golds (with bacon, cheese, green onion) served “open-faced” after pressings by, as the name suggests, a potato smasher.
Mackey, a Scottsdale Culinary School graduate, has been cooking since he was 14. He loves it, particularly creative plating. “I was taught that you eat first with your eyes. People love the place. Quality and flavorful food in a fun atmosphere with colors that are inviting and fresh. They pop.”
Along with the Southwest Sunrise, Huevos Rancheros, Tamales and Eggs and Flat Cakes (“super-skinny pancakes”) sell like, well, hotcakes.
Speaking of which, do not skip the syrup! “We make our own using real maple syrup, then we doctor it up.” Strong will not reveal those secrets, only: “We’ve heard it called crack syrup and magic syrup. We’ve had people drink it out of the pitcher!”
Because folks have a hard time finding the location, she emphasizes that it is 520 West – not East – Sheldon. The Local is in a strip just east of the Grove Ave./West Sheldon St. intersection.
Like Strong, Shanti Rade credits increased public information and awareness with blossoming numbers of locavores. Rade, with husband, Cory, are the forces behind Whipstone Farm in Paulden. They have been with Prescott’s Farmers’ Market since its inception in 1996 and currently serve on its board.
There are several benefits of locally-grown foods, she says.
One is freshness and nutritional value as a result of reduced travel time. “Vegetables degrade in nutritional value over time. If something takes a week to get from across the country to your grocery store and to you, the nutrient value decreases.”
Another is season. “At the Farmers’ Market now, you won’t see corn or watermelon or foods that come later in the season. Now, we have leafy greens and peas and beets. In spring, you eat leafy greens that detox you from winter when you didn’t have as many vegetables.
“We’ve lost track of seasonal eating because today you can get anything all year long in grocery stores.” Consuming foods in harmony with their season returns us to our deeper nature and teaches pleasures of foods at their peak in flavor and nutrition.
Rade cites economic benefits too. “Eating local keeps your dollars circulating locally. Supermarket employees spend their wages locally but store profits are going somewhere far away. It’s really important” to nurturing that flow between farmers, ranchers and small-business owners and community.
Rade admits farming’s challenging, particularly in our hot, dry climate. Some foods do not thrive (fruits), and some do (peppers). Cultivators who learn the tools and stick it out find a receptive audience willing to pay for quality – and education!
“There’s always something to be learned that’ll bring you back, even if you’re not a committed locavore. At our booth alone, you’d probably see 10 vegetables you’ve never heard of, like rainbow-colored carrots, watermelon radishes, purple mustard greens, tatsoi [a leafy green], foods you won’t see in a supermarket.
“We give samples and ideas on how to prepare them. I’ve customers who bring ME recipes!” said an enthusiastic Rade. “It’s give-and-take where everybody’s learning. You don’t have that experience at a grocery store. It’s a valuable way to connect not just with your food but community.”
Like Strong at The Local, Rade finds customers uncomplaining about added costs of local/organic products because they want quality, nutritional value, flavors, freshness and foods free of pesticides, excessive sodium and preservatives. Rade added, “The farmers market accepts food stamps and is involved in the WIC program. As market organizers, we’re well aware of trying to make good food accessible to everybody.”
Pressed to share her farm favorite: “Asparagus. The season’s fleeting so enjoy it when it’s there!”
She adds this morsel: “When you get asparagus from stores, it’s a little white and tough on the ends because during harvesting, they cut it a little bit under the ground. When we pick it, we snap it right above the ground.”
The result? “The entire stalk’s tender enough to eat.” Food at its natural finest! QCBN
The Local, 520 W. Sheldon St., #4, Marler’s Square, Prescott; 928-237-4724. Open daily except Wednesdays, 7 a.m.-2.30 p.m.; www.facebook.com/thelocalprescott
Whipstone Farm; 928-636-6209; info@whipstone.com; www.whipstone.com.
For hours and locations of Farmers’ Markets in Prescott and Chino Valley: http://prescottfarmersmarket.org; info@prescottfarmersmarket.org; 928-713-1227
By Gussie Green
Photo1 caption:
It’s bigger than a red radish but smaller than a watermelon. Why, it’s a watermelon radish displayed by Shanti Rade, who, with husband Cory, runs the Whipstone Farm in Paulden. The farm that began at half an acre is now 15 acres thanks to a burgeoning demand for local and/or organic eats. “We pour everything into the farm, we have no life!” she quips — and they love it. Whipstone Farm is also a longtime vendor at Prescott’s Farmers’ Market.
Photo by Gussie Green
Photo caption:
Chef Rob Mackey and Sheryl Strong encourage you not only to eat, but to eat well! Eating clean and eating local are the inspiration and guiding principles behind The Local, a Prescott diner specializing in unique breakfast items like a breakfast pot pie and Dutch cakes, all from scratch. Behind the two owners is a wall signed by 117 contributors in their Kickstarter campaign that helped officially (kick)start The Local in April.
Photo by Gussie Green
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