June | Featured Chef Brooke Williamson

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The Craveable Life: Volume IV

June 2014, Chef Brooke Williamson // Playa Provisions (Los Angeles, CA)

For June's Basket, The FareTrade is honored to present Chef Brooke Williamson, a highly accomplished + multi-faceted culinary talent. Chef Williamson is best known for her appearance on Top Chef: Seattle, where she finished as a semi-finalist. Her newest establishment - Playa Provisions, in Playa del Ray (a beach town just south of Los Angeles) - is a multi-purpose gastronomic mecca boasting a cafe, creamery, seafood restaurant and grain whiskey bar - all rolled into one.

Chef Williamson's June 2014 Menu:

Maple + Bourbon Baked Apple | Skillet Bacon Crumble | Vanilla Ice Cream

Smoky Tomato-Stewed Lentils | Mustard Greens | Soft-Boiled Egg

Marinated Pork Porterhouse | Cheesy Pressure Cooked Grist | Anchovy Chimichurri

Butter Lettuces | Blue Cheese | Toasted Walnuts | Grapefruit Shrub Vinaigrette

The Artisans:

LIBER & COMPANY

Austin, TX

Artisans: Chris Harrison, Adam Higginbotham, + Robert Higginbotham

Launched in late 2011 on the belief that small artisans need only offer a handful of outstanding products to become established, Liber & Co. is a passion project shared between three friends who independently founded and own their small Texas-based company. Driven by the process of innovation, the company is dedicated to producing cocktail and culinary ingredients that are made from scratch and utilize raw ingredients like ripe citrus, fresh-cut botanicals, and hand-cracked spices.

Named after the god Liber, which in Roman mythology means “the free one”, Liber & Co. represents viticulture and freedom, ideologies that embody part of the creative spirit of the company. The goal is to spread a passion for the finer things in in life, with the robust and full-bodied products the company produces as beacons for the manifestation. With fathers who were craftsmen in their own right, Chris, Adam, and Robert understand the importance of quality, the viability of spiritedness, and above all working together to craft authentic products they enjoy.

CITY SAUCERY // NONNA’S SMOKY SAUCE

Staten Island, NY

Artisans: Michael, Jorge, & Nonna

Crafted in honor of his parents who traveled from Calabria, Italy to NYC and formed in 2011, City Saucery follows in the artisanal Mediterranean tradition of making handcrafted sauces in small batches to ensure the highest quality with ingredients and flavor, sourced locally regionally and seasonally from nearby farms and their own organic urban garden. The goal of the company is simple - to create unique and delicious products of the highest quality techniques true to the Slow Food way of cooking - without chemical additives, flavorings or preservatives typically found in today’s markets.

Co-Founders and Partners Michael and Jorge cook alongside Michael mother, Nonna and are driven by pure ingredients, authentic flavors, and the connection between food and family. The three artisans cook Nonna's original recipes - all themselves. After attending Sunday family dinners and falling in love with the food Michael’s mother had created, Jorge pledged to help Michael introduce honest Calabrian flavors to the food community. Together this modern family business set out to jar that same fresh, locally-sourced, home-cooked taste the only Nonna can create in her kitchen and share it with the world.

NORA MILLS GRANARY

Helen, GA

Artisans: Joann and Rich Fain Tarpley

Established in 1876, Nora Mill Granary is an operational gristmill sitting alongside the Chattahoochee River in the foothills of the North Georgia Mountains. Their products are created by utilizing the original 1,500 pound French Burr Stones which grind and produce a variety of corn and wheat-based ingredients. While there have been many changes over the years, the main goal remains the same: to grind fresh grains with no additives or preservatives with old-fashioned quality.

Dating back to the late 1800’s, Nora Mills Granary was constructed by John Martin when he came to Georgia to mine for gold. In the early 1980’s Retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Ron Fain leased the mill for him and his parents to bring back to life and operate. Through the years, Ron brought his youngest daughter Joann in under his wing to learn the art of milling and work the business with him before she took over operations in 2001. Nora Mill is now in the third and fourth generation of the Fain family as the children of Joann and her husband, Rich, are actively working with them at the mill.

SKILLET STREET FOOD

Seattle, WA

Artisan: Josh Henderson

In 2007, Chef Josh Henderson created Skillet Street Food out of a vintage Airstream trailer. The reception from Seattle’ites was immediate and passionate. Originally a food truck that served innovative lunch menus based on American-inspired food prepared with classic technique and seasonal ingredients, the company has since grown up to include a thriving catering enterprize, restaurant group, and artisanal food products business. While the original street food business has become a brand it has not strayed from its roots. The goal remains the same: to produce great food produced with care and quality ingredients to result in an innovative food experience that surprises and satisfies.

Founder, Josh Henderson graduated from CIA Hyde Park Campus in 1998 and from there took a circuitous route to discovering that working in restaurants wasn’t the direction he wished to pursue. However, he passion for food and creating for people drove him to start the small business that would grow into his empire.

HANOVER ROAD

Hanover, CO

Artisans: Creston Baker

A manifestation of a lifetime passion for food, Hanover Road’s mission is to bring their customers small-batch and artisanal products based on their origins in rural Colorado where home-grown vegetables and handmade food are a cherished part of the past. Having started cooking in his mother’s kitchen at age nine, Creston Baker always had an affinity for the culinary world and after twenty years in sales and marketing decided to follow his passion. After obtaining his degree in Patisserie and Baking from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts he was able to combine his lifetime experience with classic french training resulting in the creation of the Hanover Road brand. Hanover Road offers traditional favorites and flavors instilled with exciting new technique, all prepared in a micro batch artisanal manner and always utilizing organic and locally grown ingredients when possible.

SIERRA NUT HOUSE

Fresno, CA

Artisans: Joann Sorrenti

Crafted in the farm-grown epicenter of California’s Central Valley, Sierra Nut House is a proudly run local establishment, with over forty years expertise providing the region with the best dried fruits, nuts, seeds, grains, and healthy snacks. As the business has grown the concept has expanded to include an on-site bistro and wine bar alongside several small gift shops in the area quickly becoming an icon in the Fresno community. Sierra Nut House is dedicated to furthering the understanding of artisanal production and offers group demonstrations and lectures on agriculturally related topics and interests. Equally important to the Sierra Nut House story is founder Joann who welcomes guests into her home for cooking classes and discussions on local food issues and helping to cement the areas position as one of the nation’s top accelerators of small-batch artisan food.

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