Josh Brown staff photographer
Chef Fernandez shows off some asparagus, which he also grows.
From the farm to the fricasee
Chef Ricardo Fernandez, who owns Lomo Grill with his wife, is serious about using fresh ingredients.
He grows 12 different varieties of figs, 15 varieties of lettuce, asparagus, strawberries, potatoes, and even exotic flowers at his personal farm, Wildcat Ridge. A certified Master Gardener, Fernandez says that locally grown food isn’t just good for the local economy. It tastes better too.
Once upon a time, the Argentinian chef was in the export business, sending big red mangoes from sweltering Brazil to Manhattan in January.
Fernandez and his wife, Suzanne, became disenchanted with the global nature of their Florida-based business.
“People can buy these big, beautiful tropical fruits in the middle of winter,” Chef Fernandez recalls. “The look is there, but the taste isn’t there.”
Fernandez says that consumers need to be more aware of where their food comes from and what is going into it. Food imported from other countries, or distant parts of the United States, has often been gassed or waxed to preserve its appearance. He says that this process destroys the flavor, though it may prolong shelf-life.
A member of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project, Fernandez and his wife Suzanne are a part of the local food movement, sometimes called the “slow food movement,” in opposition to fast food.
And with the downtown farmers’ market getting set to open for the season, there’s no better team to eat fresh, local ingredients.
Restaurants that promote local food on their menus are popping up all over the mountains these days. The Sunset Grill in Waynesville and a number of restaurants in and around the Asheville area shop locally, showcasing ramps, chicken-of-the-woods mushrooms, blueberries, trout, and other regional goodies as they become available.
The case for local food is often associated with ‘green’ politics and environmental activism, since it promotes a localized, rather than globalized, economy, and focuses on the environmental benefits of purchasing regionally-produced products.
The environmental benefits, according to fans of local food, are many. Rather than purchasing a product that was shipped across the country (or world), you are buying something from down the road and thus saving on gas. While large-scale farms often use copious pesticides and controversial growth products, small farmers are more likely to diversify their crops and thus cut back on chemicals.
Economically, purchasing local keeps money in the community rather than sending it off to a distant corporation. It is also believed that local farmers can reattain some of the community importance they once had through the “slow food movement.”
“People need to be educated about eating fresh,” Fernandez says. “That’s part of the trend.”
The real payoff, at least to chefs like Fernandez, isn’t economical or environmental, though. It’s culinary. “It’s an act of love, to feed people this way,” he says. “I get up in the morning, get a couple of baskets, and take it to work. The smell, the freshness — you can’t beat that.”
Fernandez says that this spring, he’ll be showcasing a number of items from his own farm, like asparagus and strawberries, just for starters. The chef/gardener/restaurant owner also intends to open a flower business.
His orchids won three blue ribbons at the Western North Carolina Orchid Society’s show at the Arboretum last year, and he wants to enter dahlias in a similar competition this summer.
Lomo Grill is open Tuesday through Saturday nights for dinner during the spring. Reservations can be made by calling 452-5222. More information can be found on their Web site, www.lomogrill.com.
