Stuff Boston

It’s six o’clock. Do you know where your dinner has been?

The answer’s not “the kitchen,” smartass. What I mean is, when you look down at the entrée you’ve ordered, do you ever consider that, unless you know its exact origins, the precise journey it took from its source to your plate, it’s really just the equivalent of mystery meat?

Not so appetizing, huh?

The “locavore” phenomenon has, like many other epicurean trends, finally made a blip on the mainstream radar of Boston diners. We’re always late to the table on these things; dining trends simmer in the kitchens of the truly food-obsessed, who keep their trembling fingers on the pulse of what’s what in the culinary world. The latest craze is simple: eat locally — ideally from sources so close to home that you can hear your dinner mooing a few hours before you dig in.

In Massachusetts, it takes extra effort to eat in this manner, especially in the winter months, when farmers’ markets are few and far between and the produce to which our modern palates are accustomed has to be shipped from balmier parts of the world. But devotees of locavore dining say they have plenty of reason to put in the extra effort, whether they’re motivated by a desire to reduce their carbon footprint (shipping those strawberries from New Zealand in mid-February uses an obscene amount of fossil fuel, you know), support independently owned local farms and businesses rather than faceless agricultural conglomerates, or simply feast on the freshest-tasting food around. And in Boston, the movement has now caught on in a big way: from Persephone and Hamersley’s Bistro in the city proper, to The Fireplace in Brookline, to Henrietta’s Table and Craigie on Main in Cambridge, a host of area restaurants have embraced the idea of building their menus from the local bounty.

Another spot loved by locavores is the cozy Cambridge restaurant T.W. Food (377 Walden Street, Cambridge, 617.864.4745). Its owner, Chef Tim Wiechmann, is a local product himself, raised in Massachusetts before heading overseas to study at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Tim and his wife Bronwyn share an obsession with fresh, local ingredients that effortlessly and beautifully translates to the day-to-day dining experience at their restaurant. The menu changes every day based on what’s available, and the Wiechmanns have cultivated close relationships with many local farms and dairies, even a salt mine, in order to make that happen. To give our readers and his diners a better idea of what “eating local” truly looks like, Tim has helped us to deconstruct one of his most popular dishes, the Chip-In Farm Egg ($11), a scrambled egg confection that’s so sinfully creamy, it’s downright sultry. All of the ingredients are, of course, local, and all have their own distinct personalities, derived from their very special niche origins. 

If you really want to get to know the heart and soul of your dinner, you have to go right to the source. (Click below for video, or read on for more!)

BUTTER

Though Vermont isn’t exactly hyper-local, we think it’s close enough to count. Butter for this dish (and all others at T.W. Food) comes from the Vermont Butter and Cheese Company (40 Pitman Road, Websterville, VT, 800.884.6287), where dairy queen Allison Hooper uses the same European-style techniques she learned at a small family farm in France. The small-batch cultured butter is lower in salt and richer than what most Americans have encountered, which makes it perfect for the Chip-In scrambled egg, prepared with classic French technique.

CHEESE

As ornery as they are, goats can produce some pretty amazing cheese. Case in point: the award-winning “Kay’s Eclipse” goat cheese from Carlisle Farmstead Cheese (43 Indian Hill Road, Carlisle, 978.287.4091). All of the goats here have names and very distinct personalities, which, of course, makes for very distinctive cheese. Well, that plus the quality of care at the farm — all of the goats here eat organically. Tim loves “Kay’s Eclipse” for its creaminess and subtle sweetness.

CHIVE FLOWERS

Tim’s source for these beautiful pink edible blooms is about as hyper-local as it gets — he scores it from a friend! He and “personal herb grower” Brigitte Amsler plant herbs together in Marblehead in the springtime, and Tim travels to the North Shore once a week to collect these fruits (ahem, herbs) of their labor. Chive flowers offer a milder take on the taste of the plant’s more potent leaves, and their delicate bite perfectly balances the creaminess of the Chip-In scrambled egg.

CREAM

The cows are merry at Thatcher Farm (267 Thatcher Street, Milton, 617.696.6000), a pillar of the Milton community for over 100 years. The Manning family has owned Thatcher Farm since 1891, and the thinking behind their fresh milk and cream hasn’t changed much since. Its dairy still comes in glass bottles, and, true to old-school milkman form, Thatcher offers door-to-door delivery service, trading empty bottles for new ones brimming with fresh moo juice.

EGGS

Tim’s dish takes its name from the source of its foundational ingredient, Chip-In Farm (201 Hartwell Road, Bedford, 781.275.2545). The happy hens that live and lay at this family-owned and operated farm roam freely on the lush grounds, frolicking with sheep, cows, and the occasional pig or two. Chip-In was established as a dairy farm in the 1940s by the Couveé family, who, three generations later, still run it today.

SALT

Lest we forget the most basic, yet important, of ingredients, know that the salt used in all of Tim’s dishes also has close-to-home roots! The hand-harvested seasoning comes from the Maine Sea Salt Company (11 Church Lane, Marshfield, ME, 207.255.3310), which collects salt by evaporating fresh seawater from the Gulf of Maine, using only the heat from the sun. Owner Stephen C. Cook is a lifelong Mainer with a healthy respect for the ocean, having been in the lobstering business until he founded the Maine Sea Salt Company in 1998.

SPINACH

The aptly named Grateful Farms (49 Prospect Street, Franklin, 508.446.5806) aligns its moniker with its mission. Just as the farmers are grateful for Mother Earth and all her bounty, so customers like Tim are grateful for the farm’s organic produce. A seasonal addition to the Chip-In Farm egg dish, tender baby spinach from Grateful is enjoyed at the height of its freshness. This summer, visit the Cambridge Charles Square, Cambridgeport, or Kendall Square farmers’ markets to pick up some Grateful produce of your own.

MORE VIDEO: For a step-by-step video of how to make this dish, check out this video by our friends at How2Heroes.