Farmer-chef meet and greet

The cow bell rang. Participants shook hands, said their goodbyes and wandered to the next table. There, they exchanged pleasantries and made each other’s acquaintance.

Welcome to speed dating, only without the lovelorn singles. Instead, the fleeting conversations are between area farmers and chefs, each aiming to learn what the other has to offer.

The Farmer-Chef Collaborative, held Tuesday at the Coeur d’Alene Resort, was co-sponsored by Rural Roots, the University of Idaho Extension Service and the Idaho Department of Agriculture. The idea, said Kim Polzin of the ag department, is to help farmers and producers market their wares, and create a time for personal connections. The speed dating format, with chefs visiting with each farmer or producer for five minutes before moving on, helps accomplish that, Polzin said.

“For us, it’s all about personal contact,” she said. “We really are trying to make this a very personal event.”

Chefs from nine restaurants were on hand, coming from as far away as Lovitt in Colville, to as close as Beverly’s at the Coeur d’Alene Resort. Twenty different producers were there as well, ranging from well-established farms such as Killarney Farm of Cataldo to newcomers Rickey Canyon Farms of Kettle Falls, Wash. In addition to fruit and vegetable farmers, there were ranchers offering poultry, beef and pork; cheese producers and a new dairy from Spokane.

Some of the folks have been doing business together for awhile. As he approached the table for Emtman Brothers Farms of Valleyford, Coeur d’Alene Resort Executive Chef Rod Jessick said, “We know how great the product is.” Still, he and his team of chefs visited with the purveyors of all-natural, grass-fed Piedmontese-Angus beef.

Adam Hegsted, former executive chef at Brix who now runs the kitchen at the Coeur d’Alene Casino, said even with the familiar faces there, it was a great opportunity to meet new folks and re-establish ties.

He met up with Vern Spencer of Spencer’s Veggies of Cocolalla and talked potatoes – “These are real Idaho potatoes, no Russets,” Spencer says. Hegsted has used Spencer’s potatoes before and is eager to bring them to the casino. He added he also was glad to meet up with the folks from Riley Creek Blueberry Farm of Laclede, in Bonner County, and Ballard Family Dairy and Cheese, from Gooding, near Sun Valley.

“This is a great thing,” Hegsted said. “The more farmers you can get down here, the better.”

For Hanna Penberthy and Max Silver of Rickey Canyon Farms, the day was an education. The young farmers – they’re both just out of college – will harvest their first crop this year. In addition to strawberries, they’re going to plant a wide variety of vegetables and herbs.

“We’re here to meet people and find out how restaurant contracts work and what they really need,” Penberthy said, adding that they’ve been pleased with the response they’ve received. “People seem really into local farming and young people farming in particular.”