Rosemary Parkinson, Contributor
Panera's choices of sweetbreads.
WELL I'VE seen it all, for last night, there was a blue full moon here in Kentucky just as the country song suggests. However, this week I will not concentrate on moons but the earth because I have been visiting restaurants and supermarkets that are connected to dirt, the ground, nature and, the earth. I am hoping to create motivation, plant innovative ideas to any who might be on the verge of either opening a new restaurant, café or supermarket or, if you have already done so, maybe find ideas for improvement. The intention is to create a spark in the minds of those concerned as to how the earth can get involved. Some have already caught the notion, I must add. Take Walkerswood, for instance who have been encouraging the expansion of the agricultural sector
in Jamaica, with back-up system, just solely by understanding their production needs.
Jamaica has some of the most beautiful earth from its cool mountain areas to its low lands but organisation is necessary to provide exactly what is required in a sensible and structured way to feed the nation. In fact, there is no reason after all these years as independent Caribbean nations, especially with Caricom, that our agricultural sectors, with steady free-flow of import and export, should not be a testament to our abilities to understand our individual and collective needs and implementing them to benefit consumers. Of course, a small start would be if all members of the Jamaican food industry in Jamaica made a definite commitment to certain farmers and, they returned the gesture likewise.
EATING OUT
Last week, the family visited a tiny restaurant just outside of downtown Lexington with no more than eight tables. The Harvest is simple in décor with an adaptable menu (changed sometimes nightly with ease by using its basics, playing with the method of preparation and the accompaniments themselves), offering good wholesome food whose ingredients come straight from organic farmers - from the field to the table being their motto.
Their Harvest Gazpacho was so 'clean' in taste one felt the tomatoes had been picked in front of one's very eyes. The Farmhouse Salad of sautéed local mushrooms, farmer Walt's sprouts and greens topped with warm crusted chèvre (goat cheese) was a wonderful contrast of taste, feel and temperature. The Elmwood Stock Farm Half Hen with its crisp light-peppered skin and the roasted pork loin in a peach brandy pan sauce, crisp corn cake and summer vegetables were dishes that brought out the 'hee haw' in us. Although a seasonal fruit cup and chef's home-made gelato were offered, we had a warm bourbon chocolate bread pudding and a vanilla bean crème brûlée and cookie that brought our dining to a fine close.
Panera is a Café/Bakery off Richmond - www.panerabread.com - which offers a 'Pick Two' combo where you select two of 'any bowl of soup' (with French bread), 'Any Half Sandwich' or 'Any Half Salad'. However, in America, half equals a portion in our Caribbean eyes! Soups change daily with favourites remaining on the menu and salads showing a special of the day. Our choice always seems to be the amazing broccoli cheddar but we have delved into various salads and sandwiches.
There is a bistro salad consisting of meat fillets of choice, mixed field greens, romaine lettuce, gorgonzola cheese, walnuts and balsamic vinaigrette. There is also an Asian sesame natural citrus-herb chicken one with romaine lettuce, fresh cilantro, sliced almonds, sesame seeds, crispy wonton strips and reduced-sugar Asian sesame vinaigrette that we just love.
Our favourite sandwiches? Smoked turkey, spinach artichoke spread, asiago-Parmesan cheese, tomatoes
and caramelised onions on basil pesto focaccia or, the garlic roasted Portobello mushrooms marinated in balsamic vinaigrette with fresh
mozzarella, caramelised onions and fresh chopped basil on Rosemary and onion focaccia bread.
The bread, is freshly baked on the premises daily and is to die for. And here are reasons enough to visit daily: a guide book available to all staff can tell the customer of every ingredient used in every dish offered including calorie count. Panera conducts Operation Dough-Nation where all 'cash donations' (tips) are matched and donated to local hunger relief or charitable organisations. All unsold bread is given to hunger relief agencies.
TAKE-OUT
Wild Oats in the Fayette Lexington area is a supermarket with everything, including health and organic foods. But, what really floored me, is their
delicatessen where you can sit and eat or takeaway. Knowing my Caribbean like I do, there's unfortunately no way their arrangement for payment would allow such a place to survive - order what you want, eat and use the sticky labels placed on the food covers to pay as you leave. Hello? Having unfortunately gained a reputation for beating the system - prices left on the plates and disposed of before paying or simply stuck at the bottom of the table would never see the cashier's eyes! Sad, eh?
Back to the food. From chefs behind the counter to deal with your every need (even a sushi chef!) to all manner of already-prepared meats, smoked and otherwise, to vegetarian dishes; from pasta, cheeses, olives and antipasta, savouries, salad counters with choices of dressings to breads and pastries, the array is breathtaking, the aromas alone driving one wild.
And don't let's talk about décor and friendly service. Now 'normal' supermarkets don't get left behind in this quest for healthy.
Kroger's, for instance, has its own mind-boggling takeaway counters with everything under the sun already prepared for takeaway and please read their motto placed larger than life on the wall for all to see! At both Wild Oats and Kroger's, there's breakfast, lunch and dinner for those who lead busy, stressed-out lives; enough choices for an amazing healthy get-together
or full-swing party at home without having to sweat over a hot stove.
And talking about parties, there's The Liquor Barn - one enormous warehouse with seemingly endless rows of every imaginable type of liquor - especially the famed Kentucky Whiskey - liqueurs, beer, soft drinks and water. The owners take 'the-everything-under-one-roof' idea to another level, by including from napkins to glassware and flatware (glass, ceramic and plastic). And as for their connection to the earth, they offer from smoked beef and poultry to fish; from an array of cheeses to olives - a counter full of various types, marinated in various ways, bought by the pound. Bottles and cans of everything that says, "from party-eats to a magnificent buffet cold-cuts dinner."
Rosemary Parkinson was last seen boarding a Greyhound
bus on her quest to travel America looking at food. Tannersville in Upstate New York, home of famed tattooist Bruce Bart and foodie-friend, supposedly her next stop. See next week for more.
NOTE TO KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN JAMAICA
Just to let you know that being in the home of the Colonel himself right now, I broke down and entered the hallowed halls of this famous fast-food enterprise. It seemed a must really. Well, let me tell you, I had to return the coleslaw - it was off. The chicken oily to the bone and tasteless, the biscuits bland. After several secret late-night visits to the Montego Bay branches since my
horrid experience post-Hurricane Ivan, I can reveal that Jamaica's Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises certainly do an excellent job in converting this Kentucky wonder into edible fast food.
ANOTHER TOUCH OF INTEREST
Children-friendly restaurants are all over the place here. One of
particular note is Chuck E. Cheese's that serves up pizzas and also has a good salad bar. Children can play on numerous rides, climb in and out of tubes, run around and play video games on large screens. One buys tokens for the games, and depending on how well one is at these games, a number of chits are returned. These are taken to 'The Muncher' who 'munches' same loudly and returns a ticket which is redeemable in various Chuck E. Cheese toys or school-related items. Safety is paramount, so on entering, family members' hands are are stamped with the same number, and children are not allowed to leave with adults who do not match up.
