The South’s renowned chef in support of locally-sourced foods
Words by Morgan Ellen Johnson
The idea of ‘farm-to-table’ dining is no longer trendy. It’s the new norm.
In the early 2000s, the locally-sourced foods movement took off, and it hasn’t slowed down since. The premise of cooking with simply-made, seasonal ingredients has become the expectation of restaurateurs.
Southern chef Ford Fry has built his empire around this concept. With ten restaurants to his name spanning Georgia and Texas (and plans to expand into Tennessee and North Carolina), Fry’s menus boast fresh coastal, comfort, and tex-mex fare—the product of his childhood memories and relationships built with farmers.
When Fry opened his first restaurant in 2007, the Atlanta-based JCT. Kitchen & Bar, these farm resources were not as accessible as they are today.
“There weren’t a ton of [chefs] in Georgia doing this,” he said. “[Sourcing locally] has been a common philosophy in California for a long time now, even in the ‘80s. But there were just a few people who really led the pack on that in the South.”
One of the most notable leaders was Chef Anne Quatrano of Atlanta’s award-winning Bacchanalia.
“[She] was the one leading the charge in Atlanta,” he said. “This cool thing happened where farmers started to see if chefs were open to buying local. I saw the product; I tasted it; I got to know the farmers—we just did it.”
But making the switch wasn’t easy.
“A lot of people argued with me that [sourcing locally] was too expensive,” Fry said. “But it was the right thing to do… it’s a little more difficult to do things right, but it’s harder for the right reasons, I’d say.”
The simpler option for Fry, and many of today’s consumers, would be to buy from distributors instead of direct purveyors. Restaurant reviews boasting the buzzwords of ‘farm-to-table,’ ‘sustainable,’ and ‘organic’ are almost always equated to expense. But the financial savings and convenience of mass-produced foods does come at the cost of an inferior product.
“Over time we lost what [food] should be and taste like due to the American way,” Fry said. “It’s almost like the natural taste of these products has been worked out. Until I started eating fresh again, it didn’t hit me.”
After attending culinary school, Fry’s experience with produce at a restaurant in Houston reconnected him to his Texas roots, forever changing the way he thought about food.
“[The chef] was displaying these tomatoes on a counter right when you walked in,” he said. “There was a sign saying they were from some local farm. They weren’t the brightest red—they weren’t that perfect. I was thinking to myself, ‘Why would this lady display these?’ You can see bright red ones in the grocery store… why wouldn’t you buy that? But once you taste it—that’s when I remembered. That’s what I remember they should taste like.”
Fry attributes that memory—and similar ones of eating hand-mashed potatoes in Vermont and wild-caught shrimp from the Gulf of Mexico—to his renewed interest in using the freshest ingredients available.
Now, he works with over twelve farms to stock foods for all of his restaurants.
Fry’s advocacy (and love of tomatoes!) also extends into his annual ‘Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival,’ bringing together consumers, local farmers, and chefs in Atlanta for a day in support of Georgia Organics: a non-profit connecting Georgia families to farmers and fresh foods.
Valuable resources for families include CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture systems, where consumers can have goods delivered farm-to-home) or farmers markets. Fry recommends replacing grocery store buying with local farmers markets, where consumers can stock up on foods and other goods for the week in bulk.
There, he said, “everything’s natural and grown the way it’s supposed to be grown.”
Purchasing locally-sourced foods not only helps the community, but also enhances flavors. Fry encourages diners to taste the difference for themselves at one of his restaurants.
“There’s really no question or worry about eating here,” he said, “because, ‘Hey, we’ve got your back.’”
