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A local-food movement that has been gaining momentum now has a champion. Welcome to Farmers Gastropub.
Springfield diners who wanted a completely sustainable meal used to have to know their way around a kitchen. While many restaurants buy certain dishes or ingredients locally, there wasn’t one that specialized in it until now.
Farmers Gastropub opened late last month in the former Ophelia’s location in Wilhoit Plaza (431 S. Jefferson Ave.). The name is an homage to the farm-to-table theme of the menu, which is also supported by Euro-style art and decorations. Owner Bill Griffiths (an Englishman) and wife Christina (from Springfield) met in Paris. They moved to Springfield in 2004, but pined for the regional pubs and restaurants they frequented there. “You could go anywhere in Europe for good food that doesn’t hurt the Earth,” Griffiths said. “And it was very affordable.”
They’ve done their best to recreate the phenomenon. Using chicken and pork from Millsap Farms, eggs from auctions in Seymour, beef from Mountain Grove’s Rocking Z Ranch and produce from every farmer’s market in sight, Farmers’ menu is a study in “right now.” The menu is constantly in flux, meaning they print a lot of menus. (“It’s the one non-green thing we do. We’re going to try and standardize and use chalkboards,” Griffiths says.) Diners should go in with an understanding: Farmers’ kitchen running out of something should be tolerated, if not necessarily expected. After all, there aren’t 20 Sysco boxes stacked in a freezer somewhere.
But for those passionate for “slow food”, the results are worth the uncertainty. The team of chefs make mayonnaise from scratch, and cocktails from organic juices. And while it’s borderline gourmet (one chef worked at the Spotted Pig gastropub in New York) it’s not inaccessible; menu staples—insofar as they have any—include fish and chips and chicken pot pie, which are pictured above (along with a portobello sandwich and a fresh salad). You can also treat Farmers as a late-night destination thanks to a full bar. The rear room, which is also used for private parties, becomes a bistro at night, where you can order from a set menu.
But above all, renewability and sustainability are Farmers’ true watchwords. The kitchen waste is composted or taken to Millsap Farms as slop; the outdoor patio is ringed by fresh growing herbs; and the take-home boxes are (very) biodegradable.
“Don’t leave this under your car seat,” Griffiths says, “Or you’ll have a mess on your hands before long.”
Reader Comments:
good luck!