I am currently away from home but managed to dip my toe into the local food network where I am assigned. My first discovery was accidental. Yesterday I stopped for lunch The Olympic Tavern. I was pleasantly surprised to find a placard on the table letting me know that they “offer the best locally produced food available.” This bit cut from their website was also included on the table sign.
Our Steaks: Our steaks are all procured from corn-fed Angus and Herford breed cattle from Northern Illinois farms, the heart of corn country. Our meat is inspected for wholesomeness and graded for quality. We only use the very top Choice and Prime grade meats – the top 10% of the cattle grade. Our steak cuts are hand-selected, aged to perfection, and processed according to our house specifications. We hope you’ll find that eating a high quality piece of beef is a highly satisfying dining experience.
Our Pork: Our pork is hand selected for high marbling from Duroc and Berkshire bred pork. Hand selected for juiciness and tenderness and procured from local farms.
While not entirely local, my lunch of a spinach and scallop salad was delicious. It felt good to eat honest food again after several days of exisiting on typical mass produced food.
My second Winnebago County food adventure was a stop at the Farmer’s Market at Klehm Arboretum. This evening market was well past half way by the time I was released from work and stopped by. I shared a cucumber that with one of the vendors; she had picked it only a few hours before. I bought some cucumbers since I can eat them without access to cooking implements. I bought a jar of local honey to take home. My breakfast this morning was a scrumptious cinnamon roll from the market.
