hen you meet Chef Ryan Hardy of the Coach House at the Harborview Hotel in Edgartown he makes two immediate impressions: incredible energy and a remarkable breadth of knowledge about local food. The later is most remarkable for a well-traveled chef from Kentucky who confesses to initially being surprised by Martha's Vineyard.

We recently had an opportunity to meet Chef Hardy and to enjoy two delicious meals at the Coach House. A conversation with Ryan is filled with interesting facts and experiences he has had starting a "New England Bistro" on the Vineyard. Eating his food is an even better way to learn how a talented young chef makes the most of the bounty of local products - all year long.

LEARNING BY TRAVELING, COOKING, AND TASTING

Ryan and his four siblings were raised in Lexington, Kentucky. His mother was a great cook and one of his chores was to work in the garden where he learned to identify and pick vegetables at their peak flavor. Ryan recalls taking to cooking early and says he was "always underfoot" in the kitchen.

Despite his affinity for cooking, Ryan pursued a degree in accounting from the University of Kentucky. But as a self-described "Birkenstock guy," his heart wasn't in it. Curious about the Pacific he drove west until he hit water in Bellingham, Washington. A lover of the outdoors, his intention was get a graduate degree in forestry management. But once he learned about the scarcity of jobs in forestry, he began waiting tables and cooking. His latent culinary inclination returned and he was soon attending the Culinary Academy in San Francisco. After learning fundamental skills, he was fortunate to get an internship as a line cook at the famous Rubicon restaurant. Ryan really prefers to learn by doing, and he liked the work so much he never went back to school.

Ryan credits a number of mentors with inspiring and guiding his culinary development over the next few years. At Rubicon he was greatly inspired by Larry Stone, the legendary sommelier, who is also a cheese lover. Rubicon was one of the first restaurants in San Francisco to have a cheese course and Ryan found the more he ate cheese the more he loved it. So he started reading up on cheese and experimented with making his own. He was also encouraged to travel around the US and Europe to develop his palate.

Anxious to learn more, Chef Hardy moved to Aspen to work at a restaurant called Renaissance. Starting as a self-trained butcher, he quickly he became sous chef. Ryan persuaded chef/owner Charles Dale to offer a cheese course, which was an immediate hit. Dale subsequently opened another restaurant in Aspen, Rustique Bistro, and was so impressed with Ryan that he made him executive chef. There Ryan put a greater emphasis on cheese, ultimately offering more than 50 types. He also developed a routine he continues to this day; toward the end of evening service Ryan would circulate among the diners with a selection of ripe cheeses on a slate. This gave him an opportunity to guide selections and to discuss the cheeses with diners. Customers enjoyed meeting the chef and the cheese course really began to catch on as an integral part of a meal. Ryan's enthusiasm and skill earned Rustique Bistro a ranking among the top 20 new restaurants in the U.S. by Esquire Magazine.

Ryan's urge to explore soon returned and he left Aspen in 2002 to work for Chef Mark Miller at Coyote Café in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Ryan led the restaurant while Miller went to Sydney, Australia to open another restaurant. The menu at Coyote Café was a new experience for Ryan - it combined old world Spanish and North African items with new world Mexican and South American flavors. This provided a context to emphasize artisanal cheeses from Spain and Portugal.

When owner Miller returned from Australia, Ryan figured it was a good time to move on and he began looking for a new position. He contacted his friends at Myriad Restaurant Group, which owns Rubicon as well as Tribeca Grill, Nobu, and Montrechet in New York. They suggested a position as executive chef at Coach House on Martha's Vineyard. Ryan and his wife Cathy Rusnak had always wanted to try East Coast living, so they packed up and moved to the island.

GOING LOCAL ON THE VINEYARD

Chef Hardy confesses to being "pleasantly shocked" by Martha's Vineyard. He had a western view that the Vineyard was only a touristy sea resort. What he found thrilled him - parts of the island cater to tourists, but each village has a distinct personality. The center of the island, which is rural and has rolling hills and a lot of farms, reminded him of his boyhood home in Kentucky. And, he quickly discovered there would be a lot of local foods to cook with.

Ryan had not previously eaten a lot of New England food, so he spent as much time as possible in area restaurants eating seafood in every form. He was impressed with the variety of traditional foods and particularly the straightforward rustic - style cuisine he adores. He became something of a fanatic about chowder learning that thickness is as important as flavor. After two years of tweaking he believes he finally has his chowder just right.

The Coach House Restaurant that Ryan took over was very good but he felt the food lacked a sense of place. The menu featured well-prepared Asian-influenced Continental food that could be served anywhere. There were few local products on the menu and few locals in the dining room. Ryan created a New England Bistro serving expertly prepared food featuring local ingredients that would appeal to both locals and visitors alike.

One problem with using local foods was that the restaurant did not have any existing relationships with Vineyard farmers and fishermen. The farmers were a little suspicious of the restaurant because it was large and corporate, which they equated to 'slow payers'. Also, the kitchen staff was leery of dealing with local producers because of concerns about cost, quality, and reliability of deliveries.
To break the ice with local producers Ryan used an age-old approach - he fed them well. In early 2003 he started featuring weekly specials and made a point of inviting fishermen and farmers. This increased the restaurant's winter revenue and gave Islanders a chance to get to know Ryan. Specials included menus that emphasized local dishes and classics like boiled beef dinner (a "pot of love" Ryan calls it), and creative meals with a southwestern flair, a nod to Ryan's stint in Santa Fe. He also invited farmers in for a cheese making session later that spring.

These events were a hit and are still among Ryan's favorite things to do. They provided a opportunity to chat with local food producers about how they might do business together. Ryan got to know Jack Reed a local farmer and forager who was very plugged into Vineyard agriculture. He hooked Ryan up with a goat farmer so he could get goat milk to make cheese. Jack still acts as an informal produce broker on Ryan's behalf.

Ryan feels he learned together with the producers how to make their business relationship work. In addition to needing to be paid quickly, farmers wanted assurance that if they made a commitment to growing commercial quantities of a crop that the restaurant would - assuming good quality - commit to using it. Once he gave these assurances, prices were more readily agreed.

Chef Hardy knows he has to pay somewhat more for local produce, but he finds that the quality of it is so high that it greatly improves his food. For example to get goat milk for cheese he must pay a higher price on the island or else the goat farmers can't sustain their small operations. But the overall difference in cost is manageable and the cheese tastes better with local milk.

Ryan is as flexible as possible about quantities; he accepts that local farm yields fluctuate. It helps that he runs both a restaurant and a banquet and catering operation because he has the flexibility to use varying quantities. He is also adept at quickly crafting specials based on what is delivered each day.

Ryan's efforts have been rewarded by the bounty of local products that he gets: tomatoes, apples, peaches, and greens of all kinds; fish like skate, sea scallops, and striped bass; grass-fed beef and lamb; chicken; and local organic eggs that Ryan uses to make fresh pasta. He even has pigs raised for him from which he makes his own cured meats including a local Bayonne-style ham (similar to prosciutto). From a business perspective, using local ingredients has fostered a positive reputation with local customers and visitors alike. This reputation has been rewarded substantially by a greatly increased year round clientele.

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FISH STORY
An Outer Cape Market Built on Passion for Eating Local
By Teresa Parker

lex Hay lifts a piece of haddock from his cutting board and brings it right up to his nose. He takes a moment to assess the fillet, eyes closed, then offers it to me.

"Smell this," he says. "See how it reminds you of being out on the water? That's just what fish should smell like." The fish is white and glossy and smells like the salt air. Alex's brother Mac interrupts the reverie. "As perfect as this fish is, a lot of people will pass it up because they aren't sure how to prepare it," Mac says.

The Hay brothers know plenty about what people buy: they sold some 50,000 pounds of fish, shellfish, and lobsters out of their Wellfleet pier store, Mac's Seafood, last summer. (And they've been successful enough to open an a second store in Truro as well as an outpost in the Wellfleet Marketplace grocery.) Avid fishermen and good cooks, they also know a lot about the Cape Cod fishery and about making the best of the local catch.

In summer, especially, Mac's Seafood customers want fish that's easy to grill - tuna and swordfish are the big sellers. That's fine, they say, admitting they too love a meaty, lightly grilled tuna steak, but it means people are missing out on lots of local flavors.

"You can't do better than to take a piece of super-fresh haddock like this and just pan sear it in a little butter and olive oil, then add a splash of white wine to make a simple, juicy sauce," says Mac. Alex is shaking his head. "No, no, no," he interrupts his older brother. "You know the best way to eat this? Fried the way our grandmother does it, dipped in a little egg and bread crumbs, so it's nice and crunchy."

If you're lucky enough to find Mac and Alex at the counter together before the summer season rush is on, be sure to ask for cooking advice. You're likely to stir up one of their sprawling disagreements about flavor and technique, and end up with two recipes for the price of one. Mac is a classicist who leans toward light French-inspired sauces learned during an apprenticeship at the Manhattan Ocean Club in New York City. Alex is an experimenter who loves nuoc mam (the rich, briny Asian fish sauce) and other flavors he got to know during a college term in Vietnam.

Still, the Hay brothers agree easily on the beauty of a piece of fresh fish. "Getting to enjoy a really great piece of fish," says Mac, "is definitely an important part of living the good life." Rolling his eyes, Alex says, "Sure, but I still hate that corny 'good life' slogan of yours."

SELECTIVE SEA-FOODIES

Looking around either of the Mac's Seafood stores, you can tell these guys are food lovers. Alongside the fresh fish and piles of oysters and clams are select groceries and treats such as corn, salad greens, garlic, a few sauces, crusty breads, sweet butter, nice cheeses, Spanish chorizo. You have to admire their knack for setting up shop in a way that makes it easy to put a great dinner on the table.

But the heart of their work, the part they've invested the most in over the years, is finding the best fish and shellfish available. "For seven years we went to Chatham every other day to hand pick our fish from the primary wholesaler at the pier," Mac says. As their Wellfleet business flourished, though, getting to Chatham began to wear them down. In 2002, they asked their wholesaler to make selections for them. Their years of effort at the pier paid off, says Mac, "because we had developed such strong relationships there. They really knew what we expected in terms of quality."

Every day Mac and Alex work on determining what will come in with the next day's order. They discuss what is selling and what will be needed to meet catering orders; faxes about prices go back and forth; most important, the Hays listen to descriptions of fish coming in off the boats in Chatham harbor. Their relationship with the wholesaler means they'll find out what's really exciting on any given day. "If a guy comes in with some excellent day boat scallops, then that's what we want right then," says Alex.

The brothers' focus on quality has sharpened over time-and through experience. "We've experimented with cost cutting," says Alex. "Remember the exploding scallops, Mac?" Fried scallop dinners are a favorite at the little restaurant window at their shop on the Wellfleet pier. One year they decided to use inexpensive imported frozen scallops. "When we dropped the scallops in to cook, they just blew up," Alex recalls, laughing. "We realized the cheap stuff is probably shot full of TSP, so the scallops retain their color and size as long as they're frozen, but the meat is essentially being replaced by water." TSP, or trisodium phosphates, are often used to stabilize commercially frozen seafood.

LOCAL IS BETTER

Buying locally has also become a high priority for the company. Mac says they get better quality that way. "A couple of years ago, I did some cod fishing myself during the winter," says Mac. He was struck by the work that goes into day boat fishing off Chatham: "The lines are set, and the fish are harvested carefully, not dragged around in a net along with a bunch of unintended side catch." What really got his attention, though, was the quality of the catch. "It was so far superior to the cod I had gotten used to. The experience made me realize that this fish is really worth the price in every way."

All of the groundfish Mac's offers is caught in Cape Cod waters: the flounder comes from Provincetown or Chatham, the cod and haddock usually come from Chatham. Bluefish and bass are local, as are scallops and lobsters. And of course Mac's clams and oysters are from Wellfleet. Because they are certified primary purchasers for the shellfish, Alex explains, "I can tell you the name of the guy who harvested every clam and oyster we sell. There's just nothing better for keeping on top of the quality of the product."

Mac and Alex developed their appreciation for local seafood early in life. Although they grew up inland, in Wellesley, Massachusetts, the Hays' grandparents lived in Truro, and the boys spent their childhood sum-mers getting to know the waters of Outer Cape Cod. "My grandfather had us out on the boat and fishing in the bay practically before we could walk," Mac says. "Later he taught us how to handle knives, and we'd compete to see who could cut the most beautiful, translucent fillets. Humpa would hold up your fillet and say, 'Now let's see if I can read the newspaper through this.'"
"We always feasted on what we caught," says Alex. "And our grandmother would scoff at the idea of eating anything not caught that day." Fish bones went out to the garden, which supplied the family with fresh vegetables, and meals often included clams dug nearby.

IN SHORT SUPPLY

So what about all those tuna and swordfish steaks coveted by fans of summertime grilling? While they want to respond to demand, the Hays are concerned about supply. "Our grandfather was one of the first people to go out and tag tuna to help with research on the giant bluefins that used to be found in Cape Cod Bay," says Mac. "He had so many stories about the abundance he knew. You can't help worrying about the fact that the fishing isn't like that anymore."

"If you're going to eat swordfish steak, it ought to come from a great big fish, not a small one that needs time to spawn and reproduce," Alex says. But these fish are rare nowadays in local waters. Mac adds, "Occasionally, we get one of the big swordfish selected and harpooned in New Bedford, but we've had to learn about the best sources of off-shore tuna and swordfish." They say they are close to deciding to make regular trips to Boston to buy from wholesalers who use state-of-the-art cold brining techniques to preserve the fat and flavor of these meaty fish.

Meanwhile, the Hays' strategy involves educating people about where their fish comes from to try and focus demand on higher quality fish that they know has been properly harvested. They also have found that people respond positively to information about alternatives to over-fished favorites. Last summer, for example, Mac's offered grouper, a fish from warmer southern waters, to give local cod a break during a period of peak demand. And they plan to start including recipes in their newsletter as a way to encourage people to try different kinds of fish.

The February, 2005 Mac's Seafood newsletter describes concerns about chemical additives, pesticides, dioxins, and mercury found in farm-raised salmon, another popular non-local fish. Mac and Alex have decided that warnings about this fish being unhealthy are "for real" and that's why they will no longer be selling traditionally farm-raised salmon. They've tracked down a good organically raised salmon (E.U. certified, since the U.S. does not yet have a certified organic fish program) and will carry wild salmon, too.

A WAY OF EATING

For all their business acumen, it may come as a surprise to learn that Mac is just 30 years old and Alex is 26. The two started working summers in Wellfleet when they were teenagers. When Mac was 19 and Alex was 15, they took jobs at what was then the Harbor Freeze, a fish shop and dairy bar on the town pier. The next year they took over management of the market and came to an agreement with the owner to buy out the adjoining restaurant in stages.

Did they grow up wanting to be fishmongers? "Not at all," says Mac, who studied philosophy at Cornell and always wanted to be a baseball player. "Although my mom just came across an amazing old photo. It's a picture of my great-grandfather standing in front of a truck with a sign advertising his business: 'Shore Dinners' - something we never knew about before."

Alex says, "It's more like we grew up knowing we believed in a certain way of eating, knowing that there's no substitute for freshness. So it's not just about fish. There is just no better thing in the world than radishes and scallions warm from the garden in a place that you love. To me that defines what food should taste like."

In their spare time, Mac and Alex Hay still love to go fishing.

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The Sweet Smell of Success
Profile of Organic Garlic Farmer Karen Lee
By Dianne Langeland

lthough she'd be the last person to admit it, Karen Lee is something of a Renaissance woman. She is by turns an organic farmer, a leadership consultant, a market manager, a recipe creator, and a budding fiction writer. In her spare time - when she isn't in yoga class - she is learning to play the piano. Most remarkable, many of these accomplishments are fairly recent additions to her curriculum vitae.

Karen and her husband Skipper are the proprietors of Pleasant Lake Farm, which comprises 12 acres in Harwich. Neither Karen nor Skipper's parents were farmers, however both Karen's mom and dad grew up on tobacco farms in the Connecticut River Valley. Skipper holds a Master of Towing License and is Captain of the tugboat "Liberty" in Boston Harbor. He also services moorings and builds docks in Harwich through their business Cross Rip Ocean Services. Given his busy schedule, Karen is primarily responsible for overseeing the daily operations of Pleasant Lake Farm.

Before settling down to the "quiet" farm life she lives today, Karen was something of a rolling stone. After getting a degree in outdoor leadership training, she traveled the U.S. and Europe as a consultant in leadership development, spending about one in every six weeks working and traveling in Spain, Portugal, Germany, France, and the U.K.

THE ITCH TO NICHE

Despite the somewhat exotic destinations, the constant traveling began to take its toll. The rubber really met the road, so to speak, when Karen was driving 100 miles in each direction to her office in Reading, Massachusetts four days a week. During one of her arduous commutes home to the Cape, Karen heard a story on National Public Radio about niche gardening and was intrigued. As frequently happens when you hear something that piques your curiosity, Karen kept coming across references to niche gardening. It was in the fall of 2002 when she read an article about garlic and thought, "that would be fun to grow" when Karen took action. Asked why she was attracted to the "stinking rose" Karen admits that she loves to eat garlic and had long been fascinated with its health benefits. So she invested $14.95 in a book called Growing Great Garlic by Ron L. Engeland, planted 30 pounds of two varieties of garlic, and waited for spring to see if anything would come up.

Much to her delighted surprise, "everything" she planted flourished. Suddenly Karen had a bumper crop of garlic and she needed to find a venue to sell it. She contacted Gretel Norgeot, the market manager for the Orleans Farmers' Market, rented a stand for the season, and quickly sold out her entire harvest. In less than 10 months, Karen had gone from someone who had never heard about niche gardening to a bona fide income-earning organic garlic farmer.

It all sounds like a cakewalk and, in fact, Karen concedes that, "the biggest challenge was in my head, in trying to understand why I would want to make such a big change at that point in my life. My work was "off-Cape" and most of my connections to people were too, so I had to figure out if there was a community of like-minded people and if so, how to get involved with them. The real difficult thing was trusting I was doing the right thing."

The second fall Karen expanded her garden and planted 200 pounds of garlic, adding several new varieties as well as a few culinary herbs and flowers. She also quit her full-time job (although she still consults about 6-12 hours a week out of her home in the off-season). The following summer, Karen picked up two big retail accounts for her produce: Hatches Market in Wellfleet and Phoenix Market in Orleans. She also started selling at the South Boston Farmers' Market in addition to the Orleans and Chatham Farmers' Markets.

CREATING THE IDEAL

Karen's entrepreneurial spirit was in overdrive. Having visited many farmers' markets, she had a specific vision of what her ideal would look like. She wanted to include local fishermen, artists, and musicians to the mix. Karen thought Provincetown, with its unique personality and appreciation of the arts, would be the perfect location. So she approached Rex McKinsey, manager of MacMillian Pier, to help her pitch the concept of a weekly market to the Provincetown committee by holding a pilot festival.

Given the green light, Karen personally leased the pier the last Saturday in September 2004. She obtained liability insurance, solicited vendors and underwriters, and made a deal with Rex that if the festival was a success, he would help her co-manage a weekly market the following season.

The festival had a fantastic turnout! In addition to locally grown produce, attendees could purchase fish and shucked shellfish, farm-fresh eggs, homemade jams and preserves, herbal wreaths, planters, honey, beeswax candles, and Karen's own garlic hot sauces and relishes. WOMR, the local radio station, which had helped promote the festival, broadcast live from the pier. Local acoustic musicians and face painters were on hand to entertain the crowds. Donated items were raffled off, including tickets for seaplane tours, nature cruises, and whale-watch excursions; certificates to local restaurants, and gift baskets filled with locally-made products. Karen had indeed beget a successful event. Provincetown had a new weekly farmers market to look forward to the following summer and Karen had a new market co-manager in Rex McKinsey.

BACK ON THE FARM

In the meantime, Karen had completed a Serv/Safe Course offered through Cape Cod Cooperative Extension with the goal of developing a line of commercial garlic products. After some trial and error, and much testing, Karen had two market-ready products: a Hot Pepper Sauce and a Garlic & Hot Pepper Relish. She put up hundreds of bottles of each - in varying degrees of heat from mild to very hot - of which she completely sold out in less than two weeks between the Harwich Cranberry Harvest on September 18th and the Provincetown Fish & Farmer Festival on September 30th.

To ramp up production in support of the 2005 selling season, Karen and Skipper are adding a new building to their farm to house a commercial kitchen. Karen is also extending her product line with garlic-infused mustards, marinades, and spice mixes. And once again Karen is expanding her garden, planting 16 garlic varieties totaling over 200 pounds. If the weather cooperates, she will have close to 1,000 pounds of garlic to sell this year. After talking with local chefs, Karen is also experimenting with edible flowers and unusual garnish. In addition, Pleasant Lake Farm will be growing the basics - lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, squash, potatoes, culinary herbs - everything you need for a quick summer salad and then some. What's left will be made into vegetable pickles and any other unique product Karen can cook up.

EARTH, WIND & SOLEIL

While the farm is not yet "certified organic" (they expect to receive certification sometime during 2005) Karen and Skipper have never used chemicals, synthetic fertilizers, or any other product not accepted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Organic Program. Most impressive, the power for the farm and their home comes entirely from the sun and wind. Pleasant Lake Farm is completely "off the grid", presently using a small 300-watt wind turbine and four 50-watt solar panels for a maximum output of 500 watts/hour. Karen and Skipper are in the process of upgrading their system by erecting a new wind tower that will be home to a 1,000-watt wind turbine. Following that transition, they plan to increase their photovoltaics as well, their goal being to be entirely free from needing stand-by generator power for their day-to-day life. Says Karen, "Our personal philosophy is to harness what we can, from the soil, wind, and sun, in order to provide for our daily needs without drawing anything from the environment. We hope to offer a glimpse into what it might be like to live a sound, well thought out, alternative way of living, knowing that keeping 12 precious acres of Cape Cod soil safe isn't all we can do."

In an effort to inform and perhaps influence the next generation of Cape Cod farmers, the Lees are offering tours of Pleasant Lake Farm to local school groups. Students can visit the farm and learn about organic gardening and alternative energy. Teachers interested in learning more about educational opportunities, should contact Karen directly through the link on her website pleasantlakefarm.com to discuss specific interests. This is a new area she looks forward to expanding over the next few years.

HELPING HANDS

These days Karen is getting some assistance around the farm. She's hired two people, Ocean Foster and Mac McKenney, to help with harvesting the produce, managing the newly-built Pleasant Lake Farmstand and Orleans and Provincetown farmers' market kiosks, and building and maintaining both the Pleasant Lake Farm website and one for the Provincetown Fish and Farmers Market (fishandfarmersmarket.com). This latter site will be updated weekly with lists of what you can expect to find at the market. Karen is excited to have people working "with her" rather than hiring people to just come and weed.

Karen is generous in her praise for her helpers saying, "Ocean has already made a huge contribution to the farm by using her artistic eye and computer skills working on the website and product labels. And Mac is highly skilled in the kitchen and the garden offering his expertise in both areas along with his dedicated work ethic to help get things done. He has his own line of jellies and jams that will be for sale at the farmstand as well."

After learning of this somewhat exhaustive list of activities I somewhat facetiously asked Karen if she had any other hobbies. It was then that she admitted that she had just started taking piano lessons; her husband had inherited a piano and she always wanted to learn how to play. She swears it was only because she had met someone whom she thought would be an excellent teacher that she started taking lessons, not because she is an overachiever.

Oh, and the book she is writing? Karen confesses it is a work in progress; although she has framed the story, she claims it will probably take her years to complete. She was inspired by a friend, who is a veteran of the Vietnam War, and what life was like when he returned home. Somehow knowing Karen's boundless energy and motivation, you get the sense the book will be completed during the next snowy winter.

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