The chefs of Francesca's Restaurant Group are taking “buying local” to the next level — they're harvesting their own crops. They've partnered with Kershaw Farm in Elgin, where chefs visit two to three times each week to plant and pick produce — from tomatoes to squash to peppers.
Jaysen Euler, corporate executive chef of Francesca's Davanti Enoteca, says the relationship started three years ago with a few plants. Now the chefs have 900 plants on the one-and-a-half acre, family-owned farm. During peak season, they harvest between 1,200 and 1,500 pounds of produce a week, which they distribute to some restaurant locations.
“A lot of restaurants these days are buying local, but it's just picking up the phone and you get the product the next day. Our relationship with the Kershaws is more on a personal level, where we communicate with them on a daily or weekly basis, and we're out here helping them out when we can. We see a lot more of the growing process,” Mr. Euler says.
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