The Chef's Garden celebrates decades of bringing top-of-the-line produce to Chicago restaurants
Farmers' market season is well under way in Chicago, and this week, a regenerative farm in Ohio brought its top-notch wares to Chicago's top restaurants.
The Chef's Garden, located in Erie County, Ohio south and east of the city of Huron, has a long history of growing bespoke vegetables for chefs in the Chicago area.
"We ship from our farm in Ohio to Chicago chefs every single day. Chicago chefs have been such heroes for us over the last 30 years. We're focused on regenerative agriculture, where we're building the soils naturally rather than chemically," said Farmer Lee Jones of The Chef's Garden. "Going back to Charlie Trotter, Grant Achatz at Alinea, Curtis Duffy, we know all the chefs, and they have allowed us the privilege of farming for them."
The late Charlie Trotter founded Charlie Trotter's Restaurant on Armitage Avenue in the Lincoln Park neighborhood in 1987, and is credited with redefining fine dining in the U.S. Only a couple of blocks away on Halsted Street, Grant Achatz founded Alinea, a pioneer in experimental cooking, in 2005. Duffy is the founder of Ever and Grace in the Fulton Market District. The Chef's Garden is proud to have worked with them all and more.
But you don't have to be a famous chef to enjoy The Chef's Garden's produce.
"You can actually order a box of veggies online from us at Chef's Garden, and ship it to yourself, or ship it to your Aunt Matilda in Tampa that has three of everything," said Jones. "What do you get her? Send her a box of vegetables that says you care and love for her."
Jones said specialty vegetables that "make a plate really sexy" are in season right now.
"Squash blossom is something that we're known for, and the cherry tomatoes and microgreens and baby vegetables," Jones said, "and of course you know, it's the middle of the season. We can't help but talk about tomato season. These things are like candy."
As explained on the website for the farm, the roots of The Chef's Garden date back nearly seven decades. In 1958, farmer Lee Jones' father, Bob Jones Sr., sold his Lyman boat to buy a tractor and brought the farm into being.
The following year, just after they both graduated from high school, Bob Sr. married middle school sweetheart Barb.
By 1978, Bob and Barb Jones had grown the farm to 1,200 acres and sold vegetables wholesale to grocery stores. But in 1980, a hailstorm ripped through the farm and ruined 1,000 acres of crops — forcing the family to start over on seven acres.
In 1981, the family built the Farmer Jones Farm Market to sell directly to consumers. In 1984, farmer Lee Jones ran into Chef Iris Balin-Brody at a farmers' market, and she taught the Jones family farmers about growing for flavor rather than yield.
The farm then decided to start growing exclusively for chefs. But The Chef's Garden added at-home shipments as an option in 2020.
Jones also explained the values of the regenerative agriculture that is a major focus of The Chef's Garden.
"We're working in harmony with nature rather than trying to outsmart it — not using chemicals, using the sun, using cover crops to harvest the energy from the sun," said Farmer Lee Jones. "It is our passion to grow the best vegetables for the best chefs in the world."
