“Eat Locally.” The headline on the back cover sums up this 325-page book that covers all things sustainable by celebrating local American food heroes, delivering  80 seasonal recipes and is a must-have for foodies, locavores… everyone!Don’t miss pages 101-103 featuring a profile on Chef LaPrad.

Edible is now available on bookstores nationwide, but savvy shoppers will bundle the purchase with a 2-year subscription to Edible Phoenix Magazine for only $56.

View the special offer on Edible Phoenix’s website.

The Arizona Republic writes: 

“Valley chef Greg LaPrad, executive chef at the Quiessence Restaurant at the Farm at South Mountain, has been selected to prepare a dinner for a selection of international culinary luminaries at the prestigious James Beard House in New York City on July 7.

LaPrad was nominated after a James Beard Foundation board member ate at Quiessence in 2009.

In June, Quiessence will serve preview dinners based on the menu developed for the James Beard House.”

Read the full Arizona Republic article here>

Read the Phoenix New Times article here> 

Rad the Phoenix Business Journal mention here>

Quiessence Restaurant and Morning Glory Cafe continue to lead the Arizona restaurant industry in green techniques and philosophies. While others label it veggievore, locavore, or some other name, we simply call it business as usual. “Eat Green” with Quiessence in 2010 and support our commitment to environmental stewardship and sustainability. Thank you!

Everyday Eco-Friendly at Quiessence Restaurant

• By using local food vendors, Quiessence Restaurant reduces the distance food has to travel and lowers the overall gas and shipping environmental impacts.

• Chef LaPrad was awarded the Edible Communities Local Hero Award for his outstanding commitment to the local foods movement in Phoenix.

• Mother Nature Network highlighted Chef LaPrad on the national eco-list of top “40 Chefs Under 40″ who use local and seasonal products on their menus. LaPrad was the only Arizona chef to be featured on the national list.

• On-site farmer Maya Daily practices sustainable biodynamic farming techniques that grow some the healthiest produce available.

• Cleaning products used in the restaurant are environmentally safe and biodegradable.

• Disposable products used at Morning Glory Cafe are 100% biodegradable within 3 months of discard.
• Restaurant brochures and materials are printed locally on post-consumer recycled, FSC-certified paper.

Thank you for visiting Quiessence Restaurant at The Farm at South Mountain. Reservations can be made online or by calling 602-276-0601.

Dear Friends of Quiessence:

Next week Quiessence is joining thousands of other restaurants across the country in participating in an important fundraising effort for Share Our Strength.

The Great American Dine Out will raise money to help the over 12 million American Children who are at risk of hunger. Money raised from The Great American Dine Out directly supports:

• Increasing participation in school food and nutrition programs
• Increasing the number of community gardens
• Food banks and food pantries
• Increasing access to fresh produce
• Increasing utilization of federal child food and nutrition programs, e.g. food stamps, school breakfast, etc.

Advocacy around Child food and nutrition-related programs

To support this important cause we will be donating 50% of our proceeds from the sale of our Farmer’s Feast Tasting Menu to Share our Strength.

Please consider joining us next week, as we wine and dine for a great cause.

From the Kitchen,

Chef Greg & Chef Tony

“Welcome Back!”

“Great to see you again.”

…Both phrases that will be echoed as here at The Farm over the next couple of days as we welcome back our fellow coworkers and other businesses, but most importantly we welcome you back to The Farm at South Mountain!

We’re ready to start the season with a new energy and a reenergized purpose. Like everyone else, the strain of the economy has been felt here on the Farm too. It’s been increasingly tough to compete with the myriad of restaurants offering a growing number of deals to drive traffic through their doors.

Just how does a restaurant like Quiessence justify paying a premium for organic, range grazed, local beef from a small family when the price on commodity beef from the big meatpackers can be so much more affordable?

Simple.

At Quiessence, we’ll never compromise our cuisine. We will never put profit ahead of our principles; Sourcing the best ingredients from a fair, sustainable, local food system combined with handcrafting our cuisine in house from these ingredients.

Last week, Time Magazine’s (August 31st, 2009) Cover Story was “The Real Cost of Cheap Food.” The article began, “He’s raised on grass and hay and lives happily on a pasture by the ocean. His Meat is free of antibiotics, but can we afford to eat it? We can’t afford not to.”

Food Inc., the movie released this summer, drove home the idea that there are major problems in the American food system that we see first hand on the evening news with food recalls, e coli contamination, etc. I encourage you all to take note of these problems and to consider where/how you choose to spend your food and dining dollars.

I promise you this; at Quiessence we will continue to work hard to serve you the best meal possible. We will continue to make all of our pasta in house, all of our salumi in house, bake bread out of our hearth oven, custom butcher all our meat in house, fly-in (overnight) safe sustainable seafood, and purchase the best seasonal, local, and organic produce we can get our hands on. While this is not the “cheap” route or an “economically savy” business decision it is the choice we make for quality. We do this for us, we do this for you, and we do this for our community.

Thank you for supporting us for another season. We look forward to seeing you down at The Farm and Quiessence soon!

Salut!
Chef Greg