Sustainability is on the menu this vacation season as an increasing number of diners demand wholesome and recent meals. At The Restaurant at JUSTIN in Paso Robles, California, Chef Rachel Haggstrom has elevated farm-to-fork cooking to an artwork type.
Chef Rachel makes use of The Restaurant’s location on a 26-acre backyard at JUSTIN Vineyards as her culinary canvas, incorporating edible flower fields, unique fruits, greens, herbs, and recent honey into her menu. Ninety-five p.c of the elements she makes use of are domestically sourced.
Tastemakers are taking discover. The Restaurant earned a Michelin Star for excellence and a Michelin Inexperienced Star, a brand new annual award for “excellent eco-friendly commitments.”
On any given day, a menu would possibly embrace soup with sunchokes, apples, and horseradish or native snapper with Périgord black truffle, potato, chive, and crème fraiche.
Chef Rachel is considerably of an anomaly within the tremendous eating circuit. Whereas the variety of feminine cooks is rising, girls make up solely 7% of head cooks at Michelin-star eating places. However that hasn’t stopped her from blazing her personal inexperienced path. We talked to her about her culinary origin story and her recommendation to different aspiring culinary artists.
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Entrepreneur: When did you first know you had a ardour for the culinary trade?
Chef Rachel: I grew up on a citrus grove and had entry to a plethora of fruits to prepare dinner with, which sparked my love of meals from an early age. As a baby, I used to be given a packet of combined seeds and would plant them in a nook of our backyard, ultimately harvesting the produce and determining flip these greens into meals. The method of planting, taking good care of, and harvesting the produce sparked a curiosity to prepare dinner, which I got here to like.
You initially have been learning felony justice, so why did you are taking a flip into cooking?
I’ve a bachelor’s diploma in regulation with an emphasis in felony justice and have at all times loved each fields. I strongly thought of getting my regulation diploma. Nevertheless, culinary has at all times been a ardour, and I felt that if I did not attempt it, I’d remorse it. Right here I’m nonetheless doing it, so I believe I made the appropriate determination!
Did you face any challenges being a girl in a primarily male-dominated trade?
I attempt to give attention to perfecting my craft, letting my expertise shine by means of, and permitting the dishes to talk for themselves. After all, there have been many challenges being a girl on this subject, however I attempt to keep away from elevating these issues or frustrations once I can in order that I might be outlined by my work.
How did you make the menu at The Restaurant at JUSTIN your personal?
The Restaurant was very completely different once I first joined, and I’ve been fortunate sufficient to have the chance to make modifications. I reworked the place the meals was sourced and the way it was ready. Presently, 95% of our produce on the seasonal rotating menu is sourced domestically from both the 26-acre backyard at JUSTIN Vineyards and Vineyard or native purveyors and farmers all through the Central Coast. As I grew the crew, I used to be in a position to train and develop ability units targeted on basic methods. Moreover, we have now been in a position to develop into a spot of mentorship and foster an surroundings of nurturing our ardour for the culinary arts.
What’s the dish you are most happy with and why?
This modifications relying on my temper and season. The one dish that I used to be extraordinarily pleased with when it comes to meals and wine as a pairing was a ribeye cap dish with onion soubise, blueberry, beet, black truffle and our ISOSCELES Reserve. The pairing was seamless, and the dish itself had every thing you could possibly need. We have reinvented the dish over the previous couple of years when it’s in season and company take pleasure in it.
What makes your menu at JUSTIN stand out (is it the seasonal and native choices)?
The menu at The Restaurant at JUSTIN is seasonal, and since the crew strives to make use of the freshest elements, it’s topic to alter relying on what’s accessible at the moment. Availability may change at any second relying on the climate, which may lead to our crew altering the menu final minute. Our crew is superb at working with the elements that we supply and might pivot relying on what we are able to get our palms on. Our potential to make the native produce and farm-to-table elements shine makes the menu stand out. Our give attention to method and distinctive taste pairings brings the perfect out of every ingredient, letting the meals shine and permitting our company to eat new issues they assumed they’d not take pleasure in.
What recommendation would you give to different girls studying this who is likely to be intimidated about breaking into the culinary trade?
Take a look at your friends as simply that—friends, as an alternative of in search of some identifier equivalent to gender that isn’t relevant to cooking or teamwork. In doing so, you’ll understand that you’re equal to others, and when you see your self and deal with your self as an equitable peer, most will see you in that very same gentle. Do not make excuses for your self or anybody else. Maintain your self to the identical or increased customary as others and permit your self to shine to your skills.
