Shameless Self Promotion...
Interview with Bonni Miller, cook/owner Chez Marché Cafe, Waupaca, WI
by Bonni Miller, cook/owner Chez Marche Cafe, Waupaca, WI

Q: Why do you do this?

A: Oh cripes. Do you want the short answer or the long one?

Q: Um. Both.

A: Okay, short answer first. I wanted to make the kind of restaurant that I wanted to be able to find in Waupaca. Enough people agreed with me that I went ahead with it. I'm very glad that I did that, and I'm having a lot of fun with it.

The long answer -- and I hope this doesn't sound too pretentious -- is that I got into this because of my need to be active in sustainability and democracy issues. It finally occurred to me that the best thing that I, personally, could do for this country and the planet, was to provide a market and advocacy for locally grown food: Because of the degradation to the planet that factory farming inflicts, because of the deadening of our spirits that eating bad food causes, and because I just couldn't stand the fact that small farmers were being squeezed out of their way of life. It's a way of life that's the epitome of the free American ideal. If you've read what Thomas Jefferson had to say about the agrarian principle of American democracy then you know what I mean.

I grew up in a farming community and my grandparents were farmers, and I love that life -- there's not much that's as true as growing and harvesting your own food.
Looking back on it, opening the Chez is the logical conclusion to everything that I've ever done with my life.

Q: So, is the Chez an organic restaurant?

A: Not exclusively. It is when it can reasonably be so. And I believe absolutely in organic farming. But I think it's important not to get seduced by the label. We can get almost everything we want from an organic source, whenever we want it, but it's not always economically or philosophically practical. I don't know if I'll ever get to be 100% pure in this philosophy, but trucking in organic tomatoes from California, or farther, is just silly. Why burn all that fossil fuel? Especially for organic produce. Pardon the expression but we're just putting lipstick on a pig.
And then there's flavor: We're talking about food. It should taste good. And local peas that were picked this morning are probably going to taste a lot better than anything shipped across the country, whether they used an organic fertilizer or not.
Local organically grown peas would be even tastier.

The French have a term called le Terroir, and it basically refers to the flavor of an area. The idea behind it is that the locale of things imparts an essential harmony to the melding of those ingredients. So, at it's most basic level, wine from a certain region will taste best with foods produced in that same region. And chicken grown there will taste best with vegetables grown there.

I think that's a reasonable and logical premise. The soil, the air, and the water all provide an underlying flavor base to the ingredients that makes them harmonize together. The time of harvest adds another harmonizing agent -- the produce has had the same measure of sun and rain and temperature variations. That's why you can go and pick a basketful of stuff from the garden, cook and eat it together and have the best tasting meal you've ever had.

And there are those who believe that the food that's local has essential nutrients and antibodies that we specifically need, since we're living in that same environment, reacting to some of the same circumstances. Basically they believe that the land, if properly cared for, will provide what we need. It's the most humble, trusting, faithful notion that I've ever encountered. I think it's a beautiful idea.

To cook using what's at hand is the way that people have cooked since the beginning of time. They used what they had, when they had it, and fine cuisine was formed from a superior understanding of those ingredients that lifted them to a level beyond their parts. In this age, though, we've got access to virtually all ingredients all the time, and we use them without regard for their season. We think that because we have a recipe, that we can cook good food. And we can certainly create very edible meals that way but, honestly, "recipes" are sort of a scam.

Recipes don't take into account that "one onion" is not the same as the next onion. One can be sulfurous and biting, the next can be smooth and flavorful. Recipes don't take into account that one cup of flour can be holding more moisture than somebody else's cup of flour. Recipes don't take into account that not all Swiss cheeses taste the same. People should be taught to cook with their noses and tongues, not with measuring spoons.

I think it's extremely unfortunate that most folks have no idea how good food can taste when attention is paid to freshness and the quality of ingredients. There's absolutely no comparison between food cooked by rote and food cooked with a sense of creative versatility. It's not that it won't seem to taste good, but it's not the epiphany of food that's possible from fresh and local ingredients.

It would be so easy for us to eat better food; healthier and better tasting food, and in the meantime we could be doing a world of good if we would just shop for even ten percent of our food at local farm markets or become members of CSAs.

Q: What's a CSA?

A: It stands for Community Supported Agriculture. Basically it means that you buy a share in a participating farm that entitles you to a share of that farm's harvest for a year. The idea is that you smooth out the risks for the farmer by providing a guaranteed sale, and in return you get lots of very reasonably priced foods, fresh from the farm. The sharing of risk means that in case of total crop failure, you get nothing. But what really happens is that maybe you have a bad year for carrots, or a lousy year for corn, but the strawberries are exceptional and the eggplants are prolific. That's a farmer's reality the same as it's a stock portfolio manager's reality. There's a diversity of risk, and the losses are balanced by the gains. The Chez buys several shares, and gets delivery of fresh, local, organic vegetables every week from late spring through early fall. If you go on the internet and Google for "Community Supported Agriculture," or even just "CSA," you'll find a participating farm is in your area. There are several in Waupaca and Portage counties.

Q: But, aren't you a writer? Why don't you just write about these issues and promote them that way?

A: Well, I do. But it's so much easier to convince people about food issues when they've just eaten a meal that they've enjoyed. So after they've had the best BLT or green salad or apple pie that they've ever had, then I can talk to them about the folks that raised the hog and the man that smoked the bacon and the woman that raised the tomatoes, and the orchard that raised the apples in the pie. And I've already convinced them that they want that kind of food, because they've eaten it and liked it. I'll never achieve the same measure of results with words.

Q: So you can really tell the difference in the flavor?

A: Actually, yes. Not everyone is open to it all the time, but most people taste the difference. It's very exciting for me to provide that opportunity to people.

Q: You mentioned your history of activism. What were you referring to?

A: Oh, I don't need to get into that.

Q: You brought it up.

A: That's true. Okay. I've always been an activist. Even as a painfully shy kid. I'd get involved in issues and couldn't help but act on them. It was the sixties, and I wanted to be Bobby Kennedy. I was pretty precocious.

It's why I wanted to be a writer. I always felt that if people just knew the truth about things that they'd make the right decisions. And I thought I was the person to tell that truth. I was wrong, of course. I only frustrated myself in the process because people didn't want to hear what I had to say -- I didn't present things very subtly. So I went into the secular world, and worked for a rock music magazine for a long time. And it was a lovely escape. But issue-oriented work was always there, calling to me. I was always questioning the quality of my industry.

Eventually I started formulating the idea for what became the Chez.

Q: The Chez doesn't just focus on local food...

A: Right! It also celebrates local artists -- visual artists, musicians, actors, and poets. Waupaca has more talented artists per square mile than any other place I've been. This saturation of artists is a tremendously well kept secret that we intend to blow the lid off of.

So the Chez has a lovely stage, built by local artisan carpenters, and the walls are designed to display art works. And the Chez works hand in hand with the Community Arts Board (CAB), to provide opportunity for local artists. When I and other locals got together and brainstormed on the potential of the Chez, the importance of providing a community artists venue was an integral part of the plan. The CAB used to be more closely linked to the Chez, but as time goes on it develops its own identity, separately from the Chez, so that I can't squash events that won't necessarily be profitable ventures. Because, as a business manager, I have to be concerned with bean counting and such. This way the arts events act freely and, secondarily, provide a fascinating draw to the business; and the business provides an essential level of security to the support of the arts. It's a recipe for renaissance.
Additionally, the Chez doesn't operate in a vacuum. It's a community venture in spirit, and there are those who have some financial investment in it as well. Many people have worked very hard to see this place open, and I couldn't have done it alone.

Q: You also provide a forum for political issues. Are you just a voice for the left?

A: Not at all. I'd be lying if I tried to pretend that I'm neutral, or that I'm ambivalent. I'm quite left of center, personally and politically. And I'm not at all ambivalent. But the Chez encourages all political activity, both right, left, and otherwise. And it gladly hosts events that encourage any involvement in political issues.
I wouldn't have it any other way.


To be continued...


July 6, 2005

Some of you might remember that, back at the old Chez, I had a reproduction of a pen and ink drawing of a french chef hanging on the wall over my work space. He stands there looking down his nose, his wooden-spoon-holding hand perched on his outthrust hip. He looks imperious and intimidating. I brought him in as a check and balance, as a fierce reminder to me to try to do well.

But as the months went by, I came to see the look in his eyes as something other than that of an authoritarian. He became a comrade, a confidant, and an empathetic co-worker. He looked tired, satisfied and resolved. Eventually I realized that I saw him as I saw myself.

I don't know why I bring him up. Except that even though we've been open at the new Chez for over a year and a half now (!!!), the chef still hangs on my refrigerator at home. At home he was a symbol of my determination to reopen. A touchstone that said that the Chez was merely in exile and would return someday. You might remember the slogan we used for a while, in between Chez locations: "Chez Marché; it's a state of mind."

At any rate, we're back now. Still finding our space, I think, but we're back nonetheless. Maybe someday the chef will find his way downtown as well.

-b.

--
- posted by Bonni @ 12:56 PM

 
A word about our producers...

We buy fresh organic vegetables from Sunny Sky Farm in Amherst, and from various small farmers in the Waupaca area. These vegetables and fruits are bursting with outstanding fresh flavor and we try to interfere as little as possible with their natural goodness.

Almost all our beef, pork, and all our chicken and eggs come from Brookside Organics in Milladore, Wisconsin. Brookside's livestock and chickens roam free on their large farm, eating bugs and soaking up the sun. They're are not fed antibiotics or hormones, the birds' beaks are left intact, and they live lovely happy lives. And then we eat them, gratefully.

Most of our dairy products come from Wisconsin Organics, based in Bonduel, Wisconsin.
- posted by Bonni @ 9:44 AM

 
The new Chez Marché Cafe will be opening at 108 South Main in Waupaca, Wisconsin, sometime in the fall of 2003. Keep watching this space for more specific announcements!

The Chez originally opened in early 2001 inside a small, somewhat subterranean coffee house, where it served simple lunches and packaged up treats for people to take home. Eventually it expanded to offering dinners and live music and became quite a popular place to spend the evening. Then, in the early summer of 2002, it lost its lease.

Since then the Chez has hunted for, and found, the perfect place to reopen, has perfected a fixed menu, and will soon be busily feeding folks lovingly-prepared-meals, made of exceptional ingredients, again.

In addition, watch for numerous special events, including theater, art, and the very best in local music.

The Chez will also be selling delicious homemade bakery, quite reasonably priced homebrew supplies, and selected hard-to-find specialty foods.

- posted by Bonni @ 1:50 PM

 
Under Construction
- posted by Bonni @ 9:23 AM