Remembering Our Local Food Pioneer Gary Redmond

We are saddened to hear about the passing of Gary Redmond, one of the great heroes and evangelists of local, sustainable food culture and entrepreneurship in Ithaca and the Finger Lakes. His influence and spiritual leadership for the local foods community here and throughout the Northeast are immeasurable.

As a founder of Regional Access, Gary helped connect a new generation of customers, including many of our best markets and chefs, with small growers and producers that create some of the best foods in the state, spreading their bounty across NY. He also opened up his resources to support small independent producers who needed extra space or production resources, and developed partnerships that helped expand the reach of companies like Finger Lakes Organics and the Great Local Foods network.

I had the privilege of spending some time with Gary back in 2009 to learn about his work and interview him for this podcast. It remains one of my favorite interviews we ever recorded and a conversation I shall never forget. It was clear that Gary was guided by a personal passion, philosophy, and spirituality that drove him to work for the greater good. His passion and spirit was infectious, he sought to do good, live fully, and share good food with friends.

Click here for a heartfelt letter from Regional Access about the loss of Gary, including details on a memorial to be held on Saturday, April 2nd in Newfield.

Our thoughts, condolences, and hugs go out to his family and everyone at Regional Access. We may have lost the man, but it's safe to say his legacy and his mission will continue to grow for generations to come.

-- Dave

DISCOVER MORE ABOUT GARY REDMOND:

• Eating Ithaca Sept. 2009 interview with Gary Redmond (mp3 direct download here)

• Eating Ithaca excerpt: Gary Redmond on sustainability

• Edible Finger Lakes 2008 profile of Gary Redmond

Local food abounds in this week's Ithaca Times

We just picked up the newest edition of The Ithaca Times (Jan. 20-26 issue) and it's filled with some great local food updates.

Start on page 13, where Rob Montana writes an overview of new business developments in the City of Ithaca, including:

• A restaurant space on the ground floor of the proposed Hotel Ithaca, located where the Rothschild Building stands now at the edge of the Commons at Aurora Street. We presume this might interfere with the space currently occupied by Madeline's, which could bring interesting changes.
• A new restaurant from Lex Chutinaround, owner of ZaZa's Cucina, opening in the former Plantations on Ithaca Commons.
• A large restaurant opening in the beautiful glassed in space on the first floor of the Cayuga Place apartments off of Green Street, behind the soon-to-open Palmer Pharmacy and the new Gimme! Coffee. The local restauranteur is unnamed, but we hope they do that space justice. Given the right talent and the right menu, it could be the new destination restaurant of the year.
• The Finger Lakes Wine Center could open as soon as this spring.
• Panera Bread and the Olive Garden are still on track for opening in Southwest Ithaca, as we reported earlier, though we'd be surprised to see anything open before this summer.

The article also hints at the possibility of another food franchise opening in the Southwest neighborhood once the old Salvation Army store is demolished. Montana did a nice reporting job and covers a lot in this well-written piece.

There is also a Winter Times supplement in this latest edition, which includes an extensive preview of the upcoming 12th Annual Downtown Ithaca Chili Cook-Off & Winterfest, written by Taryn Thompson. That event has always offered plenty of fantastic cold-weather eating and we're looking forward to this year's event.

Finally, for all you home cooks, don't miss Henry Stark's interviews with chefs from four local restaurants offering their favorite soup and stew recipes. It includes Moosewood's Spicy Carrot Peanut Soup from Melissa Bergman, a Hearty Sausage and Tortellini Soup from Tim Gaffney at Ithaca Ale House, the hearty Arizona Pumpkin and Vegetable Stew from Liz Van Every at Greenstar Coop, and - our personal favorite - an amazing Hungarian Beef Goulash recipe from Dano Hutnik himself, of Dano's Heuriger in Lodi.

The best part about all this is The Ithaca Times is FREE! Most of these articles aren't yet available on the Ithaca Times website, so pick up a copy today, because next week they'll all be gone.

Ithaca Dining Update

We've seen a lot of changes in the local dining scene this year but we're not done yet. Here's the latest news you need to know about what's happening for Ithaca Eaters:

OPENINGS

• Bandwagon Brew Pub (114 North Cayuga Street) officially opened this week, serving a bar menu and dinner all week. They're brewing their own beer on site and it must be good, because they ran out of beer on opening day! You can follow them on Twitter (twitter.com/BandwagonBeer) or check out their website (www.bandwagonbeer.com) for a look at the menu and the latest updates on their brews.


• Also opening this week was the Prize Diner, which has given a modest makeover to the former Ithaca Diner on West State Street across from the State Theater. The Tiny Town Times has an encouraging early look at this new eatery that has us ready to give it a try.

COMING SOON

• The Ithaca Journal confirms that there will be an Olive Garden coming to Ithaca in 2010, located in the new building currently under construction at K-Mart Plaza on South Meadow Street. While this had been rumored for some time, it's the first public acknowledgement of the plans that we've seen. The article also repeats the news that a Panerea Bread franchise will also be opening at that location.

CLOSINGS

• Our friends at 14850 Dining reported that Hog's Back BBQ has decided to close while they search for a new location. Mark writes that the owner "hopes to reopen in another Ithaca location -- perhaps the former Olivia location near East Hill Plaza -- before long." Like Mark, we'd love to see someone bring good food back to that location.

East Hill Plaza can also count on changes in grocery shopping options in 2010, as the P&C Grocery chain filed for bankruptcy in November. According to the Ithaca Journal, the Price Chopper chain has made a bid to buy P&C, but there is currently no way to be sure that any of the three P&C stores in Ithaca (at East Hill Plaza, North Triphammer Road, and Hancock Street) would be converted or sold by whatever chain eventually buys them out. In the meantime, for those who rely on P&C for certain brands and unique choices others don't have, the coming change is sad news. We'll keep covering this story as it develops.

If you've got more info on any of these topics, or have heard of another opening or closing we should share, leave us a comment below or drop us a line: feedback [at] eatingithaca [dot] com.

Happy Eating!

Behind the Blog: Ithaca's Food Web

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We're taking a break from our regular podcast series to introduce you to some of the other local food bloggers who have been making names for themselves in the Ithaca food community. We've been lucky enough to get to know a few of these people over the past year and we're excited to share their stories with you.

This time we're talking with Alison Fromme, creator of the blog Ithaca's Food Web, which is a uniquely hyperlocal resource for news stories on food-related issues in Ithaca and Tompkins County. Alison writes about everything from local cooking trends and farming updates to broader topics of food safety and the ongoing debates over natural gas drilling and its potential effects on agriculture in our area. She also has the best calendar of food-related events in Ithaca we've seen.

If you missed it, you can also listen our first "Behind the Blog" podcast for our chat with Amy from the Eggs on Sunday cooking blog. We'll have another episode in this special "Behind the Blog" series in a couple weeks, as well as more ongoing updates on the local food scene here on our website. For continuing updates on everything we're doing, be sure to follow us on Twitter and on Facebook. We'd also love to hear from you directly: write a comment on the blog, leave a message on our voicemail line 607-216-8624 (607-21-MUNCH), or send an email with your thoughts to: feedback [at] eatingithaca [dot] com.

Have you taken our Eating Ithaca Audience Survey yet? We're taking time to make improvements to our site and we'd love to know what you think about what we're doing. It should only take 5 minutes for you to participate, and everyone who completes the survey is eligible to be entered in our drawing to win one of two $25 gift cards for Ithaca Coffee Company. The more people we hear from, the better we'll know what you enjoy about Eating Ithaca, so please CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR SURVEY and thanks for your help!

Click Play to Listen to This Episode


Links for this episode:

• Ithaca's Food Web
• Follow Ithaca's Food Web on Twitter
• Calendar of Events on Ithaca's Food Web
• Food topics on Ithaca's Food Web
• Natural Gas Drilling and Farms on Ithaca's Food Web
• Other writing by Alison Fromme
  
• Take the Eating Ithaca Audience Poll

Ithaca Restaurants Update

Here is a brief update on some of the new openings and changes ahead for the local Ithaca dining scene, much of it happening within two blocks at the intersection of Cayuga Street and West State Street:

• Wildfire Bistro (106 S. Cauyga St. | 607-277-9143) is now officially open for lunch and dinner and they've posted menus for both on their new website: www.Wildfire-Restaurant.com. Looks like an interesting mix of mid-priced options, with nothing over $20 on either menu. We're intrigued by the $9 "Grown-up Mac & Cheese" on the Comfort Zone portion of the menu, which offers an option to add lobster for an additional $6. There is also a nice mix of meats, seafood, and vegetarian options on both menus. Have you tried any of these yet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.


• We also checked in with Bandwagon Brew Pub (114 North Cayuga Street) this weekend. They're currently brewing their first batches of house beer and training staff. They say they're on track to have their official opening by December 15th. Keep an eye on their website (www.bandwagonbeer.com) or follow them on Twitter (twitter.com/BandwagonBeer) to stay up to date.


• Looks like the former Ithaca Diner is soon to reopen as the Prize Diner. The new owner told us she's planning to keep it a breakfast and lunch diner operation like its predecessor, but with shiny new equipment behind the counter and a revamped interior. She aims to open for business within a week or two as well.


• Also new to Downtown Ithaca is the Green Street Station branch of Gimme! Coffee, their 3rd Ithaca location. It's a cozy space across from the new Cinemapolis, and currently one of the test spots for their new modern pour-over coffee options. Give 'em a try!


• Changes are afoot up at the Food Court at the Shops at Ithaca Mall on Triphammer Road. When Sicilian Delight pizzeria took over the space vacated by Wendy's, they left a blank store that left many shoppers wondering what would happen to their corner. Now an answer has appeared: Mo's Pit BBQ is moving in. We know little about how good or bad this will be, but their website (www.mospitbbq.com) shows they are a regional chain. When you add them to the other recent additions of Hogs Back BBQ and Razorback BBQ, it seems 2009 is the year that barbeque cuisine tries to take Ithaca by storm yet again. We'll have to wait and see if they can make it into the next decade longer than the last wave did (i.e. Ralph's, Billy Bob Jack's, Bistro Q) in this decade. Also at the Mall for a limited time is Doug's Fish Fry To Go. Check out their website for the complete schedule, as they'll only be at this location on weekends through January 1st. Save yourself the trip to Cortland and get some of the best onion rings around while you can!

We're also continuing to watch for the arrival of a Panera Bread, expected to open in 2010 in the new building under construction at K-Mart Plaza, and rumors of other national chain restaurants persist for the Meadow Street shopping district as well. If you've got more info on any of these new restaurant openings, or have heard of another opening we should share, leave us a comment below or drop us a line: feedback [at] eatingithaca [dot] com.

Happy Eating!