New Dishes, Familiar Farms
A few months ago, we told you the LC Valley food revival was already happening. It still is, it's just moving at the speed of an actual growing season instead of a marketing calendar. Because we value our regional farmers and producers, our chefs are currently building unique, hand crafted dishes based around what our producers are pulling from the ground, as well as weaving these home grown goods into already known and favored dishes.
So, we wanted to give you the honest update on what's on your plate right now, and what's about to be.
Right now, it's Don's season. If you've eaten a zucchini, cucumber, or sweet onion at Mystic Café or Tomato Bros lately, you've eaten something that was in the ground two days ago. That's Don Grossclose's produce, and it's the backbone of Happy Day Local at this exact moment. Don is something of a local legend. He has been farming as long as he can remember, as he was raised in a family of farmers.
His grandson, Dustin, works alongside him farming two urban plots. It's a true garden farm, meaning the focus is variety and quality, not volume. Don also runs two farm stands where he sells canned jams and salsas, pantry items, and a variety of other products. He is at the Lewiston Farmers Market selling his goods as well, and shows up on social media more than most 90-year-olds we know. He grows zucchini, cucumbers, sweet onions, and a vast variety of hot and sweet peppers.
Here's the number that stuck with us: produce from Don's fields travels about 15 miles to reach your table. The industry average is closer to 15,000. That's not a rounding error, that's a different food system entirely. His produce is typically harvested the morning of or day before it shows up on your plate! Don being such an active farmer in the community has been an inspiration for Happy Day's Tobe Finch to keep pushing for more local producers to join the effort.
It doesn't stop there. You may not see it on the menu quite yet, but there is so much more on the way. August and September are when the real harvest push hits, and we're not the only ones counting down. We're now coordinating with more than 20 regional producers, all working off a shared harvest plan with set delivery windows and expected volumes. A look into what's growing right now:
-Corn from Wilson Banner Ranch is planted and growing. In fact, you can drive by any time and see the plot growing!
-Tomato Bro's infamous watermelon caprese is just waiting on Hermiston watermelons. These specific, Oregon based watermelons are so sweet and delicious, it's the only kind we'll use. No substitutes or exceptions.
-Raspberries and Blackberries from Whispering Pines are already starting to make their way into our Happy Day Local scones, baked fresh in our bakery.
The biggest change since our last update isn't on any menu though, it's in the warehouse. Getting local sourcing to actually work at restaurant scale meant solving a logistics problem, and that's where most of our energy has gone. We built a real operating plan with clear expectations, dependable order windows, predictable intake schedules, and we're now executing it instead of figuring it out as we go.
For our producers, that stability is the point. Wholesale and retail are two completely different worlds and knowing there's a dependable buyer with a set schedule changes what's worth planting. Without that warehouse, none of this works. It's not the most exciting part of the story, but it's the part that makes the rest of it possible.
We have also been pouring a lot of our energy into HappyDayLocal.com. Our website allows folks across the valley to have direct access to local goods. All of our favorite things will soon not only be available in our restaurants, but available for direct purchase, too! Currently, we have beef, honey, spices, and eggs available on our website. Within the next 1-2 months, you can expect to see other local goods becoming available, such as:
-Goat milk products (soaps, bath soaks, lotions)
-Plant starts and fresh cut flowers
-Beers, wines, and kombucha
-Pantry goods such as beans, legumes, flour, granola, and dried and freeze dried goods
-Cheese, yogurt, and other local dairy goods
-Poultry and salmon, alongside beef and pork
This is the "in progress" chapter of the story. Next month, as the harvest hits full stride and the retail site introduces more products, we'll have a much deeper update. More producers, more dishes, and an actual look inside the warehouse that's making it all possible. For now, taste the difference two days makes, and stay tuned for the bigger story!
Originally published on The Happy Hour, Happy Day Restaurants' newsletter.