Thursday, June 2, 2016

From Laura Reiley, the Tampa Bay Times food critic: "Farm to Fable" (note that "Fable" is not a typo)

About the reporter: "Laura Reiley has been the Tampa Bay Times’ food critic since 2007. She has received numerous state and national awards. She is a former critic for the San Francisco Chronicle and the Baltimore Sun and the author of four guidebooks in the Moon Handbook series. She has cooked professionally and is a graduate of the California Culinary Academy."

Below is an excerpt from this article titled, "At Tampa Bay farm-to-table restaurants, you’re being fed fiction."

     The restaurant’s chalkboard makes claims as you enter from the valet parking lot. At the hostess stand, a cheery board reads, “Welcome to local, farm-fresh Boca.”
     Brown butcher paper tops tables and lettuces grow along a wooden wall. In a small market case, I see canned goods from here and produce from somewhere. Check the small print: blackberries from Mexico and blueberries from California.
     With the tagline “Local, simple and honest,” Boca Kitchen Bar Market was among the first wave of farm-to-table restaurants in Tampa Bay to make the assertion “we use local products whenever possible.” I’ve reviewed the food. My own words are right there on their website: “local, thoughtful and, most importantly, delicious.”
     But I’ve been had, from the snapper down to the beef.

If you're interested in learning more, Laura Reiley also has a consumer guide, "How to tell if your ‘local’ food is actually local".