The rain has just begun, and the nights are now brisk. And so I have planned a hearty Bridgeport Porter-braised oxtail gnocchi as the artisan beef option for the coming fall weekend. Twenty dollars of oxtail will yield about twenty-five portions and $550 in revenue at $22 a portion. But just as I have completed this calculation, I receive a call from Pat-n-Tam’s Beef. The aforementioned oxtail will not be available! Pat is in need of a vacation and is going on a fishing trip, so there will be no Portland delivery this week.

I scramble to think of alternatives. Prime cuts like New York strip and rib eye are too expensive. I have used Carman Ranch beef for the past eight days, and I really want to try something different. I place a call to Joe at Rainshadow el Rancho. Luckily, he confirms he has enough supply of buffalo tri-tip to get me though the weekend. Seared buffalo with valrhona coco and ancho spaetzle will now be featured on the weekend menu. The same $20 I would have spent on oxtail will result in about seven buffalo portions. At $25 a portion, the result is now only $175 revenue—a big change to the bottom line.

Now I move on to poultry. Sourcing reliable local poultry continues to be problematic. I place a call to order chicken. To my surprise an undisclosed high-volume restaurant has purchased all of the area chicken. Chicken tagine with couscous and merguez sausage is currently on my menu! Now I must find an alternative for at least the next eight weeks, until the farmer can produce enough chicken to accommodate this local restaurant’s demands. I begin to conjure images of duck with a traditional Persian pomegranate and beet sauce. Seven dollars per pound is the going rate for duck. I quickly do the math in my head and conclude that one $30 duck will result in just $100 in revenue—this margin is too low. With no availability of chicken for two months, and duck being too expensive, my best option is to work with a distributor and so I order an organic pheasant that will be shipped in from Wisconsin.

It’s Tuesday morning, fresh off two days of R&R. I enter the kitchen and quickly begin to check every nook of the refrigerators and dry storage as I evaluate the current product pars. This is the first step in mise en place, which means “everything in its place” (or simply put, the food prep) and it’s critical to kitchen operations.

I pay exact attention to the protein pars. On my off days the restaurant had a big run on deconstructed bacon-wrapped scallops, and therefore, I am low on bacon. It is Tuesday and Pure Country Pork does not slaughter until next Monday for Wednesday delivery. Once delivered it takes five to seven days to cure the pork belly and one day to smoke. With a commodity product like Nueske’s Bacon I would simply call my vendor and have a belly delivered tomorrow if needed. As I calculate the up-coming reservations, I conclude there is indeed just enough bacon for the next fifteen days.    

This year has been particularly difficult to source produce and quality mushrooms. The heavy late rain in May and June made for a short growing season. The wild garlic whips and onion blossoms have come and gone. I now rely on The Side Yard Farm for the bulk of my garnish and special variety produce. Once a week I receive delivery. Stacey brings my order in the back door. The kitchen fills with the delightful smell of earth and basil. The product was picked this morning and hand-washed with care—$70 for a shoe box of produce! With produce this beautiful, I can’t help but be proud of how amazing the house-made pappardelle with heirloom tomatoes, amethyst basil, micro radish and hazelnuts will taste. As I inspect the product I notice there are no baby carrots or breakfast radish. (Apparently, the total production of baby carrots this week has been purchased by The Original Dinerant, and the breakfast radish will not be ready for harvest until next week.) I am in need of a garnish to replace the carrots on the seared bavette steak. And, even more difficult, what will I use in place of the breakfast radish for the albacore tuna tartare?

Some locally sourced sustainable proteins that worked in my restaurant include rabbit, pork, some cuts of beef, and a select few cuts of buffalo. Prime cuts like rib eye and New York strip of beef and buffalo typically wholesale at over $14 per pound. Most customers are not prepared to receive an RDA three-ounce portion of beef while dinning out. Therefore, reaching a 30% food cost while making an entree $25 or less with these primal cuts is nearly impossible.

Poultry is the most difficult to source locally. For sourcing local duck, the price point is the largest issue. A single duck can cost $28 yielding only two breast portions and up to four confit portions from the leg and thigh if you are creative and use it in a salad or tartine (open face sandwich). Finding a farmer who can commit to reliably supply chicken on a weekly bases is nearly impossible though.

Sourcing local food can be challenging for any size restaurant: the weather, delivery schedules, price points, consistency of product, ideology of the farmers, and other factors must be taken into account. Unfortunately, it is not always as simple as purchasing from the farmers market to create a local, seasonal, fresh menu. However with commitment, diligence, careful planning, and passion, sourcing local is feasible.

Portland, Oregon, is a locavore chef’s paradise of hazelnuts, berries, fruits, vegetables, wine, mushrooms, and a bounty of proteins from rabbit to salmon; all within 100 Miles! For this reason, Portland is a consumer’s paradise as well. What is most spectacular is when diners may indulge in nature’s bounty at a reasonable price. This is my life as a chef at $25 per entree.