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Shop with a Chef!

August 18, 2023

Shop with a Chef this harvest season!

Join a Vermont Fresh Network member chef/restaurateur on a tour of a Vermont farmers market. Experience first-hand how chefs approach a farmers market, what they look for at their local markets, how they interact with their farm and producer partners, and how they’re inspired by local, seasonal ingredients.

VFN is hosting a series of three farmers market tours in Burlington, Montpelier, and the Champlain Islands.

Each tour will last approximately one hour, and is coordinated in partnership with the market’s manager.

Tour participants will have the opportunity to interact with their chef guide and market vendors, and will take home a recipe that uses seasonal ingredients available at the market.

Burlington Farmers Market:

Saturday, Sept. 2 at 8:45 am

with Laura Schantz, pastry chef at Hen of the Wood, Doc Ponds, and Prohibition Pig

Chef Laura Schantz is the pastry chef at Hen of the Wood, Doc Ponds, and Prohibition Pig, where she’s crafted delicious desserts for 10 years.

After attending the New England Culinary Institute in Montpelier, she made sauces and chocolates for It’s Arthur’s Fault in Jericho and taught group cooking classes. She was also the pastry chef at Belted Cow Bistro in Essex before accepting her current role at HOTW.

Laura has developed great relationships with many local farmers and producers over the years to source ingredients she uses in her tarts, pies, and other baked goods at the restaurant.

Register for the Burlington Farmers Market Tour here.

Capital City Farmers Market:

Saturday, Sept. 2 at 8:45 am

with Chef Stefano Coppola of Morse Block Deli and Pearl Street Pizza

Chef Stefano Coppola is the founder and owner of Morse Block Deli, and one of the founders and owners of Pearl Street Pizza in Barre. He prioritizes working with local ingredients and working with local partners in both of his Barre businesses, and has established relationships with many of the farmers and vendors at the Capital City Farmers Market in Montpelier.

Register for the Capital City Farmers Market Tour here.

Champlain Island Farmers Market:

Saturday, September 23 at 9:45 am

with Heather Kraemer of Kraemer & Kin

Kraemer & Kin is a small, family owned brewery & restaurant located in Alburgh, Vermont on the grounds of the Alburg Golf Links. They grow hops, herbs, and flowers for their beer, and wildcraft many seasonally inspired ingredients and celebrate Vermont's local farmers with the inclusion of specialty produce. Beer is an agricultural product and would not be possible without local farmers.
Heather Kraemer is an avid plant lover and mediocre gardener turned craft beer business owner. With decades of beverage service background, the foray into professionally prepared food is recent in the last two years. These years have been an adventure in gaining skills and articulating a love of local agriculture into palatable plates for the purpose of full, happy bellies. Heather offers a perspective that recognizes the importance of incorporating our local food sheds in seasonal menu offerings, a philosophy that resides at the forefront of the Kraemer & Kin approach to ingredients. Disclaimer, Heather is not and does not claim to be a professional chef. She sees cooking as a practice that is ever evolving, where every ingredient presents an opportunity to learn more about flavor and preparation.  

 

Register for the Champlain Islands Farmers Market Tour here.

This farmers market tour series is supported by Specialty Crop Block Grant 02200-SCBGP-18-05, awarded to Vermont Fresh Network by the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food, and Markets.

Thank you to Flavor Plate for donating their time and effort to the design and co-development of our website.