Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/599676
6 8 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t story by Laura Levy Shatkin / photos by Jacob Hand HEN BOULDER, COLORADO–BASED THE KITCHEN restaurant opened its Chicago outpost in October 2014, Chef Johnny Anderes was tapped as Executive Chef. The 187-seat bistro sits inside the historic Reid Murdoch building in River North, where the dining room is as spectacular as Anderes's commitment to local ingredients and the farmers who grow them. This locavore philosophy was not foreign to the venerable Chicago chef (Avec, Telegraph) but his relationship with farmers now goes a step further. "I work with what the farmers have to bring to us, as opposed to dictating what we want from them," says Anderes. "Our approach to menu development is to work with our farmers, asking them what their needs are," he says. Popular ingredients like thick-cut pork chops and coarse-ground polenta may fulfill orders for dozens of upscale Chicago restaurants, but Anderes will take the lesser-used pork tenderloin and the fine cornmeal by-product to minimize waste and cost. "As a company, we are based on relationships, and like any healthy relationship, it's got to be give and take," Anderes says. And so he buys what others might consider the "scraps" to create amazing dishes. Anderes's collaborative chef-farmer ideology also extends to The Kitchen Community, the nonprofit arm of The Kitchen, launched in 2011 by Kimbal Musk and partner Hugo Matheson. The 501(c)3 organization has built over 200 productive "learning gardens" in Colorado, Chicago, and Los Angeles, reaching CHEF JOHNNY ANDERES TAKES CHEF-FARMER IDEOLOGY INTO HIS CHICAGO RESTAURANT, THE KITCHEN Executive Chef Johnny Anderes at The Kitchen in Chicago. story by Laura Levy Shatkin / photos by Jacob Hand minimize waste and cost. "As a company, we are based on relationships, and like any healthy relationship, it's got to be give and take," Anderes says. And so he Gigantic collard greens, brilliant orange Sungold tomatoes, plump red garlic, loads of fresh basil, and gorgeous purple onions from the garden are transformed by Anderes into his take on pasta primavera.