Before you run screaming at the thought of carb-laden Italian food, hear us out. There, chef-owner James Martin grows dozens of fresh ingredients, having cultivated the property located immediately outside Gilardi’s on historic Walnut Street. As for the rest of the produce alphabet, you’ll have to pop into the garden outside of Gilardi’s Italian Ristorante. “We just have to allocate our supply differently.”Ī is for Arugula. “It’s all part of the challenge,” he says. Stangroom cites a recent trout die-off that’s made local fish hard to come by. Of course, true farm-to-table chefs know that consistent supply can be a challenge, especially in the winter months or when there are supply issues. That’s why he has ingredients delivered every week from places like Millsap Farms, Edgewood Creamery and Terrell Creek Farm. “If you buy from a large purveyor-for example, something like tomatoes-the nutritional value and the flavor both decline after about three days or so,” Stangroom says.

In Stangroom’s kitchen, the focus is on freshness, as well as the nutritional content of fresh produce. Stangroom reports that the menu currently stands at about 60 percent local ingredients, with contributions from local favorites including JB Kobe Farms, Millsap Farms and Gardener’s Orchard. Inspired by White’s local-forward approach, Stangroom has worked to incorporate products from a wide variety of local purveyors. In February of last year, Caleb Stangroom took the reins in the kitchen after former chef Zach White’s exit. In a way, The Order represents exactly that-a taste of the best Springfield has to offer. For many lifelong Springfield residents, the boutique hotel represents the best of the Ozarks-impeccable accommodations, unforgettable Midwestern hospitality and a location in the heart of Springfield’s historic downtown. It’s fitting that The Order is housed inside Hotel Vandivort. Take, for example, the contents of the sugar-free Gin and Perrier menu, or sparkling libations like the Savage Spritz made with bone-dry rosé. It offers both indulgent options-seasonal sangria, anyone?-and lighter sippers.

Then, of course, there’s the cocktail menu. The portion-conscious will be happy to know that Progress makes it difficult to overindulge the eatery’s precisely plated dishes focus more on quality and less on brutally large portions. There are vegan options in every course, and the majority of small plates are meatless, establishing a truly shareable sentimentality where other concepts have failed.

On each menu, you’ll find the best of what local farmers have to offer-everything from Terrell Creek Farm goat cheese to local McQueary honey (in the ever-popular Milk and Honey dessert) to Coffee Ethic coffee-braised beets accented with locally foraged black walnuts.Īt its core, Progress is a communal dining experience-one that proves to be a joy for carnivores and vegans alike. “Companies like Row 7 and Baker Creek are developing and bringing back heritage seeds that, in the skilled hands of our local farmers, make my job as a chef easy.”Įrnce’s focus on local produce is evident in his strictly seasonal menus, which he rotates out for fresher fare every three months or so. “It’s incredible what our farmers can achieve through their craft and the flavors they can cultivate,” Ernce says. I love challenging that convention and showing that a vegetable can be prepared in a way that is just as memorable, thoughtful, gripping and compelling as any animal.” Ernce explains that, not only does locally grown produce taste delicious-it’s also a chance to pay homage to generations of agricultural tradition. “I also feel people tend to have a bias that animal proteins are automatically or inherently better or more delicious than a plant or a vegetable. “I feel that vegetables have a built-in narrative that is so often lost in translation or taken for granted,” Ernce says. “They truly represent time and place, as well as terroir.”įor the unindoctrinated, terroir refers to the environment in which a crop is grown-its soil, climate and topography, key elements in the story-forward cuisine available at Progress.

“I believe that the flavor of vegetables can be much more exciting and compelling than meat,” chef Daniel Ernce says. Now, with a little over a year as a brick-and-mortar, Progress remains proof that produce can be a lot more than just an afterthought. Since their days as a roaming pop-up venture, the Progress team has prioritized vegetables in a way that excites plant-based eaters and carnivores alike.

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