Winter farm-to-table at Stella and Trokay restaurants, thanks to Produce Plus

Though the ground where Stella restaurant’s garden grows was frozen solid, we recently enjoyed a four-star meal with fresh, seasonal ingredients, thanks to Chef Jacob Burton and his staff. The ingredients ranged from microgreens, to Maitake and Shitake mushrooms, to baby vegetables cultivated for perfection.

Across town, Restaurant Trokay chef John Weatherson and his team was busy preparing gourmet dishes with ingredients such as blood oranges, baby heirloom lettuces, red mustard frisee and Kobocha squash.

Though we credited the two chefs for their culinary ingenuity, both also was quick to point to their relationship with Bob Habeger of Produce Plus in North Lake Tahoe— a longtime purveyor whom the Truckee-Tahoe chefs have nick-named “Produce Bob.”

In winter Habeger offers restaurateurs a direct link to Yolo County and other Central Valley farmers, who often pick the day of delivery. His motto: “We supply restaurant chefs with seasonal, specialty and, whenever possible, local and organic produce.”

Produce Bob’s Truckee-Tahoe customers include Moody’s Bistro, Pianeta, PlumpJack Cafe Squaw Valley, Resort at Squaw Creek, River Grill, West Shore Café, Christy Hill Lakeside Bistro and others. The Yolo County farmers, including Suzanne Peabody Ashworth of Del Rio Botanical, also enjoy eating their own produce at Trokay and other the restaurants when they visit the Sierra.