NEW GLARUS - Opened in September and expanding in the spring, Cow & Quince, a locally-sourced eatery in New Glarus, will be able to increase its cold storage for local produce, thanks to a United States Department of Agriculture grant.
Lori Sterns, owner and operator of the restaurant and grocery store, said she is eager to promote local food year-round.
"It's nice to be able to say we are completely sourcing local foods," Sterns said. "It's how we like to eat, and we want to share that."
The USDA grant of $68,000 will pay for dehydrators and blast chillers to keep green produce available year-round.
Using seasonal availability, Cow & Quince has a constantly rotating menu, but Sterns said she enjoys the challenge. Sterns has 31 producers who supply the restaurant, ranging from Jordandal Farms in Argyle to Farmer John's cheese in Dodgeville.
Sterns' chef, Jared Austin, said the challenge of their limited kitchen, which consists of a waffle iron, cold table and a couple of hot plates, makes pleasing a lot of customers difficult.
"It's super hard especially when it's busy. I can cook four to five, maybe, six orders at a time," Austin said.
Sterns is hoping to get a $27,000 hood installed this spring with loans from her vendors and another grant in the works. She said tourism increases in the summer, and they hope to have a deep fryer and griddle table in before the warm-weather crush.
Cow & Quince is housed in the former location of Hoesly's Meats in the area where they kept their meat chilled.
"It's kind of funny that this back room used to be used for refrigeration and that's what it's going to be again," Sterns said.
The restaurant has bright yellow walls and about four yellow tables and one long table on top of burnt yellow-colored wood floors. The tables are adorned with small salt and pepper figurines of Snow White-inspired animals like tiny pairs of squirrels, pigs and rabbits. The smell of pickled roots like radishes, turnips and beets blend together in a fresh mix.
Sterns said part of the appeal of the restaurant is seeing Austin pull produce straight from the refrigerator that patrons can buy and take home. If you like the slice of cheese on your sandwich, you can buy a brick of it before leaving.
Sterns has plans to make the restaurant's backroom into an aging facility for one of their cheese suppliers, Landmark Creamery. Landmark uses sheep milk, as well as grass-fed dairy, for their cheeses sold at Cow and Quince.
Anna Landmark, one half of the female duo that run Landmark Creamery, said their operation is partnering with Cow and Quince to help raise funds to equip the restaurant but plans to make a space to age their cheese is still preliminary.
"We are looking at ways to engage the community like offering in-store credit to those who contribute to the store," Landmark said.
Another of the restaurant's suppliers, Dela Ends, said she has been friends with Landmark and Sterns for many years. Ends grows produce at her farm outside of Brodhead and offers it through Community Supported Agriculture shares.
"We have been a CSA for about 20 years," Ends said. "A lot of the scratch-and-dent vegetables we can't put in CSA ... so Lori's kitchen allows us to sell a lot of things that wouldn't go."
Ends also sells goat milk soap at Cow & Quince and being able to sell their product locally helps them afford taking care of their goats, not to mention pushing more locally-sourced products into the market.
"It's really exciting what Lori is doing at Cow & Quince. We need to work together to push farms into the new world," Ends said.
Lori Sterns, owner and operator of the restaurant and grocery store, said she is eager to promote local food year-round.
"It's nice to be able to say we are completely sourcing local foods," Sterns said. "It's how we like to eat, and we want to share that."
The USDA grant of $68,000 will pay for dehydrators and blast chillers to keep green produce available year-round.
Using seasonal availability, Cow & Quince has a constantly rotating menu, but Sterns said she enjoys the challenge. Sterns has 31 producers who supply the restaurant, ranging from Jordandal Farms in Argyle to Farmer John's cheese in Dodgeville.
Sterns' chef, Jared Austin, said the challenge of their limited kitchen, which consists of a waffle iron, cold table and a couple of hot plates, makes pleasing a lot of customers difficult.
"It's super hard especially when it's busy. I can cook four to five, maybe, six orders at a time," Austin said.
Sterns is hoping to get a $27,000 hood installed this spring with loans from her vendors and another grant in the works. She said tourism increases in the summer, and they hope to have a deep fryer and griddle table in before the warm-weather crush.
Cow & Quince is housed in the former location of Hoesly's Meats in the area where they kept their meat chilled.
"It's kind of funny that this back room used to be used for refrigeration and that's what it's going to be again," Sterns said.
The restaurant has bright yellow walls and about four yellow tables and one long table on top of burnt yellow-colored wood floors. The tables are adorned with small salt and pepper figurines of Snow White-inspired animals like tiny pairs of squirrels, pigs and rabbits. The smell of pickled roots like radishes, turnips and beets blend together in a fresh mix.
Sterns said part of the appeal of the restaurant is seeing Austin pull produce straight from the refrigerator that patrons can buy and take home. If you like the slice of cheese on your sandwich, you can buy a brick of it before leaving.
Sterns has plans to make the restaurant's backroom into an aging facility for one of their cheese suppliers, Landmark Creamery. Landmark uses sheep milk, as well as grass-fed dairy, for their cheeses sold at Cow and Quince.
Anna Landmark, one half of the female duo that run Landmark Creamery, said their operation is partnering with Cow and Quince to help raise funds to equip the restaurant but plans to make a space to age their cheese is still preliminary.
"We are looking at ways to engage the community like offering in-store credit to those who contribute to the store," Landmark said.
Another of the restaurant's suppliers, Dela Ends, said she has been friends with Landmark and Sterns for many years. Ends grows produce at her farm outside of Brodhead and offers it through Community Supported Agriculture shares.
"We have been a CSA for about 20 years," Ends said. "A lot of the scratch-and-dent vegetables we can't put in CSA ... so Lori's kitchen allows us to sell a lot of things that wouldn't go."
Ends also sells goat milk soap at Cow & Quince and being able to sell their product locally helps them afford taking care of their goats, not to mention pushing more locally-sourced products into the market.
"It's really exciting what Lori is doing at Cow & Quince. We need to work together to push farms into the new world," Ends said.