Our Menu changes often to reflect the best of what our local farmers & the seasons has to offer. 90% of your dinner this evening has been grown or raised within a 100 mile radius – the majority of that 90%, within 50 miles.
When you buy direct from local farmers, your dollars stay within your community, and strengthen the local economy
Local food is fresher and tastes better than food that been trucked or flown in from thousands of miles away.
Deprivation leads to greater appreciation. When does a cozy room feel best? When you've come in from out of the freezing cold. Fresh corn in season tastes best when you haven't eaten any in 9 or 10 months-- Eating locally means eating seasonally, with all the deprivation and resulting pleasure that accompanies it. So, you may not always have tomatoes on your salad , but when you do – they will be amazing!
Local Foods Support Your Local Economy
Money spent with local farmers, growers, and artisans and locally-owned purveyors and restaurants all stays close to home, working to build your local economy instead of being handed over to a corporation in another city, state, or country. Since the food moves through fewer hands, more of the money you spend tends to get to the people growing it. Because these foods pass through less hands,
Local Foods Promote Food Safety The fewer steps there are between your food's source and your table the less chance there is of contamination. Also, when you know where your food comes from and who grows it, you know a lot more about that food. Everything on your plate can be traced to the source.
Our Farm Partners
Hunts Brook Farm Quaker Hill, CT
Teresa & Digga Schacht
A small family farm in Quaker Hill, CT. Provides La Belle Aurore with greens all year , thanks to their beautiful new hoop house! In addition to produce, often the flowers on the table come from Digga & Teresa
Smith Acres, Niantic
Joe & Teri Smith
You may already know Smith’s as the go to Garden center and Farm stand in Niantic – what you may not know is Farmer Joe has acres of crops he sells at farmer’s
markets all over the state, forging relationships with other farmers and bring the best back to Niantic! His “Wicked Sweet” is the only corn we serve – it’s that good!
The flowers & plants that grace are window are all from Smiths. If they are wilting – it’s purely neglect on our part!
Wayne’s Organic Garden, Oneco,CT
Wayne & Marilyn Hansen
|
Eastern Connecticut's first certified organic farm
|
|
Certified organic since 1989, Wayne grows and sells a large variety of vegetables, specializing in fingerling potatoes, garlic, onions, heirloom tomatoes, and many other delicious items. His potatoes are second to none!
|
If you see Wayne at one of the many Farmer’s Markets he sells – do yourself a favor, stop by, you won’t be disappointed!
Four Mile River Farm , Old Lyme, CT
Nunzio & Irene Corsino
Their small herd is made up of Angus, Hereford and Charloisis steer.
They enjoy fresh grass on local naturally fertilized open pasture, as well as Connecticut milled corn and grain for a well rounded natural diet.
Their bedding is clean untreated wood sawdust from a local saw mill
USDA inspected and approved.
The beef is aged five weeks then cut on the sixth for best tenderness. Nunzio provides us with an assortment of different cuts of beef throughout the year, this month, it is Hanger steak. It is prized for its flavor, and was sometimes known as "butcher's steak" because butchers would often keep it for themselves rather than offer it for sale. The Hanger steak does need to be marinated and cooked quickly, it is served slice for maximum tenderness.
Terra Firma Farm , Stonington, CT
Brianne Casadei & Ethan Grimes
We get our pork, lamb & eggs from these amazing folks, who raise happy, healthy animals AND multiple agricultural camps teaching even the smallest children how to care for , respect and reap the benefits of the Earth. Their pasture & woodlot-raised, humanely-treated pigs are allowed to roam freely and do
the things pigs like to do! They socialize and engage in instinctive pig behavior such as
rooting, wallowing and foraging. They have free access to water and feed in their
paddocks. The sunshine and fresh air eliminate the need for any medications that
factory farms use to maximize production. No animal by-products are given to our pigs
and they are feed the best grain we can find. Since our pigs roam freely our farm has no
waste issues, the manure is retuned to the soil where it becomes fertilizer. This stress-
free environment produces the freshest, cleanest pork around, now available direct
from our farm to your table, freezer or oven!
Old Orchard Farm, East Lyme, CT
Butch & Mary Foster
Mary makes the most amazing pies – we serve their honey, apples, potatoes & garlic. You can purchase honey & apple cider vinegar from Old Orchard in the Farmacy
Sankow’s Beaver Brook Farm , Lyme, CT
Stan & Suzanne Sankow
Connecticut’s largest sheep farm. We get incredible Lamb, Sheep’s & Cow’s milk cheeses. At the farm and at markets, they also have beautiful wool sweaters & vests, etc.
Beltane Farm , Lebanon,CT
Paul & Mark Trubey
Wonderful artisanal Goat’s milk cheeses from a classic chevre, Feta , Vespers – a Morbier style goat’s cheese , Ricotta Fresca , Dans de la Lune, we love (and serve) it all . Visit them in Lebanon, the farm is idyllic !
Carmen Ladipo, Photographer
And all these Farms are featured on our wall, courtesy of Carmen Ladipo, Ithaca college student , La Belle Aurore employee and photographer. Her cards can be found in our entrance way.
All the Seafood we serve is within the guidelines of Seafood Watch, courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. To learn more www.montereybayaquarium.org
We collect eggshells & coffee grounds for compost and disburse to our farm partners for fertilization.
