Q&A with Chef Evan Cordes
Why is sustainability important to you & your restaurant? This really just boils down to doing the “right” thing. Supporting the local economy is essential, the more we can support the farms that surround the city, the more jobs can be be created; which, as we all know, is the ultimate driving force for the economy. Supporting businesses like organic farms that support their local community is also essential to healthy happy families, that live and work in their community.

If you were a farmer what would you raise or grow? Chicken and Hops. A small family of goats, eggplant (i love the eggplant), and some really spicy arugula.

What one seasoning can you not live without? Thyme, but really hot sauce.

What should every kitchen not be without?  A good sharp knife that the kitcheneer feels comfortable with. Brown pan liner paper, makes clean-up a breeze. A cast iron braising dish, I have a 5 quart Staub that I love.

What chef,  person and or book inspired you to enter the culinary world? Juan Esparza, Chef de Cuisine at Poole’s Diner in Raleigh, North Carolina. I met Juan seven or eight years ago, he inspired me then and he inspires me now. He has a fantastic sense of humor and an even better palate.

What are some can’t miss items on the menu? Chicken Livers hot wing style; Braised Bacon and Shrimp with Shiitake Relish; Skirt Steak with Arugula, Crisp Potatoes and Smoked Peanut Picililli.

What celebrity or historical figure would you most want to serve a meal to?  Abe Lincoln, he seemed like a pretty reasonable fellow. If Abe Lincoln was unavailable, Joel Nathaniel Cummins.

Where and with whom would be your ideal location for your last supper? What would you eat, drink and listen to ? I would eat dinner with my wonderful wife in the bite of Cape Lookout on the NC coast. We would eat deviled eggs, white anchovies, chunks of hot calabrese sausage, and roast chunks of foie gras over a campfire like marshmallows. We would enjoy a couple of bottles: Falanghina, Duvall Leroy, a nice smokey Malbec. I would have Matthew Bettinger make white whiskey cocktails all night with little umbrellas in them and Wilco would play live from about fifty feet away. When the meal was over, we would dance.

 Having etched out a niche in the Atlanta market as a destination for classic cocktails, H Harper Station is now furthering their commitment to local, seasonal and sustainable food with the addition of Executive Chef, Evan Cordes.  “We have always been focused on sustainable meats and local produce, and with Evan’s natural affinity for those things it’s just getting better and better” states Jerry Slater, Harper’s owner. 

Evan Cordes, born and raised in North Carolina, and most recently of Cakes & Ale and Serpas True Food, is excited about crafting menus in H. Harper Station’s relaxed, yet still elegant atmosphere.  “I believe that a delicious meal, crafted from local ingredients should not be out of reach for anyone” states Cordes. 

Guests can expect the menu to change more frequently as items come in and out of season.  Making a summer debut on the menu is a locally harvested eggplant carpaccio with tomatoes and marinated peppers, a summer bean salad featuring green beans, sunflower sprouts and black cherry tomatoes and a ribeye with smoked potato salad and roasted okra. Cordes and Slater have partnered with local farms like Bes’ Maid Garden Essentials, D & A  Farms and Gaia Gardens to ensure a frequent supply of high quality, organically grown local produce.

by Amanda Trevelino of Full Dishclosure

Oakland Cemetery

A chilly October mist settles over us the minute we step
into the graveyard, making us a little unsure about having
agreed to dine with the dead, but Esther Andrew and
Chef Evan Cordes are about to shift our way of thinking.
Photos by Kitty Ray Swain.

In the three years since Andrew founded For Foods Sake supper club she’s treated invitation-only members to culinary experiences at secret locations from rooftops to farms; private homes to hidden gardens. But her October destination redefined underground eateries, considering many of the hosts had been dead and buried at Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery since the 1800′s. What could entice us here on a cold dreary night? Only the wizardry of Chef Evan Cordes of nearby H. Harper Station, paired with the promise of end-of-season organic produce from D&A Farms.

Garden and Gun Magazine singles out Cordes (a North Carolina native who formerly brought acclaim to Cakes & Ale and Serpas True Food) for his creative revival of classic southern cocktails. So we were sure he’d bring similar creativity to a meal in an historically significant location. After all, we were surrounded by Gone With the Wind author Margaret Mitchell, golf great Bobby Jones, former mayors and dignitaries and no less than 40,000 civil war soldiers.

In town less than 24-hours after his honeymoon, Cordes put together a layered menu that incorporated summer-time veggies we’d given up hope of enjoying until next year: roast okra to start, and sweet corn to finish, thanks to D&A’s hoop tunnel farming system that enables soil to maintain warmth.

Nestled under ancient oaks and magnolias, an appreciative audience of 50 foodies and friends felt quite alive savoring the first and second courses. Most seemed to agree the olive oil poached turnips paired with smoked trout couldn’t be topped. But when the entree was passed family style, the warm field peas and butter beans proved to be the perfect comfort food. There was a poignant awareness of past, present and future as we honored those no longer with us and focused on For Foods Sake’s mission of supporting 180 Degree Kitchen, a project of City of Refuge. Executive Director Bruce Deel reminded us of the extraordinary crime rate in a particular part of our city where the 180 Degree Kitchen offers a potential culinary arts solution to 18 to 25-year-olds. By learning the building blocks of a culinary career, students can find work with participating restaurants, meanwhile the food they prepare goes to feed the hungry and homeless, and money earned through the Kitchen’s outside catering services helps fund the program.

The Menu:
Amuse-pork rillette with espillette-cocoa mustard  and  pickled mushroom toasts  Wine: MontAsolo Merlot, Veneto
1st salad of pea shoots, broccoli and sunflower sprouts, D & A greens and okra with spiced pomegranate kernels and roast okra. pumpkinseed viniagrette.

2nd pickled shrimp and smoked trout on olive oil poached turnips with carrot gribiche and wood roast mussels Wine: Tiamo Chianti, Tuscany

3rd roast pork shoulder served family style with warm field peas, butterbeans, and roast pepper creme fraiche; butternut squash salad with proscuitto and cranberries; collard greens with sticky farro Wine: Pietra Majella, Montepulciano D’Abruzzo

4th fig sorghum buchon with sweet corn and local honey

D&A Farm:
Family owned an operated by Dave and Alan Bentoski, D&A grows more than 80 varieties of certified organic fruits, vegetables, melons, and vegetable transplants. The produce is raised on roughly 15 acres of cultivated ground which counts 1 heated greenhouse and 9 unheated high tunnels used for season extension. Certified organic since 2007, D&A’s premium produce is available direct to consumers through its CSA program and at Morningside Farmers Market.

Historic Oakland Cemetery:
This garden cemetery, founded in 1850, is the final resting place of many of Atlanta’s settlers, builders, and most noted citizens like Bobby Jones, Margaret Mitchell, and Maynard Jackson. It is also a showplace of sculpture and architecture, and a botanical preserve. Cemetery photo by Joel Silverman 2008.

Oakland Cemetery

]]> https://forfoodssake.org/2011/09/26/harvest/feed/ 0 https://forfoodssake.org/2009/09/18/chef-steven-satterfield-and-celia-barss-of-woodland-gardens/ https://forfoodssake.org/2009/09/18/chef-steven-satterfield-and-celia-barss-of-woodland-gardens/#comments Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:06:41 +0000 Esther https://forfoodssake.org/wordpress/?p=418

September 17, 2009
The Harvest

For Food’s Sake gathering took place in a beautiful historical home and restored carriage house of Whitespace Art Gallery with Chef Steven Satterfield of Miller Union and Farmer Celia Barss of Woodland Gardens. It truly was an evening of the senses! Guests experienced a touch of the past with dinner served family style by candlelight on the elegant Victorian porch. Wood grilled quail highlighted the evening and Steven’s apple tart & homemade ice cream left guest asking for more! The elegant surroundings and Steven’s embrace of the bounty of summmer’s harvest tells us how eating local can be charming.

First course

Butternut squash soup

Suggested wine pairing: Domaine Lafond

“Roc-Epine” Lirac Blanc 2008

Second course

Farm fresh salad with eggplant and feta toasts

Suggested wine pairing: Mas des Aveylans “Cuvee Prestige” Rouge 2005

Main course

Wood-grilled quail with fresh-shelled peas and beans

Suggested wine pairing: Chateau des Roques

Vaqueryras Rouge 2007

Dessert course

Georgia mountain apple tart and burnt honey ice cream

Suggested wine pairing: Chateau de la Peyrade

Muscat de Frontignan

Photos provided by Kitty Ray Swain

Celia Barss of Woodland Gardens is a certified organic market garden in Winterville, Georgia. We currently grow a wide variety of vegetables, micro greens, herbs, fruit and flowers intensively on 6 acres, year-round using unheated and heated greenhouses to help extend our seasons in the colder months. We attend Morningside Farmers Market in the Virginia-Highlands neighborhood in Atlanta every Saturday morning and sell to restaurants in Atlanta and Athens, as well as through a subscription box program in Athens. We strive to grow a wide variety of high quality produce, while also building our soils and a sustainable farm business that supports our farm workers.

With Chef Steven Satterfield, Oct.2009

With Chef Ron Eyester May 2010

Q &A with Steven Satterfield

Why is sourcing local produce important to you & your restaurant? Knowing where your food comes from and who grew it is important to us and to many other people. As food sources become more readily available from a globally driven market, we find it important to appreciate what is available to us within our local and regional areas. the challenge of cooking solely (or mostly) with local ingredients adds to the experience of gathering/sourcing, cooking, and enjoying the meal.

If you were a farmer what would you raise or grow? I absolutely love any kind of greens: Head lettuces, watercress, spinach, kale, collard greens, etc.

What one seasoning can you not live without [other than salt]? Acidity: Citrus, vinegars, etc.

What celebrity or historical figure would you most want to serve a meal to? Thomas Jefferson

What would you eat and drink at your last supper? The perfect salad of greens and vegetables just plucked from the earth, whole roasted chicken or game bird, a good glass of wine.

Where would be your ideal location for your last supper, what music would you listen to and who would join you ? definitely an outdoor setting; i absolutely love a perfect picnic with carefully picked ingredients in a beautiful, pastoral setting. would love to be with my friends who appreciate good food and fellowship. my ipod on shuffle would be pretty great.

Steven Satterfield, a native of Savannah, Georgia who misses his “time warp” getaways to Tybee Island where he could eat fresh seafood, studied architecture at Georgia Tech and spent a year abroad in Paris. After college, he formed a band with some friends under the name “Seely” who signed with a London based indie label. After hitting the college charts, the band toured the US. They produced 4 full-length CDs from 1995-2000 and then disbanded in Summer 2000.

He began working in restaurants while playing music and as breaks between records grew longer, he had a stronger desire to learn more about food. In 1999 Steven worked for Ann Quatrano at Floataway Cafe and then began working with Scott Peacock at Watershed. He worked the line to become Executive Sous Chef while Chef Scott did more television and guest appearances outside of the restaurant.

In 2009, Neal McCarthy from Sotto Sotto and Fritti, and his wife Carolyn and Steven have joined forces to form Miller Union: A locally driven, seasonal restaurant with sustainable practices. The food: Southern ingredients with a fresh approach.