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In addition to offering creative, quality food preparations in his restaurants, each Farmshop marketplace showcases artisan purveyors of meat and seafood, fruits and vegetables, cheese and dairy, charcuterie and deli, pantry and larder, accompani- ments and sweets, coffee, tea and beverages, wine and beer, merchandise and housewares—with knowl- edgeable staff at each post. Cerciello's success is also attributed to his keen eye for new talent in all areas of his restaurant busi- ness. Great chefs master their craft by working for other master chefs. In his 20s, Cerciello apprenticed in Spain at the famed El Bulli under the watchful eye of celebrity chef Ferran Adrià before return- ing stateside to work in the kitchen at The Thomas Keller Restaurant Group's French Laundry, where he became Director of Casual Dining. During his 14-year tenure there, he opened the popular trio of restau- rants Bouchon, Bouchon Bakeries and Ad Hoc. Chef Brian Reimer, Culinary Director for Farm- shop, comes from a long line of Northern Califor- nia fisherman, farmers and dairymen. Brian cut his culinary teeth working with famed chefs Cal Stamenov at Bernardus Lodge in Central California's Carmel Valley, Michel Rostang of Maison Rostang in Paris, Jean-Pierre Vigato of the two Michelin-starred restaurant Apicius in Paris and Thomas Keller, of course. Most notably in his career, Brian worked as Executive Sous Chef (and was the youngest American working) at Maison Boulud in Beijing and Singapore, where TimeOut Beijing named him Chef of the Year in 2012. Everything on Farmshop's menu is delicious. Some of my favorites are the hamachi crudo with citrus caviar paired with a Sauvignon Blanc. For breakfast, the shirred eggs with spinach, lamb merguez and Medjool dates is unbeatable, and for desert ask the on-site cheesemonger for a recommended selection (and don't forget to include my favorite, Cowgirl Creamery Brie). Since the Farm-to-Fork initiative started in 1999 with Palo Alto–based Bon Appétit Management Company in California, the farm-to-table social movement has taken hold across the country. However, this concept was nothing new for Swiss-trained culinary craftsman Tom "Bruno" Bullag of Bruno's Chef's Kitchen in Eugene, Oregon. As a child, Bruno spent summers in Switzerland where his grandparents lived and both parents were raised. "My father was a French chef, and my Italian mother and grandmother were great cooks. I grew up eating really good food, and that kind of memory of tastes influence what I cook today," says Bruno. At age 13 he apprenticed at his father's restaurant, L'Auberge, in the San Francisco Bay Area, where Bruno's first task in the kitchen was to salt a pot of marinara sauce. "It took me 20 minutes, pinch by pinch until I finally got the sauce to taste good to my palate," explains Bruno. "If you don't have it on the tongue, you don't go to the kitchen," his father told him. At age 17, Bruno returned to Switzerland to apprentice under a Parisian chef at the Baur Au Lac Hotel in Zurich, which has set the standard for international luxury for 170 years. However, it is the simplicity of fresh, seasonal and locally sourced ingredients that most inspire Chef Bruno's weekly menu. "Our food is living from the ingredients grown locally," Bruno proclaims, who moved to Eugene as a young man when he saw the farm-to-fork possibilities for his future culinary vision. He landed a job at La Primavera Restaurant in the 1970s then later operated Bruno's Bistro in the early 1980s, all the while quietly pioneering the concept of phytochemical food healing. "There is healing magic to my food because it all fits together organically," he explains. "One of the best compliments I received was from a customer who told me my nourishing and nurturing cooking healed her from a serious illness." As his father taught him, it is important that the plants and the animals he sources live off the same water, soil and air in which his kitchen is based. Bruno shops daily at the fishmonger, butcher and produce and dairy suppliers and crafts his weekly menu from what is available. Due to concerns about farmed fish, he chooses not to serve salmon in the off-season, and he avoids buying frozen meats. Bruno and wife Bessie Bollag started Chef's Kitchen in 1994 as a humble take-out eatery with a drive-by pick-up window on the outskirts of Eugene. Their goal was to give other working parents a fast, easy solution for fresh, delicious and well-prepared food for dinner. With Chef Bruno in the kitchen and Bessie at the window, it wasn't long before lines of cars forced them to open with a few inside tables where customers could eat their meal on-site, using paper plates, plastic cups and utensils. Soon customers started to bring in their own ceramic plates, metal utensils and wine glasses until the Bollags were forced to invest in proper table service. Hence was the birth of Bruno's Chef's Kitchen, a full-service, sit-down fine dining restaurant and enclosed patio, which combined can seat 70 people, still in the same cozy and modestly decorated location. From that first pot of marinara to today, Bruno has become a master of sauces that surpass even his father's capabilities. You may never eat the same dish twice on his menu, but you will always have a memorable experi- ence through the fresh, flavorful sauces and creative, colorful dishes with beautiful fruits and microgreens—and a sense of healthful satisfaction that makes you feel truly nourished. Stirring the Pot CHEF TOM "BRUNO" BULLAG IS A LITTLE KNOWN FARM-TO-FORK TREND SETTER IN EUGENE, OREGON Tom "Bruno" Bullag of Bruno's Chef's Kitchen in Eugene, Oregon. s p r i n g 2 0 1 7 | 7 7 PHOTO: COURTESY OF CHEF BRUNO "The most exciting part of the restaurant's mission—trying to blend Chinese and Western cultures." —Chef Brian Reimer PHOTO: COURTESY OF FARMSHOP ■cr