Hello friends. Yeah yeah, I know it’s been awhile since I last posted and I am sorry about that, I’ve been swamped with the soul sucking job I use for health insurance and rent money. Also, Jerry and I watched one too many documentaries lately about longevity and the importance of what you put into your body and have become a little neurotic about where our food comes from. Being the new health freaks that we are, we’ve been spending less time and money going out to eat and more time at the Farmers’ Markets and working on our new garden.

Spending more time at the Farmers’ Market has really put into perspective, not only how amazing the produce and agriculture in North Carolina are, but also how great the people who run our neighboring farms are as well. I really do recommend taking some time to muck it up with the local farmers next time you are at the market; you learn a lot and you can tell how much they care about what they are doing.

Fortunately, being a little more particular about where your food comes from doesn’t mean you need to become a hermit, or drive a Subaru covered in deranged bumper stickers. There are still a lot of amazing restaurants that share the same sentiment. There are a few chefs here in Charlotte fully utilizing that amazing North Carolina agriculture to bring an elevated dining experience of seasonal menus that fully embody what our land has to offer. One of them is Andres Kaifer, owner and head chef at Customshop in the historic Elizabeth neighborhood. I sat down with Andres to better understand how he became the amazing chef that he is today, what brought him to North Carolina, and how he is helping level up the Charlotte food scene through all locally sourced ingredients.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE ORIGINAL PUBLICATION VIA JERRY AND ZANZIBAR.