Alex Paul
Local farmers and ranchers are making a definite impact on restaurants from throughout the Willamette Valley to Seattle and San Francisco, Chef Matt Bennett told members of the LBCC President’s Club Friday morning.
Bennett, a Michigan native, and his wife, Janel, own Sybaris restaurant in Albany. He also said students who graduate from LBCC’s culinary program at prepared to deal with the modern restaurant needs.
“The trend in restaurants is toward locally grown, or organic food,” Bennett said. “I’m amazed at the variety of foods grown here that are used at our restaurant and as far away as San Francisco.”
The average diner is becoming much more attune to fine cooking and the need for quality ingredients, Bennett said, because of the exposure provided by the Food Channel and other TV shows.
“When I worked for a large grocery outlet, I could tell when something special was featured on Emeril’s show the night before because people would come in asking for something like ‘white truffle oil’ the next morning,” Bennett said with a laugh.
Bennett had high praise for the LBCC program headed up by Chef Scott Anselm.
“We have had four students from the LBCC program and they come to us very knowledgeable and grounded about the real world,” Bennett said. “They do a great job. They have good basic skills and a sense of reality and about business.”
Sybaris Bistro is located at 442 West 1st in Albany. Hours at 5-9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 5-10 p.m. on Saturday. The restaurant is closed Sunday and Monday.
The restaurant’s menu is changed monthly and focuses on seasonal, locally grown fresh items.
An example of the March menus items included:
Appetizers: smoked Sublimity cheese spread with Kathleen’s Irish soda bread, Dungeness crab and parsnip cake with a caper sauce, roasted beets with balsamic vinegar.
Salads: mixed green salad with a coarse mustard vinaigrette or Romaine salad with a Dublin cream dressing.
Main courses: Roasted halibut with Emerald Isle rice, Sybaris style Irish stew, pan-fried rainbow trout, vegetarian Irish stew or butter-roasted squab with sauce.
The name “Sybaris” comes from a town in ancient Italy where Greeks used to go to party.
Chefs there were extremely competitive and were often granted star-like status.
Chef Bennett takes pride that the restaurant focuses on the best locally grown produce possible.
As he says in the restaurants web site (www.sybarisbistro.com), “I pay a lot for my ingredients; I have to, because I only want the best.”
Members of the LBCC President’s Club donate $500 per year to the LBCC Foundation. The funds are used primarily for emergency scholarships for students.
Chef Scott Anselm said the Foundation plays an important role in the lives of LBCC students, including his culinary students.
Chef Anselm said the Foundation has long been supporter of his program via scholarships as well as in helping purchase equipment to keep up with the needs of modern restaurants.
LBCC President Dr. Rita Cavin told the group about the completion of the $10 million capital campaign and about plans for the next phase of the college’s growth.
She noted the college’s science labs are more than 35 years old. She also displayed architectural drawings for the new North Santiam Hall and the proposed multi-purpose complex.