26     |    VIPDestinMagazine.com

T

he restaurant industry—or, more 
accurately, the food industry as a whole—
has undergone a shift in focus, a desire 

to know that ingredients are not only the highest 
in quality, but also the freshest and the purest. We 
want to know what’s in the foods that we’re eating 
and where it came from. We want its timeline and 
lifeline tracked from start to fi nish. 

     From seed to spoon. 
     From farm to fork. 
     From dirt to dish.  
We want to know its pedigree—where it was 

raised, what it ate (or didn’t), what extra curricular 
activities it enjoyed. When we order a steak, we 
want to know that before Bessie 
became dinner, she was a local gal; 
and that, should we have taken it 
upon ourselves to gambol about a 
nearby cattle farm, we might have 
made her acquaintance.

It’s not a case of snobbery but 

rather than a concern for the bigger 

issues: the impact our food supply makes on the 
environment as well as the way that what we’re 
feeding our faces affects our bodies. We want to 
know that our fi sh has been caught in local waters 
and was still enjoying the good life until a few 
hours ago and that our fried chicken habit is not 
loading our systems with harmful chemicals and 
hormones. 

We want our food to do more than just taste 

good—we want it to be good. And for that reason, 
we’ve turned our attention to the local farms and 
fi sheries that can feed our hunger with products 
that feed the local economy, reduce environmental 
impact, and cut down on waste.   

“I believe that the whole concept of farm to 

table cuisine refl ects a sense of pride and passion 
that we take in our work and really instills a sense 
of community and connection within the food 
industry,” says Tyler Jarvis, founder and operating 
partner of Jackacuda’s and Brotula’s restaurants. 
“Having the opportunity to meet the farmers, 
see their practices, and learn their philosophies 
on their crops and animals helps ensure that 
the product we are receiving is of the highest 
quality and handled properly,” he continues. 
“As a restaurant owner or chef, that’s extremely 
important because it allows you to fully showcase 
your talents and knowledge of these amazingly 

fresh ingredients and turn them 
into memorable experiences for 
the guests. When we’re creating 
our signature items, it’s paramount 
to us that we have the freshest 
produce available to complement 
our amazing local Gulf seafood—
and the plate of food that results 

Purity

 

on the

 

Plate

story by

 

Liesel Schmidt

26-27 CoastalCuisine.indd   1

4/24/17   11:02 AM