It Takes Two To Farm-To-Table

Farmer’s Table

1901 North Military Trail, Boca Raton, FL 33431
(561) 417-5836
farmerstableboca.com
Hours of operation:
Breakfast:
Mon. – Fri.: 7 a.m. – 11 a.m.
Lunch:
Mon. – Sun.: 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Mid-Day:
Mon. – Sun.: 3 p.m. – 5 p.m.
Breakfast/Brunch:
Sat. & Sun.: 8 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Dinner:
Sun. – Thurs.: 5 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Fri. & Sat.: 5 p.m. – 11 p.m.
Cuisine Specialty: Farm-To-Table With Vegan, Vegetarian And Paleo Options

When it comes to a list of 12 fruits and vegetables recognized by the Environmental Working Group (a Washington, DC-based research and advocacy organization), chefs Joey Giannuzzi and Wilson Wieggel will only buy organic.

“We only use organic fruits and vegetables on this list, plus all our meat is grass-fed, chickens free-range, fish sustainably raised and none of them contains pesticides, antibiotics or chemicals,” says Giannuzzi. “We source clean.”

It’s good for the planet, he says. “We use eco-conscious purveyors and also implement environmentally friendly practices in our kitchen.”

Three year ago, Giannuzzi met real estate developer Mitch Robbins, when Robbins was a regular customer at the chef’s popular 15-seat restaurant in Boca Raton. When Giannuzzi outgrew his former restaurant, The Green Gourmet, and was looking to move to a larger location, Robbins invited him to look at the vacant restaurant space located on the grounds of Robbins’ Wyndham Boca Raton.

Today, the two are partners in this successful farm-to-table venture — just over a year old and filling its seats every day and evening.

“We take it seriously,” says Robbins. “We cook the right way and source the right way. We pride ourselves on using the best quality while making it affordable for everyone.” In his hometown of Boston, Robbins said people cooked more, “but down here everyone goes out to eat. Some folks come to the restaurant four, five, six times a week, so we have to keep the prices reasonable.”

Why buy local? Executive Chef Wilson Wieggel’s short, easy answer is that it tastes better. “It’s fresher, because it simply didn’t need to travel as far to get to us. Once harvested, produce quickly loses nutrients. Since local produce is sold right after it’s picked, it retains more nutrients,” says Wieggel, who has many vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free items on the menu.

During Florida’s growing season, Wieggel says 20 to 50 percent of his produce is local (or within the state). In the summer months, Wieggel buys 10 to 20 percent of his produce locally.

Wieggel works with a few local “foragers,” such as Boynton Beach, FL-based Farms to Chefs and Winter Garden, FL-based Growing Synergy Foods, which are both produce distributors. In addition, Farmer’s Table has forged relationships with many local farms, including Universal Living Sprouts in Royal Palm Beach, Tomazin Farms in New Smyrna Beach, Farmer Jay Pure Organics in Boca Raton, Farmhouse Tomatoes in Lake Worth, Witt Road Farms in Aventura, Pero Family Farms in Delray Beach — just to name a few.

In visiting and talking to local farmers, “we discovered that not all local is created equal,” says Robbins. “Local comes in all sorts.”

Robbins takes his wellness lifestyle seriously. Even before Farmer’s Table moved into the adjacent restaurant space, Robbins invited tenants Yoga Journeys, an in-house yoga studio, and Trend Tea, a tea house that also sells loose leaf tea, to set up their businesses — rent-free — in the Wyndham to “create positive energy.”