Photo: Bart Ortiz, our Vice President of Flavor and Consistency, visits with Steve Tate at the Goat Lady Dairy.

For the past few years we’ve been exploring new ways to bring the freshest, most flavorful foods to our guests while considering the triple bottom line of profit, environmental sensitivity and social responsibility. To these ends we’re purchasing some of our meats and seafoods differently. We’re also bringing more and more local produce and artisan-made cheeses. We hope that this Initiative will have long-lasting effects that extend through-out our community. Some of our partners are local farmers who handpick their produce on just a couple acres, and others are larger companies that supply some of the best restaurants in the country with top quality ingredients. We have long believed that the nearer the farm to the fork the better the flavor. Allow us to introduce a few of our partners:

Biltmore Winery – With vineyards since 1971, Biltmore Estate near Asheville is the most visited winery in the United States and produces 100,000 cases of wine priced to compete with the quality California wines each year.

Cane Creek Farms – Specializing in Ossabaw pork, a heirloom breed native to Georgia and descended from the famed Iberico pigs of Spain, Cane Creek Farms in Snow Camp (near Mebane) is known locally and nationally for its humane treatment of animals and high standard meat.

Carolina Classics Catfish – Fed without the use of antibiotics, synthetic algaecides and land-animal byproducts, Carolina farmed channel catfish, raised in Ayden south of Greenville are fresh, wholesome and delicious

Carolina Day Boat Caught Fresh Fish – With buyers in Wilmington who go to the docks every day, Inland Seafood of Charlotte’s Day Boat program philosophy is characterized by one word, fresh, whether hog nose snapper or black drum.

Cheerwine – Not a wine and not like any other soda, Cheerwine, a North Carolina home-grown soda, hails from Salisbury and is cherry flavored and sweetened with cane sugar.

Childress Winery – Yes, that Childress, Richard, who drives fast and makes award-winning wines near Lexington and vints a Childress Fine Swine Wine for the Lexington Barbecue Festival every year.

Carolina Beer Company – Brewers of Carolina Blonde and Cottonwood Ales, Carolina Beer Company produces 60,000 barrels of beer annually in Mooresville, including the Endo IPA, Low Down Brown and Pumpkin Ale and Frostbite.

Counter Culture Coffee – Durham-based Counter Culture Coffee has gained world recognition for putting the most exciting, authentic and delicious coffees into the cup with a commitment to sustainability and fair trade.

Faucette Farms – “Our customers come to our farm to buy, but leave as friends,” say the operators of this farm near Greensboro that is making the change to growing certtified organic vegetable, from collards to sweet potatoes to heiroloom tomatoes.

Goat Lady Dairy – With a small herd of goats to maintain maximum health—milking for 10 months, breeding in the fall and kidding in early spring—Goat Lady Dairy in Climax raises goats and makes cheese the old-fashioned, farm-fresh way.

Greensboro Farmers’ Curb Market – One of the oldest in the state dating back to 1874, , the Greensboro market is an indoor facility, open rain or shine, year round and its a favorite haunt of our chef for fruits and vegetables that come directly from the farmers who grow them.

Highland Brewing Company – Brewing craft beer since 1994 in Asheville, Highland is known for its Gaelic Ale and Oatmeal Porter. In January Black Mountain Bitter debuted as their first organic beer, followed by Cattail Peak Wheat.

Homeland Creamery – “In order to make the very best milk and ice cream, you need to start with the very best cows, and you need to take care of them,” say the folks at Homeland Creamery in Julian. “Taste for yourself what folks in these parts have known for six generations. The local dairy just taste better!”

Natty Greene’s Brewery – Brewed in a circa 1895 building in downtown Greensboro, Natty Greene’s prides itself on fresh, unpasteurized beers, from Buckshot Amber to Old Town Brown, with seasonal brews such as Slam Dunhkelweizen and Wildflower Witbeer a specialty.

The Old Mill of Guilford – A water powered 1767 grist mill continues to produce all-natural, stone-ground whole-grain foods in Guilford County near Oak Ridge, including corn meal, grits, buckwheat and other traditional products.

Raylen Vineyards – Near Mockville is Raylen Vineyards, where, in 1999, Joe and Joyce Neely planted 35,000 European varietal grape vines on what had been a dairy farm. Their wine has been winning awards ever since then.

Red Oak Brewery – For decades, Red Oak Brewery, just outside of Greensboro, has been making unfiltered, unpasteurized Bavarian lager, made with Bavarian hops, malted barley and yeast, without additives or preservatives.

Shelton Vineyards – Located in Dobson near Mt. Airy in the Yadkin Valley American Viticultural Area, Shelton Vineyards is the largest family-owned estate winery in the state. Take a tour of central North Carolina Wineries.