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| Press TEAM Academy tests new lunch program The Winter Table Epicurean Expedition Now chef-owned, these two are obviously putting Passion into their establishment Fuel For the Soul - Fermentations offers more than just a tasty meal You Pick the wine TEAM Academy tests new lunch program By RUTH ANN HAGER
WASECA — Chef Paul Paquette started preparing lunch at 8:45 a.m. Thursday at Fermentations, the Dundas restaurant he co-owns with Chef Joan Haley. For someone accustomed to cooking for the dinner crowd, it was early, he said. But that was just the beginning of a four-hour routine he began Monday. Before packing his car for the hour drive to deliver the lunch, Paquette baked flax seed rolls and prepared the pork and barbecue sauce for pulled pork sandwiches and made a pesto pasta and carrot salad. His destination was TEAM Academy Charter School in Waseca. Fermentations Wine Bar and Bistro has “built a reputation for an extensive wine list and excellent contemporary European cuisine,” according to its Web page. Now Paquette and Haley have entered the world of school lunches. At 10:50 a.m. Thursday, Paquette began carrying containers of the prepared lunch down the TEAM hall and in to Ruby Teague’s third grade classroom where he would serve lunch at 11 a.m. It was the fourth day in a 20-day experiment that ends May 13. Paquette said it had already been a long week but he was getting used to the new routine and they feel they are “doing a good thing.” Fermentations is preparing and serving lunch to 12 adults and 10 students each day. For $3.45 a meal, the chefs prepare and deliver meals to TEAM. A lunch at CIS costs $2.20, according to Waseca Public School Food Service Director Jason Forshee. Twenty days’ worth of menus from Fermentations include the pulled pork, calzones, manicotti, Chicken Alfredo, and chili with ground buffalo meat. Friday’s menu was grilled chicken breast, black beans, cheese, salsa and salad. Haley created the TEAM menus based on childhood memories of her own favorite food along with the choices of her niece and nephew who are “picky eaters,” said Paquette. And the salad greens, which are not the usual Iceberg lettuce, have a local connection, grown by Harold Weber at Midwest Salad Company in Waseca, said Paquette. Weber is one of the reasons Fermentations is involved in TEAM’s effort to bring healthy food to the Waseca charter school. “Harold is very convincing,” Paquette said. “But the end result is why we’re doing it. To get school programs to change their lunches, you have to sacrifice somewhere,” he said. “We’ve seen what school lunch programs have,” he said. “And from the comments we’ve heard this week, the students think the food is “pretty awesome.” Weber and his wife, Joan, a TEAM board member, are the school’s connection to Paquette and Haley and the other chefs who will prepare dinner for the school’s May 15 fund raiser. TEAM Director Jill Ladwig said the lunch arrangement with Fermentations is a trial run that ends just before the fund raiser and will help to promote the new kitchen the school needs. Next year, they hope to have the healthy lunches at their new facility, prepared in their own kitchen. “That’s our hope,” she said. “The kids really seem to like the food.” Board chair Michael Osweiler is coming for lunch at school as often as he can during the trial program. “They want to show what they could do cost wise and it’s a lot healthier,” he said. Next year’s lunch program will be a board decision and the school will get bids for fall as it did now. As staff and students came through the line, Paquette asked for feedback while filling plates with the salad and sandwiches. “What’s been your favorite so far?” or “How did you like the couscous yesterday?” Fifth grade teacher Matt Payne, quickly responded that Monday’s lasagna was his favorite. A student named Hunter said lunch has been “awesome.” He admitted he “wasn’t crazy about the couscous” but he loved the chicken. “When my kids see this food, they say, ‘that’s not fair - you get that food?’” said Teague. So by the fourth day of the project, the students were eating in classrooms, rather than taking their lunches to the cafeteria. “It’s a better meal and they’re trying something new,” Teague said. The teachers also agreed that their new facility next year will be a chance to be innovative more often. And when the whole school is eating the lunches, the price will come down for everyone, said Ladwig. Prior to the start of the lunch program, the students and staff were surveyed about how they feel after lunch. “Are they tired, can they focus? What did they observe of their students after lunch?” Ladwig said at the end of month, they will conduct new surveys and compare the two groups, those who ate the Fermentations’ meals and those who did not. Janel Schmidt, first grade teacher at TEAM, said she has noticed she already feels better in the afternoon. By 11:20 a.m., Paquette was gone again. He would return Friday with chicken quesadilla and a salad. [ top ] The Winter Table Asher Miller, 20.21
July 2007 With its refined and regularly changing menu—think duck breast one month, ostrich the next—its extensive offering of wine flights, and its unlikely location (Dundas’s population: 547), Fermentations is no longer much of a secret to local foodies. And though the intimate, laid-back bistro switched owners last year, with chefs Paul Paquette and Joan Haley buying the operation from original proprietor Ed Lundstrom—it remains among the state’s most unlikely, if welcome, outposts for ambitious and creative cooking. [ top ]
Now chef-owned, these two are obviously putting Passion into their establishment back to top
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236 Railway St. N., Dundas, Minnesota 55019 phone: 507-645-8345 |
Epicurean Expedition
To eat is to nourish the body, to dine is to nourish the soul. While the simple act of eating keeps our bodies fueled and able, the experience of dining with good friends or family keeps the soul able and fueled. With its knowledgeable staff and passionate owners, Fermentations Wine Bar and Bistro sets the perfect scene to enjoy good food with friends or family.
To encourage people to try new things, almost all of the wines are available by the glass or by flights. A flight consists of two-ounce glasses of three different types of wine. Haley said flights give customers a chance to try different wines without breaking the bank.