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Hoof & Horn in Downtown Potsdam

In December, the Local Foods team visited the newest food business in downtown Potsdam, the Hoof & Horn Butcher and Eatery. The LaClair family, with roots in Hermon and Saranac Lake, returned to northern New York eager to contribute to the local food scene. With experience as a chef and culinary instructor, Jonathan LaClair has the passion and skills to open up a farm-to-table whole animal butchery and eatery.   Jon shares, “The big thing with us is that we are trying to utilize every part of an animal that we can.”

Charcuterie boards are available to order for any event. All of the cheeses and cured meats are sourced from New York State.

What will you find at Hoof and Horn?  “We have our display case with all our raw cuts in it. We try to have some staples like New York strips and ribeyes when possible. But you will find some different cuts like the picanhas, sirloin steaks. We do a lot of beef tips and several different kinds of house-made sausages.” Think sausage flavors like maple brown sugar and chimichurri lamb.

Come take a seat and stay for lunch.

In addition, they offer eat-in or to-go lunches, such as warming ramen bowls and delicious lamb shoulder tacos. You can find other menu items like house-made chorizo sausage dressed with kimchi and garlic soy aioli. 

Jon cooks up some of his homegrown purple potatoes.

LaClair, doesn’t stop there. It seems the longer Hoof & Horn is open, the more options become available to diners. With an indulgent brunch menu on Sundays featuring a variety of benedicts (crab, veggie and beef tenderloin).  He says for brunch menus they are “trying to stay as hyper-local as we can and really celebrate the farms of the area.” Read more Hoof & Horn in Downtown Potsdam

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GardenShare’s First Ever Restaurant Week

Dine-in, Take Out, Restaurant Week in St. Lawrence County.

Join us in making GardenShare’s first-ever restaurant week, a success. During the week of October 16th to 23rd visit area eateries. In doing so you will support GardenShare’s food access and local food programs and support restaurants around our region. We sat down with Celine Carriere, Management Consultant at GardenShare to learn more about what the week entails! 

List of Participating Restaurants and Stores: 

Big Spoon Kitchen, Potsdam, Cascade, Canton, Flying Lotus Yoga Center & Juice Bar, Canton, Foster the Plant Cafe, Potsdam, Jake’s On The Water, Hannawa Falls, Jernabi Coffeehouse, Potsdam, Josie’s Little Pizzeria, Canton, Nature’s Storehouse, Canton, Potsdam Food Co-op, Potsdam, The Blue House, Madrid, The Red Pine Cone, South Colton, and the Village Diner, Potsdam

Q: What can I get at participating restaurants during the week that I can’t get at other times? 

Celine: Many of the participating restaurants are already using local ingredients but they will be highlighting that on their menus. I am also excited to say Jake’s on the Water is developing a specific local foods menu for restaurant week. This week provides an opportunity to celebrate local foods and our area restaurants and participating businesses. We are looking forward to having our community celebrate the local food opportunities that exist and getting supporters to join in and eat some delicious foods. 

Restaurant week is an opportunity to support GardenShare, and its local food and access programs. Restaurants and stores participating in the week have made a contribution to GardenShare affirming their support in our programming. Diners can support not only by dining at participating establishments but also by donating funds when they pay for their local meals. 

Local tomatoes at Foster the Plant Cafe in Potsdam

Q: Who is participating? Just restaurants?  Read more GardenShare’s First Ever Restaurant Week

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Fruition Livestream: Summer Recap

In the past three months, those tuning into the Fruition Local Foods Livestream have gotten a significant taste of the north county’s food scene. This series gives viewers a chance to really get to know the people behind the businesses. Interviewees shared how and why they grow, cook, and sell the food and products that they do. Viewers have the chance to win prizes that are generously donated by the farmers and chefs on the program. Past viewers have walked away with a Thanksgiving Turkey, gift certificates, and fresh local honey, just to name a few. Celebrate the growers and makers in our community and tune in for the next showcase this Wednesday, August 18th from 7 to 8 pm.

Each month features three unique farmers or food entrepreneurs. Here are some of the tidbits we’ve enjoyed so far from each month. 

May Showcase 

During the first-ever local foods showcase the Livestream provided some insight into the culinary magic that is happening at Big Spoon Kitchen in Potsdam. Owner and chef Will Trithart shared how meals rotate weekly based on seasonally available items. 

Eight O’Clock Ranch has continued to provide their customers near and far, with a range of delicious and healthy meats. We heard from owner Kassandra about how their business model started off nearly 20 years ago with sales mainly by mail but has since shifted in the past few years to predominantly local sales. Read more Fruition Livestream: Summer Recap