Building Flavor Grassfed beef shank and grits cooking Demo
Jack Kaestner currently teaches sustainability and Cuisine restaurant, which is the culinary capstone class – in the two-year culinary arts program at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
Before teaching, he was the Executive Chef at Oconomowoc Lake Club for 20 years. His education includes a culinary degree from the Culinary Institute of America (Hyde Park, New York) and a BS in Food Science/Food Service Administration from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, including additional meat and animal science studies. He was a founding board member of the Slow Food Wisconsin SE.
Chef Jack believes buying local food not only gives you fresher, tastier, and unique fare; it provides a face to the grower and a sense of place where it was grown. He feels the importance of the food served is not just the final product or the fresh local food but the relationship that develops with his clientele and farmers. This relationship changes food from a homogenized commodity to something of value.
~~~
We are rediscovering flavor from the ground up!
Restorative agriculture and the movement to make it happen is
Grassland ag. 2022 Summer Meeting
New Grassfed Consumers Guide/June 2022
Agri-View July 2022 Biodiversity, resilience critical for future of Agriculture
Jack also participated in a 3-year SARE Sustainable Agriculture, Research, and Education project:
Summary – Working with Farmers, Dairy Processors, and Chefs to Build a Market for Grass-Fed Milk
Local food – chef consultant for the SARE (Sustainable Agriculture, Research and Education) National Conference helped develop three days of menus for 600 attendees that utilized 90% locally sourced food. Also, the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters.
Jack first encountered buying directly from farmers in 1983 while working at Chez Michel in Madison, where they featured on-premise herb gardens and local produce from area farms. From these simple roots grew a lifelong passion for supporting sustainable local agriculture and promoting it within the community.