Instead of focusing on advertising, Andrew Briggs lets the quality organic food served at Salt of the Earth speak for itself.
“We reach out to people through bread,” he says. “Our method is simple: use really amazing ingredients, prepare them correctly, and let our food do the work.”
The Blue Star Highway team recently paid a visit to Salt of the Earth, 114 East Main Street, Fennville, for a firsthand glimpse into the restaurant and a taste of what the chef had cooking.
Since Briggs opened the rustic American eatery and bakery in August 2009, Salt of the Earth has been West Michigan’s premiere restaurant destination for locally produced, farm fresh organic dining.
Salt of the Earth’s menu offers a diverse and wide variety of entrées to accommodate virtually any taste, including Great Lakes whitefish, local free-range chicken, grass-fed beef burgers, grilled hangar steak and wood-fired pizzas. A large portion of the menu items change regularly according to seasonally available ingredients and a current menu can be found on their website at SaltoftheEarthFennville.com.
In addition to their core menu, the Fresh Board menu augments the unique Salt of the Earth dining experience. The Fresh Board is updated daily and showcases local growers and producers. The goal is to create 100% farm-to-table entrées made with the ripest seasonal ingredients that are harvested from farms in the Fennville area.
After getting involved in local food and produce cooperatives, Briggs says he wanted to make a difference from the bottom up, and feel the effects on a local level. Briggs saw opening an organically sustainable restaurant as an opportunity to take action on this belief and, despite a lack of prior restaurant experience, he dove right in.
Although the restaurant is deeply rooted in organic and locally grown sustainable food, these ideals are presented to guests in a subtle, understated fashion and give way to the restaurant’s primary goals of offering great food and a quality dining experience.
“At first we had the idea to brand everything on our menu as ‘Michigan this, local that.’ But we didn’t want to come off as pretentious or preachy, as many well-intentioned efforts within the organic movement often do.
“We came to realize that guests mostly care about great food and a great dining experience, so we focus on providing those two things. Then when guests ask what makes our food taste so good, we are proud to tell them that we simply use local, fresh, never frozen, organic ingredients,” Briggs says.
Putting food to the test
For a restaurant with an aversion to traditional marketing techniques, Salt of the Earth has masterfully cultivated its ethos into a coherent branding experience. From the moment you walk through the door an earthy, ethereal atmosphere envelops your sensory subconscious. The smell of freshly baked bread, texture of exposed brick walls, wooden tables, and folkie music twanging in the background harmonize effortlessly to create a uniquely organic feel.
As for the food, my two favorite selections were both appetizers. The Roasted Raclette started with a slab of raclette cheese from Leelanau Cheese Company melted over a crispy slice of Texas toast, then garnished with a healthy heap of caramelized onions and finished with refreshing apple slices. So many complex textures and flavors presented in this simple dish leave the palate deliciously confused.
My other favorite selection is one not to miss sheerly based on its creativity. The Outrageous Chicken Wings are served in a large platter, arranged around a large scoop of pink ice-cream at the center of the platter. The ice-cream is actually a spicy raspberry ghost pepper sorbetto from Palazzolo’s Artesian Gelato & Sorbetto based in Saugatuck, Mich. I’m still not sure how they pulled it off, but somehow chicken with ice-cream works and you will have to take my word for it.
Better yet, take the advice of Andrew Briggs: stop in to Salt of the Earth, get a taste, and let the food speak for itself.
For more information visit www.SaltOfTheEarthFennville.com
