These local restaurants are using Lubbock produce because it's 'better than Fredericksburg'

Chefs from local restaurants like The Nicolett and La Sirena are on a mission to educate the public that more than cotton is grown in the South Plains.

To do so, they are teaming up with local farms like E3, Lavender Farm, Idalou Farm and many more to showcase local produce flavors and dishes unique to Lubbock.

Fin Walter is an expert on buying tomatoes, a task that's essential in his line of work. Being head chef and owner of The Nicolett, he won't shy away from telling you what's wrong with produce coming out of Napa Valley these days.

To be blunt, it's waterlogged, he said, which is why Walter is buying more produce sourced from Lubbock. You can find tasty herbs, greens, tomatoes and peaches. And Lubbock peaches, he says, are better than anything grown in Fredericksburg (yes, really).

"Not everything grows in these desert environments that are really harsh, but the things that do grow like herbs, greens, tomatoes — the peaches here in Lubbock are better than any Fredericksburg or any other peach I've ever tasted ever. I think what does survive the concentration of the flavor is just pretty out there," said Finn Walter, chef and owner of The Nicolett.

The flavors helped inspire Walter to have 80% of The Nicolett's menu sourced locally and in the West Texas region.

From produce to grains and meats, Walter said he works with local producers to get the freshest flavors to serve his guests. The only thing not locally sourced is the fish.

Walter said it has been a journey to get to his local source menu, but said he has another local chef to thank for connecting him to local producers — Jessica Fultz at Concina de La Sirena.

Pioneering the farm-to-table culture in Lubbock

Fultz is the chef who helped pioneer the farm-to-table culture here in Lubbock.

Having moved back to Lubbock from Austin, Fultz and her mother wanted to open a restaurant, with Fultz wanting to showcase local produce on her menu.

"I really wanted to do farm-to-table, but at that time, eight years ago, that was not here. It just wasn't a thing," Fultz said.

Fultz said she would go to local farmers' markets to look for produce and ended up meeting Ethan Carter, owner of E3 Farms, who was still a high school student back then, and Ashley Myers, owner of Quail Feather Farms.

With E3 and Quail Feather being the only local farms selling produce at the time, Fultz said her relationship with them flourished; however, Quail Feather has since stopped producing due to COVID-19.

Fultz prides herself on having a menu centered around what is growing in that season, with around 80% of the menu being from local farms at one point. However, there are things limiting her menu.

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"There's not a wide variety right now; everybody's still kind of growing the same thing," Fultz said. "I'd say I'm down to like 50% to 45%, and that kind of fluctuates."

Fultz also said COVID-19 hurt farmers, which in turn ended up hurting her business. However, Fultz said there is a steady rise in farmers' production and hopes to be back to 80% soon.

Another big factor that influences her menu is the weather, especially in the winter, which gives her a chance to be creative with the menu.

"I tried to do a lot of things that I've pickled or more of a rustic-y menu during the winter that's like more heavier grains and stuff that I can just kind of get my hands on, but it definitely is a challenge," Fultz said.

One of Fultz's cooking philosophies is never to let food go to waste. She said she tells her suppliers that she will buy vegetables even if they aren't "pretty" looking, joking that if a farmer shows up to her back door with bags full of produce, she will buy it and use it.

She noted a time when this did in fact happen. A local farmer pulled up with trash bags full of scapes — the green part that sprouts from garlic or leeks. The kitchen staff questioned what she was going to do with 60 pounds of scape. She had an idea — or several at least.

"I have fermented scapes. I have frozen scape butter compound. I have scape vinegar. There's so much scape paraphernalia in the kitchen," Fultz said.

Fostering relations between farmers and chefs

Before Walter and Fultz opened their restaurants, their paths had already crossed. They had both attended Lubbock High School. Years later, they are once again in the same classroom, but rather than learning, they are teaching Lubbock about local produce.

Fultz introduced Walter to Carter at E3 Farms when Walter was starting The Nicolett in 2020. At first, Walter said a majority of the produce on the menu came from Carter.

"So I'd say like year one, about 20% of our produce came from Lubbock area, and by now we're at about 80%," Walter said. "So it truly depends on the season, but we have one or two items on our menu, our pozole and our kale salad, that are on year-round."

At the end of the day, Walter said he chose to source locally because it's sustainable. Both Walter and Fultz agree that this relationship between the farmers and chefs is still in its infancy stage.

Even so, Fultz says that the relationship here is stronger than in other places where she has worked, and in part, it's thanks to LBK Grown, which helps connect farms and chefs.

"I've never lived and worked in a community where there's like a core chef group that are so tight," Fultz said. "But I think it is because we're just all trying so hard to make it work."

Creating a culinary experience

While both use local produce, each restaurant creates a unique culinary experience for its guests.

Chef Walter's The Nicolett is located in downtown Lubbock at 511 Broadway. It is influenced by West Texas with a New Mexican flair in a modern, upscale setting.

"What we're trying to do is represent all of the things I love about Texas and West Texas," Walter said. "Things that are rough around the edges, but there's an elegance."

To encapsulate this feeling, Walter sources his beef from Midland Meat Companies.

Some current dishes include a venison crepinette dish, fried mushrooms and wagyu beef belly. He also partnered with a local winery, McPherson, to create a special house wine blend only found at the restaurant.

Chef Fultz's La Sirena is located in the Cactus Alley — 2610 Salem Ave. — and caters to a more relaxed dining experience, with its name being chosen because it was something Fultz and her mother always liked: mermaids.

Fultz also said that she doesn't have a house wine blend because her niche is catering to those who enjoy tequila such as mezcal, and she has a vast selection of tequila to choose from.

Even though her menu changes frequently, her current selections include a farm green salad, a spicy tomato with Calabrian chilis gazpacho and backend Steelhead trout.

To learn more about either restaurant, visit www.nicolettrestaurant.com and lasirenacocina.com.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Lubbock restaurants using local produce for taste, sustainability