By Joanne Camas

updated 2:50 p.m. ET May 22, 2008

After years of importing ingredients from all over the world, chefs are going back to basics and staying local. The goal is to limit the human impact on the environment; less flying, driving, and fuel consumption (all of which leaves a smaller "eco-footprint"). Farm-fresh fare is also packed with nutrients, doesn't have to be sprayed with chemicals to protect it for the long haul to the restaurant, and just plain tastes good. Everybody wins, from farmer to chef to diner.

Thinking globally and sourcing locally is not just politically correct, it's also personally rewarding for the farmer. Cynthia Sandberg, the owner of Love Apple Farm, near Santa Cruz, California, supplies the fruit and vegetables for Los Gatos's Manresa restaurant. "It's a very special feeling to see something on a plate prepared by a world-famous chef and be able to recognize the exact vegetable that I picked for him earlier that day," she says.

Sourcing products from local purveyors is not exactly new, of course: Chefs like Alice Waters (Chez Panisse), Peter Hoffman (Savoy), and Dan Barber (Blue Hill) were all pioneers in the locavore movement. But the phenomenon is finally national in scope and impact. Here follows a selection of some of the lesser-known and more interesting farm-to-table restaurants around the country, all of which promote locally grown or raised animals, vegetables, herbs, and fruit.

A.R. Valentien
When you sit down to A.R. Valentien's Artisan Table dinner, you'll understand why executive chef Jeff Jackson buys most of his ingredients from nearby small farms or specialty food purveyors. The meal is served in a casual setting, with 10 to 16 people at a communal table, and the menu changes every week as the best local producers supply their seasonal foodstuffs.

"I get fresh produce for the menu from the Santa Monica farmers' market," Jackson says. "It's one of the most amazing markets in the country." Jackson shops there on Wednesday, and by Thursday morning, he has taken delivery of the ingredients for that night's dinner. Local clams and scallops from Baja are on the Artisan Table menu when available, along with half-hog porchetta seasoned with garlic and chiles. Chef Jackson is also filling his regular menu with juicy local strawberries (served with shortcake and also in a frozen soufflé), baby artichokes, fresh halibut, and tender early fava beans. All the dishes are paired, naturally, with California wines. (The Lodge at Torrey Pines, 11480 N. Torrey Pines Rd., La Jolla, CA; 858-777-6635)

Manresa
Cynthia Sandberg of Love Apple Farm in Ben Lomond, California, says the support of local restaurant Manresa is crucial to her business's survival. But it's a symbiotic relationship. "Most farms limit themselves to just a few different things to grow," she explains. "I've got to juggle a hundred more than that. It's a challenge for [chef David Kinch], too, as he is constantly changing his menu to accommodate what is coming out of the garden."

Sandberg sells all her vegetables to Manresa; she even filled in her swimming pool to create extra growing space. "The trip from the seed to the table in some cases is a long one. A celeriac or tomato seed I sow in the greenhouse in February won't be served until October, after months of exacting care," she explains. "What's great is that the chef knows all those things: He's seen that seed back in February, he's observed the sprouts coming out of the ground, he's watched as I tended it, he's admired it as I pulled it from the soil, and finally he gets his hands on it. Then he puts the finishing touches on a whole project that he and I know has taken eight or nine months .… Most people will briefly look at it and pop it in their mouth without a second thought."

Perhaps the most stunning edible example of the grower/chef partnership here is a dish titled "Into the Vegetable Garden," which includes the leaf, root, flower, and shoot of some 30 vegetables and herbs. It's served with "edible dirt" 'made from potato, parsnip, and roasted chicory root. (320 Village Lane, Los Gatos, CA; 408-354-4330)

Montagna at the Little Nell
Chef Ryan Hardy is a master cheesemaker as well as a chef, and when he moved to the Rockies he was delighted to find great suppliers. "This part of the country is just unbelievably rich in great raw ingredients," he says. "We are working with several local farmers and purveyors, including one local [source] I met with to procure goat's milk for my cheese."

Hardy took things a step further last year when he purchased a family farm with his business partner. They renamed it Rendezvous Farm, and now that's the source for the restaurant's pork, lamb, chicken, and eggs. Beef comes from local grass-fed cattle, and the organic bacon from Niman Ranch.

The meat is spotlighted throughout the menu, as in the fresh rigatoni and Rendezvous Farm lamb sausage. Other local choices include homemade goat cheese and farm green salad, or seared sea scallops with farm potatoes, apples, celery, and warm orange vinaigrette. (675 E. Durant Ave., Aspen, CO; 970-920-4600)

Woodfire Grill
Chef Michael Tuohy has long been a supporter of organic growing, and helped launch Georgia's Organics, a nonprofit group that promotes healthy, local, sustainable food in the diet of people across the state. While he uses local produce to create dishes, his cooking shows North Californian influences, hinting at his San Francisco roots.

His commitment to adapting his menu with the seasons is clear: The day's fresh, local ingredients take center stage on the homepage. And even the decor has a local theme: Tuohy asked Atlanta-based craftsman Tracy Hartley to make some of the tables and wood paneling for the Grill.

In many cases, the menu pays homage to the farms that provided the fare: There's a Wood-Oven-Roasted Bramlett Farm Trout with Anson Mills Grits, Steel-Pan Greens, and Herb Butter; and a Chilled French White Asparagus with Sauce Gribiche (an aïoli sauce with chopped herbs, capers, lemon juice, and spices) and Ashland Farm Micro Celery. (1782 Cheshire Bridge Rd., Atlanta, GA; 404-347-9055)

North Pond
Chef Bruce Sherman can sound preachy but ultimately he believes farm-to-table dishes just taste better than others. "By the nature of the relationship and the quality of the products supplied, the flavor of every dish is dramatically improved," he maintains. "And philosophically, my involvement and partnerships make a more direct and meaningful impact on the local community and economy, and allow me to connect more personally with the food we serve." Put simply: People are much more interested in understanding where their food comes from.

Sherman supports local farmers and artisans by using recently harvested products and highlighting the special character of those ingredients. "We choose preparations and pairings meant to accentuate their unparalleled flavor," he says.

Recent sample entrées include cream mushroom-stuffed maple crêpes, Parmesan flan, royal trumpet mushrooms, shaved vegetables, and pecans; and grass-fed rib eye à la plancha, crisp artisanal polenta sticks, glazed radishes, garlic parsley coulis, and red wine glace. (2610 N. Cannon Dr., Chicago, IL; 773-477-5845)

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