Hannah's Off the Square, 100-mile Meal, April 20, 2010

MILES TO GO BEFORE WE EAT

By Ellen "EJ" Sackett
Originally published in the Denton Record-Chronicle, DentonTime, April 15, 2010

Nine summers ago, Sheena Croft arrived in Denton with nothing but her cat, her car and a small overnight bag. Excited to start a new life in Texas, her boyfriend — now husband — was about to begin graduate studies in art at the University of North Texas, while Croft, a trained chef, planned to travel around Texas to learn about its cuisine. They packed all of their belongings in a huge Ryder truck and drove in tandem from southern Georgia, stopping to spend the night in New Orleans. The next morning, they woke up to find their truck gone.

They did, however, have an apartment ready and waiting. The property management company provided them with towels and tooth- brushes. Croft’s aunt sent a care package of clothes and helped them with immediate expenses. But the stress of starting over in a new place took its toll. At a shopping excursion at Sears, the couple had a minor melt- down. It got the attention of a clerk, who called in the store manager, who listened to their story and offered them a line of credit at zero percent interest. The Sears manager also handed Croft a section of the Denton Record-Chronicle with an article about a new “Tex-French” restaurant that was opening in two weeks, called “Hannah’s Off the Square.”

“I put on clothes from my aunt and drove to Hannah’s,” Croft said.

She was determined to convince the then-owner, Eric Hill, that she was the perfect person to be chef. Unfortunately, he already had hired someone else, but Croft didn’t give up.

She told him: “I know this cuisine. I know your customer base. I worked at a restaurant just like this for three years. Let me create a menu.” 

Almost a decade later, Croft is still creating menus as the restaurant’s executive chef, never leaving her Southern roots far behind. “We didn’t have fast food,” said Croft, referring to her years growing up in southern Georgia and northern Florida. Instead, her family ate what was readily available to them. “My chicken was shark tail, alligator, snapping turtle — they were all mystery white meats,” Croft said. “We’d get mussels from the river, go down to the creek and get crawfish, go deep-sea fishing where the Suwannee River enters the Gulf of Mexico. We were down there every other weekend, bring back whatever, fishing in the river behind our house, getting mullet, smoking the mullet, gathering hickory nuts for the fire, drying sassafras leaves from the tree in the backyard for gumbo filé.” Even now when Croft goes home for Christmas, she can count on being served either quail or squirrel. “My mom gets her .22 out and goes into the front yard,” she said.

Croft became particularly mindful of using fresh, local ingredients a few years ago when she read the book Plenty: Eating Locally on the 100-Mile Diet, by Alisa Smith and J.B. Mackinnon. The book inspired her to create a meal served family-style for Hannah’s patrons using only ingredients found within a 100-mile radius of Denton — all the way down to the salt. The 100-mile meal has now grown into a biannual event. Previous such meals were held in the fall, when fresh, local produce is abun- dant. However, Hannah’s upcoming 100-mile meal is the first to be held during the spring. “There’s not as much in the spring as in the fall,” Croft said. She called it “a challenge. I just want to see if I can do it.”

The 100-mile-diet concept is related to the Slow Food movement, whose focus, in part, is reducing the environmental impact of how food is brought from farm to table.

“It’s also the way of preparing food — the idea of things being cooked simply within their season, as fresh as possible,” Croft said. The dishes served Tuesday night will be based on what produce is available “right then,” Croft said. “The food really does dictate the recipes.” The menu will include soup; simple salads; sauteed greens; roasted and braised meats including beef, pork and chicken; egg dishes; and fresh strawberries and whipped cream for dessert. The meal will be accompanied by local wines selected by wine steward Jason Lastovica.

“My large food vendors have contracts with local farmers. I can order through my regular supply,” Croft said. She will also get some specialty items from small farms “at the last second.” She’ll use herbs grown in her own garden, a stash from her larder of canned goods and red wine vinegar from other seasons and 100-mile meals past, and produce from local growers through the Denton Community Market and The Cupboard Natural Foods. In addition, she has been promised amaranth (Chinese spinach) from the community garden at Bowling Green Park. “I have a plot there,” Croft said. “I put in tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, chili peppers, all kinds of stuff. I’m really excited to be able to get some things from there for the next [100-mile meal] in the fall.

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Hannah's Off the Square

111 W. Mulberry, Denton, TX

940-566-1110

100-mile-meal

April 20, 2010

Reservations required. Limited Seating. $75 per person.