Rural Missouri - November 2017 - 16

| EATS
RM | EATS

The Geisert Pork Chop is a regular Saturday-night feature at the cafe in Farm To You Market. The restaurant utilizes products from the 90 partner-producers who sell their goods at the market.

FARM TO YOU MARKET
Quality from the farm

by Paul Newton | pnewton@ruralmissouri.coop

hen Katie Geisert is low on an ingredient for
a dish in her rural restaurant, she's not anxious about running out. The farm wife knows
she doesn't have to travel far to get her supply
replenished. In fact, her food supplier is closer to her
kitchen than her customers.
Katie and Todd Geisert are the proprietors of
Farm To You Market. The rural Washington grocery
store is stocked with goods from local partnerproducers - including themselves - as well as a
full-service restaurant featuring delicious farm-totable breakfast, lunch and dinner options using

ingredients from the store. Opened in April 2016,
the market and cafe are located just one-half mile
from the Geisert family's century-old farm where
they raise all-natural pork and produce.
The market - which fuels the cafe - focuses on
local products. With the exception of items like sugar, spices and baking powder, all the products sold
at the market come from about 90 different partnerproducers within a 300-mile radius of the Franklin
County farm.
"We found that Missouri in general is an incredible producer of great food products," Katie says. "We
get farm-raised tilapia, duck, rabbit, goat and even
Missouri-raised Kobe beef."

Staple items bought in bulk such as ﬂour and
oil are sourced elsewhere. However, everything else
served at the restaurant is from the store.
"Consumers are looking for products they know
are safe," Katie says. "We're able to share the story
of the product with them. We can tell them that a
certain steer was raised by this family in Paciﬁc or
Gerald or Mathasville. The steer has a story and the
proﬁt margin from it pays for kids to go to school,
dance lessons, soccer and music, not some corporate farm."
The cafe - which seats 45 just off the shopping
ﬂoor - uses those local ingredients to create mouthwatering meals sure to have you coming back.
Culinary manager Bailey Kirkland says she uses
the market as an inspiration when she's working on
the specials or other menu items. "I tend to walk
around the store and see what we have. What's new?
Or maybe ﬁnd something we haven't used before for
a special."
Come in the morning and you will be treated to
some down-home breakfast favorites. Bacon, eggs,
ham and pancakes entice your early morning appetite. Looking for a spin on your regular omelet? Try
their three-egg - your choice of chicken or duck
eggs - omelet with local bacon, cheese and seasonal veggies.
The most comforting breakfast dish may be
the biscuits and gravy. The homemade gravy uses
Geisert sausage raised a few thousand feet from the
store. The sausage gets the slightest kick from St.
Louis' Billy Goat Chip Company's seasoning. The
biscuits are made from scratch with local butter and
hand-kneaded. They're cooked before being split
The Farmer RueBEN is a lunch favorite at Farm To You Market
and is named after the owner's son Ben Geisert.

RURAL MISSOURI | NOVEMBER 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - November 2017