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A Michelin + National Park City Without a Saturday Market?
That's Shannon Mustipher.
Food as a verb thanks
for sponsoring this series
What a week.
Last Thursday, Chattanooga became North America's first National Park City.
The designation comes after months of work based on decades of larger work to transform the city into what it is today and can be tomorrow.
(Small world: Alex and I worked with Little Things Lab to create the Journeybook and hold the creative + application process together.)
The National Park City (NPC) award is more like a clearer mirror than anything actually tangible. Umm, so, what happens now? folks ask. It's a good question. Remember when Outside named us the best outdoor city? It's kinda like that. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest? We are, it seems.
How does it translate into practical, live-able, measurable benefits?
On Wednesday, the day before: the Michelin Guide announced it was coming to the Southeast.
Known globally for its high standard of excellence, the Michelin Guide has ignored the South ... until now. Tourism efforts linked by six Southern states and cities - including Tennessee + Chattanooga - partnered and ponied up with Michelin officials, who agreed to tour and launch a 2025 Southern Guide.
What Chattanooga restaurants will be named? Will any be awarded a star?
Anonymous Michelin inspectors are visiting cities; there's a good chance they've been here. Or ... dramatic pause ... they're here now.
On the day after the Michelin news, we spoke with two area chefs.
"It’s not just about us," said Chef Khaled AlBanna. "We are lifting up the city."
He said both announcements - Michelin and National Park City - factor together. As the chef-owner of Calliope - which will have serious Michelin consideration - AlBanna realizes, nightly, the relational aspect of this.
"We are working for Chattanooga," he said.
In other words: for us.
We bear a responsibility.
What will we do as citizens of a National Park City?
Or diners in a town with Michelin recognition?
We're the connecting glue. The missing link. You, me, all of us.
It's our responsibility to live up to both designations. Can we support and frequent restaurants - locally-owned, brave, top-shelf - that would earn a Michelin nod? Can we patronize locally-owned restaurants with clear intention to build wholesome community?
Do we choose a chain, corporate restaurant or a locally-owned one? Do we reach for the local craft beer? Do we visit our farmers' market?
Yes, our farmers' market. Let's talk about that.
Why doesn't Chattanooga - the first National Park City in North America, for Pete's sake - offer a Saturday green market?
Asheville does.
Knoxville does.
Nashville, Boulder and Marietta do.
"It's a travesty," said Chef Joe Milenkovic, "for people who are trying to be thoughtful about food."
For more than a year, Milenkovic - executive chef at Easy Bistro & Bar - has been calling attention to our lack of a Saturday market.
Yes, there's the Wednesday Main Street Farmers' Market. (Again: why don't more people - in the first National Park City in North America - attend?)
But in a city of our size and stature, it's a narrow window - from 4 to 6 pm - for many people.
"No one on planet Earth has one farmers' market on a Wednesday for two hours under the sun," he said.
Chefs can't make the Wed. afternoon market. Most working folks can't either. A Saturday market - say, 9 am to noon - allows a realistic chance for working chefs and working families to rub shoulders with working farmers while buying regional produce.
For the last 61 Wednesdays, since launching, we have published a list of farmers' markets. (See below.) It's our small attempt at building this local economy and community. Yes, Saturday markets exist - in Ringgold, Brainerd, Walker County - but not in the heart of our National Park City downtown.
"Tennessee is one of the most biodynamic places in the world," Milenkovic said.
Quietly, there are some groups and individuals working to remedy this, including Food as a Verb. (We know just the place, too.) But, with caution: if we build it, will National Park City residents come?
If the city of Chattanooga put in all this effort for a National Park City designation, why can't it also lead the effort for a Saturday market?
"It's embarrassing," said Milenkovic. "The bounty of Tennessee ... and you have nothing to show for it."
- Tickets are still available for our next Little Coyote/Food as a Verb speaker series event: "A Conversation and Toast with Shannon Mustipher."
Shannon's known globally as a spirits educator, cocktail creator and author of Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails. She's instrumental in a movement to elevate rum - she calls it our nation's original drink and the most diverse drink on Earth - with meaning, history and creative deliciousness.
Plus, she's tons of fun. Brilliant, engaging fun.
The April 17 event begins at 4.30 pm. Shannon and I will have a conversation from 5 to 5.40 pm, with four flights of rum cocktails being served. Then, Q + A with you.
In the background, Little Coyote will host a bar takeover of Privateer rum, featuring the drinks Shannon will discuss.
Purchase your ticket here.
- On Monday, April 14, TN Wild Ones hosts Learn to Harvest: Permaculture and Invasive Species Remediation.
Our friend Nathaniel Bankhead - who is so brilliantly good at this - leads a presentation on permaculture and invasive species management.
"This talk is an invitation to a more thoughtful and energy-conscious approach to invasive plant remediation and native plant restoration, because harvesting is more skillful than killing," the event states.
Nathaniel's the owner of Wild Violet Permaculture.
He's worked with nonprofits, private land-and-homeowners, the city of Chattanooga and others. He's taught me more than he realizes, including how to transform part of our yard - from grass needing mowing to land that produces food - in thoughtful, paradigm-shifting ways.
Tickets and more info can be found here.
- Creekside Flower Farm's Spring Plant Festival begins at 10 am on Saturday, April 12.
Morgan Sharpe's north Georgia flower farm is a thing of beauty, we hear. For more info, visit here.
- Finally, we're preparing one of our most original stories for you on Sunday. Here's a teaser.
Have a great week, everyone.
Story ideas, questions, feedback? Interested in partnering with us? Email: david@foodasaverb.com
This story is 100% human generated; no AI chatbot was used in the creation of this content.
food as a verb thanks our sustaining partner:
food as a verb thanks our story sponsor:
Divine Goods
Beautifully Curated Gifts for All
What a week.
Last Thursday, Chattanooga became North America's first National Park City.
The designation comes after months of work based on decades of larger work to transform the city into what it is today and can be tomorrow.
(Small world: Alex and I worked with Little Things Lab to create the Journeybook and hold the creative + application process together.)
The National Park City (NPC) award is more like a clearer mirror than anything actually tangible. Umm, so, what happens now? folks ask. It's a good question. Remember when Outside named us the best outdoor city? It's kinda like that. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest? We are, it seems.
How does it translate into practical, live-able, measurable benefits?
On Wednesday, the day before: the Michelin Guide announced it was coming to the Southeast.
Known globally for its high standard of excellence, the Michelin Guide has ignored the South ... until now. Tourism efforts linked by six Southern states and cities - including Tennessee + Chattanooga - partnered and ponied up with Michelin officials, who agreed to tour and launch a 2025 Southern Guide.
What Chattanooga restaurants will be named? Will any be awarded a star?
Anonymous Michelin inspectors are visiting cities; there's a good chance they've been here. Or ... dramatic pause ... they're here now.
On the day after the Michelin news, we spoke with two area chefs.
"It’s not just about us," said Chef Khaled AlBanna. "We are lifting up the city."
He said both announcements - Michelin and National Park City - factor together. As the chef-owner of Calliope - which will have serious Michelin consideration - AlBanna realizes, nightly, the relational aspect of this.
"We are working for Chattanooga," he said.
In other words: for us.
We bear a responsibility.
What will we do as citizens of a National Park City?
Or diners in a town with Michelin recognition?
We're the connecting glue. The missing link. You, me, all of us.
It's our responsibility to live up to both designations. Can we support and frequent restaurants - locally-owned, brave, top-shelf - that would earn a Michelin nod? Can we patronize locally-owned restaurants with clear intention to build wholesome community?
Do we choose a chain, corporate restaurant or a locally-owned one? Do we reach for the local craft beer? Do we visit our farmers' market?
Yes, our farmers' market. Let's talk about that.
Why doesn't Chattanooga - the first National Park City in North America, for Pete's sake - offer a Saturday green market?
Asheville does.
Knoxville does.
Nashville, Boulder and Marietta do.
"It's a travesty," said Chef Joe Milenkovic, "for people who are trying to be thoughtful about food."
For more than a year, Milenkovic - executive chef at Easy Bistro & Bar - has been calling attention to our lack of a Saturday market.
Yes, there's the Wednesday Main Street Farmers' Market. (Again: why don't more people - in the first National Park City in North America - attend?)
But in a city of our size and stature, it's a narrow window - from 4 to 6 pm - for many people.
"No one on planet Earth has one farmers' market on a Wednesday for two hours under the sun," he said.
Chefs can't make the Wed. afternoon market. Most working folks can't either. A Saturday market - say, 9 am to noon - allows a realistic chance for working chefs and working families to rub shoulders with working farmers while buying regional produce.
For the last 61 Wednesdays, since launching, we have published a list of farmers' markets. (See below.) It's our small attempt at building this local economy and community. Yes, Saturday markets exist - in Ringgold, Brainerd, Walker County - but not in the heart of our National Park City downtown.
"Tennessee is one of the most biodynamic places in the world," Milenkovic said.
Quietly, there are some groups and individuals working to remedy this, including Food as a Verb. (We know just the place, too.) But, with caution: if we build it, will National Park City residents come?
If the city of Chattanooga put in all this effort for a National Park City designation, why can't it also lead the effort for a Saturday market?
"It's embarrassing," said Milenkovic. "The bounty of Tennessee ... and you have nothing to show for it."
- Tickets are still available for our next Little Coyote/Food as a Verb speaker series event: "A Conversation and Toast with Shannon Mustipher."
Shannon's known globally as a spirits educator, cocktail creator and author of Tiki: Modern Tropical Cocktails. She's instrumental in a movement to elevate rum - she calls it our nation's original drink and the most diverse drink on Earth - with meaning, history and creative deliciousness.
Plus, she's tons of fun. Brilliant, engaging fun.
The April 17 event begins at 4.30 pm. Shannon and I will have a conversation from 5 to 5.40 pm, with four flights of rum cocktails being served. Then, Q + A with you.
In the background, Little Coyote will host a bar takeover of Privateer rum, featuring the drinks Shannon will discuss.
Purchase your ticket here.
- On Monday, April 14, TN Wild Ones hosts Learn to Harvest: Permaculture and Invasive Species Remediation.
Our friend Nathaniel Bankhead - who is so brilliantly good at this - leads a presentation on permaculture and invasive species management.
"This talk is an invitation to a more thoughtful and energy-conscious approach to invasive plant remediation and native plant restoration, because harvesting is more skillful than killing," the event states.
Nathaniel's the owner of Wild Violet Permaculture.
He's worked with nonprofits, private land-and-homeowners, the city of Chattanooga and others. He's taught me more than he realizes, including how to transform part of our yard - from grass needing mowing to land that produces food - in thoughtful, paradigm-shifting ways.
Tickets and more info can be found here.
- Creekside Flower Farm's Spring Plant Festival begins at 10 am on Saturday, April 12.
Morgan Sharpe's north Georgia flower farm is a thing of beauty, we hear. For more info, visit here.
- Finally, we're preparing one of our most original stories for you on Sunday. Here's a teaser.
Have a great week, everyone.
Story ideas, questions, feedback? Interested in partnering with us? Email: david@foodasaverb.com
This story is 100% human generated; no AI chatbot was used in the creation of this content.
Food as a verb thanks our story sponsor:
Food as a Verb Thanks our sustaining partner:
Beautifully Curated Gifts for All
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