July 4, 2011 by Mark H. Anbinder
The Finger Lakes region, from Ithaca's eateries to the bistros sprinkled around the lakeside wine trails, has become a bit of a locavore Mecca over the last several years. We marvel in it, we delight in it, and here at 14850 Dining and 14850 Magazine we write and talk incessantly about it, but what we rarely take a moment to do is remember how much of it we owe to one woman -- Debra Whiting, of Red Newt Bistro. Deb was killed in a car accident on Thursday night as she and her husband, Dave, returned from a vacation in Vermont.
Debra Whiting of Red Newt Bistro."Before locavore was a word or a movement, Deb Whiting was practicing it intuitively," wrote Evan Dawson of the New York Cork Report in his feature naming Red Newt Bistro the Finger Lakes Restaurant of the Year for 2010 in December. Writing this weekend about her death, Dawson quoted her as saying, "People understand that local food is often better food, and it's better for them, and it's clearly better for the local economy. There's too much going for the local food movement to see it fade away. It's here, and it's only going to get stronger."
Since the bistro opened in 1999, Deb made a point not only of using local and regional produce and meats, but telling customers where they came from. Delighted diners quickly learned they could pop up to Autumn Harvest for the same meat they'd just enjoyed, visit Stick and Stone for their fresh vegetables, or look for Lively Run's excellent cheeses. The result was a burgeoning demand for a farm-to-table ethos, and an understanding of how to use seasonal foods rather than bring out-of-season items from hundreds or thousands of miles away, that has taken hold in Central New York more strongly than almost anywhere else.
At the same time, in a bistro attached to a winery with its own broad offering, no one would have faulted them, or even thought twice about it, had the bistro exclusively poured Red Newt wines. Instead, though, Deb made a point of featuring wines from "competing" wineries, suggesting wines that paired particularly well with a diner's meal, or lining them up alongside her family's own offerings for multi-course tasting menus.
Dessert at last November's Red Newt Culinary Bounty dinner at Taverna Banfi.That was no less true during last fall's third-annual Red Newt dinner at Taverna Banfi at Cornell University's Statler Hotel. The evening's remarkable menu was a collaboration between Deb and Cornell School of Hotel Administration students. In addition to local venison and lots more seasonal and local foods, the dessert course was paired with apple cider spiked with Finger Lakes Distilling's Maplejack liqueur.
Throughout the day Friday, the region erupted with expressions of disbelief, shock, sadness, and a determination to remember and pass along Deb's legacy. We were relieved as reports of Dave's hospitalization following the accident turned from "critical condition" to "stable" to the news that he'd been discharged and was with family.
Red Newt Cellars Riesling.Red Newt's wines flew off area shelves all weekend as those who couldn't make it to the winery or bistro to pay their respects in person sought to drink to Deb's memory. Dewi Rainey, owner of Red Feet Wine Market across from the Ithaca Farmers Market, told us, "We are all still grieving to lose someone as sweet as Deb in the prime of her life, and just as she had gained such momentum for local food, her bistro and the winery. She and Dave had not just 'arrived,' they had 'orchestrated' the progress of the region, and it was her time to savor those successes."
For those who can make it to the winery, Red Newt is hosting "a celebration of Debra's life" from 6-8pm on Tuesday evening. The winery and bistro will be closed on Tuesday, but Dave and the couple's sons, Ryan and Brenton, invite "all family and friends" that evening. Attendees are welcome to bring finger foods, fruit, or desserts that won't need kitchen facilities. The family has also said that in lieu of flowers, they suggest donations to the Food Bank of the Southern Tier or the Hector Presbyterian Church.
After that? We'll keep looking for local produce and meats on restaurant menus in and around Ithaca. We'll keep telling you in 14850 Dining's reviews when an eatery does a great job featuring local foods. And we'll keep toasting Deb with every bite.
