NIBBLES: Chef Sigi goes table-to-farm;
20.05.12
After 20 years as top toque at The Broadmoor, the upscale historic resort in Colorado Springs, chef Siegfried “Sigi” Eisenberger is retiring April 20 from a culinary realm that included 18 restaurants, cafés and lounges plus catering and a cooking program attracting 200 culinary students at a time. However, he won’t be straying far from the kitchen. His new business will be growing vegetables and herbs for clients including the Broadmoor which has been in the forefront of the farm-to-table movement spotlighting Colorado foods.
When I interviewed chef Sigi several years ago at The Broadmoor, he was already headed in a green direction. “We used to buy a lot of Chilean sea bass. No more now, since it’s overfished,” Chef Sigi said. “We also use a lot more local, organic produce – we have farmers who grow specifically for us – things like fresh garlic shoots and sorrel.”
Eisenberger also talked about how guests’ tastes changed during his tenure. “People are much more well-traveled now and sophisticated and their expectations are much higher,” he told me, noting the rise of “eatertainment” at banquets. “They like to have action stations: meat carving, making desserts, Cobb salads or quesadillas to order, or trout on a grill,” he said.
Source: The Aurora Sentinel