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Business & Tech

Q&A: Albany Garden to Table Starts at Cafeina

Albany's Cafeina Organic Cafe is serving as the pilot restaurant for a new edible initiative in Albany.

Albany Patch sat down with Maria Myers, co-owner along with husband Jason Myers, of , the first restaurant in the city to participate in , a recently-unveiled program that aims to team edible growers and restaurateurs.

Q: Cafeina is the first restaurant to receive produce from Albany gardeners under this edible initiative. Why did you decide to join?

A: It was a no-brainer for me. What this café is about is a community feeling and organic food. I already get a lot of my vegetables from farms and the . I’m not perfect, but I try to improve the business by doings things like carrying fair trade organic coffees and teas only, and using compostable to-go ware. I really embrace that, and I think it’s a good thing to put out in the world. When came to me, I thought, “Here’s a person who wants to put it out there and wants to make it happen, and it starts small.” That’s how things start, and that’s how my restaurant started, little by little.

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Q: I know the program is , but what kinds of organic fruits and vegetables have you received, and how have you used them at Cafeina?

A: We got some beautiful peas that went into a garden salad and a garden soup. We got some blackberries, and some nice greens that I sautéed and put in a quiche.

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Q: When and how do you receive produce?

A: Doug delivers it on Friday morning.

Q: Have you had direct contact with growers?  If so, what has that been like?

A: They’re my kind of people. Their gardens are lovely and I know they care and want to provide some of what they grow to me. It was also important for me to see the gardens so I’d know what to expect. Here they are giving me things every week, and Doug asked for a gift certificate for the best growers as part of the program, and that’s great, but I want to give something back. I thought about it, and I have something very simple I could offer — worms and worm castings from the restaurant’s composted food. This can be put back into their gardens and it would be a really nice circle.

Q: Has the program been beneficial to you?

A: It makes me feel good as a business person to rely as much on the goodness of the people who come in here, and want to be supportive, as it does to give back that lovely, beautiful food in somebody’s salad.

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