Smokin' Saturday Goes Local: Gleason Ranch Partners with BBQ Smokehouse Bistro
GoLocal partnership helps get local products into local restaurants
March 3, 2011
Sebastopol chef and restaurateur Larry Vito joined the Sonoma County GoLocal cooperative because he was sure it would benefit the community... somehow. "I support spending locally so it sounded like a good idea," said Vito, "but the details were a little vague." Just weeks later, he gets it.
"The first meeting was a revelation," Vito reports, "GoLocal is about making connections locally. Getting local products into local restaurants. It makes sense for a restaurant. Locally sourced foods are fresher and less trucking is good for the environment."
In that spirit, Vito contacted fellow GoLocal member Gleason Ranch and proposed a partnership. The Prebilich family raises grass-fed beef, lamb, pork, and poultry served in some of San Francisco's finest restaurants. Vito's catering business had been a client for years.
Vito said, "It's hormone-free, no antibiotics, grass-fed. Gleason meats are the best you can get. The thing is, I'd have to charge more than the people in our neighborhood can really afford. This isn't San Francisco."
By the time the two GoLocal members were done discussing the impact of their business decisions on the local community, they had decided to work together to bring Gleason's conscientiously raised meats to local diners at a more affordable price. The first Gleason Ranch offering will be a whole hog on March 12 at the BBQ Smokehouse Bistro Smokin' Saturday Adventure BBQ.
The quirky Sebastopol restaurant launched its Smokin' Saturday Adventure BBQ in February with the barbecued goat that brought home a Sonoma County Harvest Fair Gold award in 2010. Starting with the Whole Hog in March, adventurous gourmands can enjoy Gleason Ranch meats, slow-smoked to perfection and paired with a local wine every second Saturday of the month.
Drawing on decades of wine and food pairing experience, Vito will offer Sebastopol's own 2006 Balletto Zinfandel, an Estate-bottled wine with aromas of juicy red berries, mulberries, black pepper and cream. Bright fruit flavors of pomegranates, red berries and a hint of coffee and chocolate. This is a mature zinfandel at the height of its perfection.
Vito's catering clients have enjoyed Larry's Gleason Ranch whole hog for years. Vito says, "It's not something we can do every day. After the rub, it goes in the smoker for 16 hours. The skin stays on to seal in the juices -- it practically pops when I make the first cut."
Vito plans to carve at noon on March 12 and serve the delicately smoked pork with his signature North Carolina barbeque sauce until the whole hog gone. More About the Whole Hog Adventure BBQ
The BBQ Smokehouse Bistro has garnered dozens of local awards from the Sonoma County Harvest Fair since the popular wine country barbeque eatery opened in 2009. Vito's BBQ Smokehouse Catering is a family owned and operated concern, serving the North Bay since 1996. About
The Gleason Ranch is a sixth-generation family agribusiness committed to sustainability, conservation, and practicing low-stress management, rotational pasturing, and hormone-free animal husbandry. Established in 1912, Gleason Ranch has a well-earned reputation for producing meats of superior quality. About
In July 2010, the Balletto Family was honored by the Sonoma County Farm Bureau with the Farm Family of the Year award. John Balletto began farming produce just out of high school, with $200 in the bank and five acres in Sebastopol, California. The Balleto’s increased their wine grape acreage in the Russian River Valley in the 90s, selecting only the top 10% of the grapes from their 500 acres to bottle under the Balletto label. About
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