Photographed by: Mindee Stokes & Jewel Anderson

We like to think things are better here in the Lowcountry. Boasting beaches, marshes, pine and maritime forests, Savannah and the Coastal Empire certainly plays host to a slew of scenery to appreciate. Still, it is hard to scrub that provincial habit of looking over your shoulder and wondering, telling and asking about what’s going on in the bigger cities of Dixie. But just because the cities are larger doesn’t mean you have to run off towards sparkling skylines to fix every craving—especially when the craving is of the epicurean sort. After all, what are provinces if not the breadbasket of the cities?

Detached from congested cities and sprawling suburbs, Savannah is instead conveniently close to farmland producing seasonal produce so fresh it can turn a simple salad into a dining delight. And thanks to the increasingly popular appeal of eating healthy food with a known origin, these local farms and farmers are finally getting their day in the sun. It helps too that larger-than life personalities are helping to proliferate the pros of organically and locally grown produce. Daron “Farmer D” Joffe is one green-thumbed Georgian making waves in the world of localized produce. As an Atlanta-based organic farmer with an unmatched passion for fresh food, Farmer D not only has his own garden center in Atlanta, a television show on the Mother Nature Network and a line of biodynamic compost sold through Whole Foods Market, but he also maintains a thriving farming consulting practice that has him providing step-by-step guidance to start-up organic farmers.

Farmer D makes agricultural advancement look easy, which may be one reason why two Savannah restaurants, Cha Bella and Local 11 Ten, have cited him as an inspiration and one-time assistant to bringing seasonable produce to their diners’ plates. At these chic establishments, chefs are using fresh-from-the-farm foods (and even locally harvested seafood) to create bold tastes and healthy meals that have locals coming back time after time.

Matt Roher first saw Cha Bella as the place where both his out-on-the town patrons and the home-cooking public could come to close the farm-table gap. The plan involved using as many local ingredients as possible in the kitchen of the restaurant and using the outdoor patio space as a weekly farmers market for local growers bent on sustainability and organic growing methods. The eatery-market marriage idea was inspired by Athens, Georgia favorite, Big City Bread Cafe, but Roher’s focus on farm fresh ingredients was solidified at Hampton Island Preserve, a private retreat located off the Savannah coast. During the time Roher served as the executive chef on Hampton Island, Farmer D was brought on to build Harvest Lake, an organic community farm. Recently, with Harvest Lake secured as a productive operation, and Roher striking out on his own, Farmer D has helped to develop Cha Bella’s own 3-acre farm off of Tennessee Avenue, thus shrinking the farm-to-table gap to a few city miles.

“By this summer, we’re expecting to grow 70–80 percent of the produce we use at the restaurant,” Roher glows. The idea is novel, if not a little out of order: Building a farm to provide for an already thriving restaurant. But the concept is exactly what turns the chef on as he knows this corner of the South is the ideal place for any number of agricultural and aquacultural activities. One of his latest fascinations is a clamming operation just north of Brunswick. But if you think that clams don’t seem to be a local food, Roher would argue that they should be. “They’re some of the best I’ve ever had,” he insists.

Cha Bella’s fresh fare has diners pouring in, and has the one-time market patio in demand as outdoor seating. Thankfully, a new market venue has been found. Saturdays from 9 a.m.–2 p.m. at the Trustees Garden at Bay and East Broad streets, you can take home your own stash of next door produce whether it comes from Cha Bella’s own acreage or any of the other local and sustainable farms that are leading the campaign to take food out of the world of commodity and return it to the realm of community responsibility.

Roher sums up his business concept with the Cha Bella House Veggies and Greens Salad. “I’d like to say that pretty much defines us in a nutshell,” he explains. The dish stays on the menu throughout the year but the open-ended title allows the kitchen to adapt the plate to the season. Recently, it was a thoughtful selection of beans, greens, corn, asparagus and tomatoes. The light, astringent dressing coats the mild greens but allows the other more robust vegetables room to shine while a hidden peppering of cilantro keeps the diner on his toes. For a dinner entrée from a similar vein, the Pasta Primavera is an incredibly straightforward combination with squash and zucchini tossed into penne pasta with a light sprinkling of grated cheese.

Roher is also proud of the golden tilefish on the menu. “The seafood around here—there’s nothing like it,” he enthuses. “[We have the] best selection and most diversity in the country.” It would be folly to give any one person credit for the availability of aquatic life on the Lowcountry’s coast but, according to Roher, Jamie Barr of Blue Marlin International gets it out of the water and onto the plate in a responsible fashion. True to Roher’s taste, the tilefish is very good, similar to grouper in texture and taste but with unique flavors. Just like the other dishes brimming with fresh, local ingredients at Cha Bella, this meal leaves you pleasantly full and wanting more.

Situated just south of Forsyth Park on Bull Street, Local 11 Ten is home to Chef Jeff Rodgers, a cuisinier committed to making the best meals out of the best regional ingredients—just as the restaurant’s name implies. Currently, there are plans in the works for a rooftop bar featuring an herb garden to be developed with the help of the ever-active Farmer D. Aside from adding straight-from-the-earth flavors to Local’s favorite dishes, the garden is expected to diminish storm water runoff and modestly promote global cooling.

Until the herb garden is completed, Rodgers is relying on local farmers Vince and Debbie Baker for the vast majority of his herbs as well as salad greens. During dinner at Local 11 Ten, fresh greens can be found lightly tossed with dressing, sweet and sour fresh berries and chevre goat cheese from the local Thomasville’s Sweetgrass Dairy. The salad accompanies an enormous slab of seared grouper with a buttery sweet corn sauce holding a hint of citrus. Just as on Cha Bella’s menu, the fish has come from Jamie Barr’s Blue Marlin, a company Rodgers also makes a priority to speak of favorably, especially regarding Barr’s work to develop the Wild Georgia Shrimp brand and promote sustainable fishing. “I have to give him props,” Rodger remarks. “Honestly, I thought I had dealt with fresh seafood in the past but his product thoroughly makes a difference.” According to Rodgers, Barr is finding the freshest seafood in the area and getting it first and freshest to the Savannahian diner.

For an extra slice of fresh goodness, Rodgers suggests a plate of Carolina Scallops served over a spring salad of seared Belgian endive, tomatoes and early spring asparagus. The scallops have a healthy sear but the salad, a welcome substitution for cream sauce, steals the show. Juicy yellow teardrop tomatoes from Florida pair with the Baker’s parsley for a blast of simple Italian flavor with a wonderfully mild after-burn of heat on the lip and a faint sapidity of Asian seasonings. Rodgers confesses that the dressing comes from his personal interest in “not wanting to waste anything.”  He uses the leftover seeds from hot peppers with rice vinegar to complicate the dish and compose something unique—a Southern-born dish that effortlessly spans two additional continents.

Combining ocean fresh seafood with seasonal, local produce is clearly a winning combination, but then again, what would you expect from a first-class restaurant in a small Southern city graced by the invaluable and often overlooked assets of Lowcountry farmland?

Local 11 Ten, 1110 Bull Street, 912.790.9000, Cha Bella, 102 East Broad Street, 912.790.7888