Bartertown Diner

Supply, demand and the differences therein

Every menu Bartertown Diner has offered has been more or less beholden to what the local farmers are harvesting at the time. We’ll never order bagged spinach, for instance, from a large distributor and so there’s a good chance that spinach won’t be on the menu during the months that it’s not being harvested. The same goes for much of the other produce we carry throughout the year.

There are also items that aren’t “harvested” per se but, because they are crafted locally by companies we trust to use the best ingredients they can find, may also vary in availability from time to time. In some cases, we may not have the item you’re specifically asking for but will have another variety. This is sometimes the case with our soda. We may have Old Boys Brewhouse ginger ale one day and have to switch to black cherry soda the next because we’ve just gone through all the ginger ale we could get our hands on. Pecan bars from Deliciosity may be out, but that doesn’t mean raw chocolate cheese cake is too, or that PB krispies or macaroons from Wednesday Evening Cookies aren’t available. And when we run short on sourdough, we often serve sandwiches on Little Rooster Bread Company’s wild rice and onion bread

Here is a list of products you may have found us out of at some time:

• root beer and other sodas
• olive oil
• flour
• coffee
• produce
• specific desserts
• breads
• tortillas
• tea
• hot sauce

We don’t have the biggest storage space in the business, and in the space we do have, little of it is dedicated to a freezer where we can preserve food for weeks upon weeks. Bartertown is based on providing delicious dishes made with fresh products and we’ll go through the whole of everything in the restaurant to do so.

If it happens you find that your favorite side dish isn’t available some day, or we are using a different type of bread on a sandwich, or even if the hot sauce you really enjoyed the previous week is out of stock, please don’t feel slighted and assume we just forgot to order more. If a product doesn’t meet our standards, or there are questions about its purity, we won’t use it. We won’t run to the nearest supermarket to get the same nationally or globally sourced replacement, either. You’ll only find real, organic, locally-made products in Bartertown Diner, delivered daily from the people who make them, and when those products are unavailable, we’ll try our hardest to offer you something just as delicious with what we have on hand.

We’re honestly not ashamed that we run out of certain things.It only means that we’ve been making dishes delicious enough and using ingredients fresh enough that word is spreading around. This business of eating is serious, so pay attention. We promise to.

Even when local isn’t an option, fair trade and organic is our standard

Bartertown uses fair trade, organic oil from Palestine.

Bartertown goes through an incredible amount of fresh produce each week, provided to us by Michigan farms and greenhouses. Our breads, cheese, chai, and even hot sauces are made in Michigan, too. There are certain items, like particular nuts and oils, that we just can’t source locally (or even nationally for that matter), but that hasn’t prevented us from seeking out organic producers with exemplary working conditions that we can create sustainable, mutually beneficial relationships with.

Case in point: Through our relationship with Higher Grounds Trading Company, in Traverse City, Bartertown has been able to work with fair trade, organic olive oil made from some of the oldest olive trees in the world, found in Palestine.

The olive tree orchards in Palestine must compete with subsidized olive oil from European Union countries on the open market, which means the farmers there have a hard time supporting themselves, no matter the quality of their product. What’s more, olive production is the primary source of income for many Palestinians. It’s a situation not unlike what small farmers in the U.S. can face.

We’re proud to use this oil, not only because it comes from hard working farmers who happen to have some of the best olive trees in the world, but because it’s delicious. Being genuine extra virgin, cold-pressed olive oil (fraudulence isn’t rare in the olive oil market), the olives aren’t exposed to heat or chemicals during the extraction and the oil retains the most nutrients. At a molecular level, extra virgin, cold-pressed olive oil contains the highest levels of polyphenols, a type of antioxidant that’s been linked to better health.

Buying from sustainable farms that exist as part of a business frame directly connected to their community is nothing new for us. We’re always aiming to support local businesses, it’s just that our idea of “local” is now a little larger.

Dr. Jacobi endorses weekend breakfast at Bartertown

We feature a different breakfast special each Saturday and Sunday, too. It's worth a legendary quest.

As you may already know, we’ve been serving breakfast on weekends at the diner for a little over a month now. If you weren’t aware of that, stop in some time for a green smoothie and a punch in the face, because you’re obviously too sick or too hungover to smell the the taste sensation of maple syrup colliding with cajun tofu.

Bartertown is no Great Northern Hotel, but we do have some of the most popular vegan breakfast items in town (and even a few we’ll let you have real, locally made dairy or goat cheese on).

Breakfast is served from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, with the dinner menu picking up at noon until close at 9 p.m., and 9 a.m. until we close at 3 p.m. Sunday.

Here’s what we offer:

• Baked apple cinnamon French toast – $7.50
• Cajun style omelette with arugula, topped with coconut curry coleslaw and tempeh sausage, all on focaccia bread with maple-garlic veganaise – $9.50
• A short stack of griddlecakes (3), maple syrup, lightly heated – $6.50
• Cream cheese (vegan or dairy from Dancing Goat Creamery) with sauteed apple and tempeh bacon on grilled focaccia bread – $9.25
• Bowl of hash – always different, always vegan, served with toast and always $6
• Oatcakes with blueberry root beer chutney and maple drizzle – $7.50
• Hash browns and gravy with maple grilled cornbread and baked beans – $7.50
• Tofu rancheros – a tofy scramble with black beans, onions, greens and your choice of vegan or dairy cheese, served over grilled tortillas – $9.75
• Cornbread slider- a vegan omelette with tempeh bacon served between slices of grilled cornbread and drowned in gravy (it’s basically a delicious crime scene) – $8

And as always, you can wash those down with a G.T. Dave’s kombucha, hot tea, iced chai or a damn fine cup of coffee.

The crowd on Saturday has been steady but the Sunday rush can get a bit out of hand, so please remember to make a reservation if you plan on coming with a party of six or more, or if you are an Icelandic businessman. If you do have to wait for a table, feel free to check out the front case for a daily variety of Roc’s Cupcakes, Wednesday Evening Cookies, raw desserts from Deliciosity and more.

Direct Trade Coffee at Bartertown

For some time now, Bartertown has been offering coffee obtained from Direct Trade Coffee Club, which maintains one-on-one contact with the people that grow the beans. That means there are no middle levels of distributors or wholesalers haggling the farmers down to a price that barely pays them a fair wage. Much like the relationships we have with the farmers in Michigan that provide us with produce, our friends at Direct Trade Coffee Club find where the highest quality beans are being grown and work directly with those farmers, empowering them while the buyer gets the best coffee.

Most recently, we’ve been serving a blend of coffee from the El Bosque farm in Guatemala roasted by Barismo, a small batch roaster based in Arlington, MA. We know the altitude the beans were grown at, when the beans were harvested, how they were dried and, of course, when they were roasted (no more than three months  prior to brewing).

Chad Morton, one of the founders of the Direst Trade Coffee Club, is proud to have a hand in bringing us this coffee. He stands by the idea that DTCC is about relationships: a sourcing model that creates quality, respect, empowerment, and sustainability within a traditionally broken supply chain.

“It is a hand shake, a meal, an exchange of mutual respect and value. It is about quality development through supportive initiatives, education, and personal and financial support.

Traditionally, coffee has been sourced with the farmers well being taking a back seat to profitability. A roaster/buyer picks coffee off of an offering sheet of a large importer, who purchased the coffee from a large exporter, who purchased the coffee from a coffee consolidator or re-seller, who purchased the coffee from a mill, who purchased the coffee from etc….the farmer, in this scenario is far removed from the roaster/buyer, and generally has no say in the value or even knows who is buying his product . Direct Trade flips this concept on its head, and empowers the farmer by interacting directly with the roaster/buyer. The farmer and the roaster/buyer work together to determine a price and create clear directives, initiatives, and goals so that the farmer is ensured to get the highest value for his coffee and the roaster/buyer ensures he gets the best possible coffee. A Direct Trade relationship fosters a partnership where a buyer must help and support the farmer, and vice versa, as it is in each others best interest to do so.”

The DTCC is committed to bringing coffee to roasters who also believe in the direct trade sourcing model. Their pledge contains three main elements:

Communication

I communicate regularly with the farmers I purchase coffee from. Communication will be in the form of in-person visits, phone calls or e-mails (direct or through a translator). I will visit the farmers and regions from which I purchase coffee at least once per year. These trips will be done by the coffee buyer or roaster as appropriate.

Transparency

I will make available a comparison between the prices I pay to farmers and the published ‘Fair Trade’ price. I will provide the farmer with the best possible price.

Sustainability

I will endeavor to provide the best market price possible to the farmer. I will participate in farmer education programs offered by the Direct Trade Coffee Club or perform my own education programs to help the farmers continue to provide quality green coffee beans.

For as long as the Direct Trade Coffee Club makes it possible, Bartertown Diner will be supporting its mission to put the bargaining power back into the hands of the coffee bean farmers and the best coffee available into the hands of our customers.

If you would like to find out about getting some of this coffee delivered to your own home, follow this link to Direct Trade Coffee Club and get started.

Bartertown wins Slow Food West Michigan’s Snail of Approval

There’s no need to question our decisions anymore.

Slow Food West Michigan awards its Snail of Approval to restaurants, bars, food and beverage artisans, and retailers in recognition of their contributions to the quality, authenticity and sustainability of the food supply of West Michigan.

Trust us.

We’ve won an award.

Bartertown Diner is recent recipient of the Snail of Approval award from Slow Food West Michigan, a chapter of the international Slow Food organization, which is dedicated to a “good – clean – fair food system.” The award is presented to organizations that promote an authentic, sustainable, and quality food system in West Michigan.

The award was presented to the diner on March 14 with the following letter from Cindee Dresen, president of SFWM.

Congratulations!

Bartertown Diner has been awarded the Snail of Approval from Slow Food West Michigan.

The Snail of Approval is an emblem of Slow Food West Michigan.  It is awarded to restaurants, bars, food and beverage artisans, distributors, and retailers in recognition of their contributions to the quality, authenticity, and sustainability of the food supply of the West Michigan region.

We thank you for going above and beyond to utilize local farms and food artisans in your restaurant.

To go with this recognition you will receive a window cling you can put in the window of your establishment and the Snail of Approval graphic you can use on your menus, web site or other collateral material.

With the Snail of Approval decal visible on our front door, Bartertown Diner will continue to offer deliciously crafted vegan and vegetarian food made with local produce, a fairly treated and fairly paid workforce, and the same value system we started the diner with in 2011. We believe that access to nutritious, real food using the products that grow around one’s community is a right, not a privilege.

While we are certainly grateful for the recognition from SFWM, we plan on working toward a future where organizations worthy of the Snail of Approval are viewed as the standard and not just outliers pursuing a niche market.

Slow Food is a non-profit, member-supported organization founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and fast life. The organization stands against the disappearance of local food traditions and people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from, how it tastes and how their food choices affect the rest of the world.

PIZZA!

Hey everybody a lot of you have no idea we have one of the best pizza ovens in the city. We also only do a couple special pizza’s a night. All are made with Michigan flours, Michigan cheeses and Michigan produce and then cooked with Michigan wood in the oven. We also understand the burden of getting a pizza to go and having this huge box sitting around your house or on your back porch. So if you get a pizza to go at BarterTown and return the box we will compost it for and give you 10% off.

Check out tonights pizza below. We made it with some awesome Turmeric leaves that taste out of this world!

BENEFIT DINNER!

CLASS WAR KITCHEN #3

February’s Class War Kitchen (taking place on Tuesday the 28th) will focus on vegan comfort foods. We know for some of you the idea of a vegan diet can be a little daunting, but we’re here to assure you that giving up animal products doesn’t mean you have to give up the comforting food you love. We’ll be posting more information as we decide on the dishes we’ll be making, so keep an ear open!

CLASS WAR KITCHEN #2

January’s CLASS WAR KITCHEN! This Tuesday the 31st at 6pm. Learn why greens are more essential for human health than we realize, and how to easily incorporate LOTS of them into your diet with green smoothies! For those of you who find the term unsettling, green smoothies include greens like kale, chard, spinach, you name it, but with a little fruit, they can be sweet, frothy, icy, and so satisfying. The class is FREE to the public and we’ll send you home with recipes of your very own. You’ll be glad you came!