My first memories of making valentines are from my days going to school in Chilmark.
My first memories of making valentines are from my days going to school in Chilmark.
Asked in an interview about five years ago to name his favorite spot in Chilmark, my grandfather almost instantly responded: “The Keith Farm, Middle Road.” He then recalled his process of clearing that land, lamenting that he never had the right tools and remembering how he worked late into the evenings with his tractor clearing stone and trees. He always made sure you knew he barely had enough to make it work, though as he told me the stories I could see in his eyes his conviction that all greatness is achieved with some degree of hardship.
Chez Panisse is arguably the best and most influential restaurant in the country. The restaurant’s founder, Alice Waters, has become the figurehead of the current farm-to-table revolution in America that has spread rapidly, including (thankfully) to Martha’s Vineyard. The chefs at Chez Panisse have to work their way up through a rigorous kitchen hierarchy, putting in countless hours peeling carrots and cardoons just for the opportunity to cook for those paying customers who have traveled from places near and far to sample their ingenuity.
