The desire for fresh and local food products is not a new concept – for the majority of our history, people gathered and made food from their own backyard, traded with a neighbor down the street, or picked something up from a small specialty shop in town. While times have obviously changed, the desire to eat healthy and know where our food is coming from is still there – consumers and business owners alike are back to sourcing locally, whenever they can.
Roger Eydt, owner and chef of Rogers Riverview Bistro, has orchestrated a farm-to-table restaurant for almost ten years – though he didn’t exactly plan it that way.
“When I first took over the restaurant, there was a farmers market down the street every Sunday, so we would just go there and grab a bunch of stuff,” he said. “And that’s kind of how it started.”
Eydt, who knew the farming history of Snohomish, said he knew he wanted to get as much as he could from local farmers. Over the years, Eydt has gotten fruits and vegetables from almost all the Snohomish farms, including Bob’s Corn Maze, Roots and Shoots, Flying Tomato, Caruso Farms, Bailey Farms, Radical Roots, Craven Farm, and more. Other suppliers include Skip Rock Distillers, Vista Clara Coffee and Snoqualmie Ice Cream.
“I just see what they have and then make something out of it,” he said.
But operating your restaurant this way is not always easy, or cheap. Eydt said he’s usually paying two or three times more than he would at the store.
“I’m supporting my farmers and I think that’s important,” he said. “But if I got everything locally, like meat, I wouldn’t make any money. I can’t charge fifty dollars for a chicken cordon bleu. It has to be sustainable.”
Eydt said that in the first two years he was open, he had to borrow money to stay open through the winter, taking money from a friend one year and then money out of his 401K the next.
“Those were hard decisions. I hoped it would be worth it,” he said.
Eydt got his degree in hotel administration from Cornell University and worked various jobs before meeting his wife and settling down in Connecticut, where he took over a Swiss-German restaurant.
“I always liked the food part better than the hotel part,” he said.
After taking ownership of the restaurant, and under the mentorship of the previous owner, Eydt soon realized that in order to make a profit, he would have to be both manager and chef.
“The former owner stayed with me for about two months in the kitchen, so I learned a lot from him,” Eydt said. “I’d been around cooking and kitchens a lot, but usually in the front. So the former owner stayed with me for about two months. It was really good. I learned a lot from him.”
Just months after taking over the restaurant, Eydt’s wife told him she was pregnant – four years later with two young children, they decided to move back to Snohomish to be closer to family. A couple of years later, when he saw the “for rent” sign on what was then “Rivers Edge,” he jumped on the opportunity.
“It’s been more exciting for me here, as a chef, to get different vegetables from the farmers,” Eydt said. “I get to try and be creative and create something with what I’ve got.”
Eydt said he’s pretty much always in constant communication with the farmers, seeing what they have and if he can do anything with it. If not, he picks whatever else inspires him that week. That inspiration, combined with consistency, is what Eydt feels has continued to make the restaurant successful.
“I mean I’m always the one cooking,” he said. “People know me because I’m here every day, rain or shine. And I think that helps.”
So what’s Eydt’s signature dish? Clams in leek sauce, he says. And the leeks? From right down the street at Bailey’s Farm, of course.
When asked for a review a local diner stated, "I ordered the chicken cordon bleu and it was delicious. The mashed potatoes that came with the meal were fantastic. The person I dined with had the rib eye and it was huge and piled with mushrooms. Great place!"
For more information about Roger’s Bistro or to make a reservation, visit http://rogersriverview.com. Rogers is open Tuesday through Thursday from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday to Saturday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. They are closed Sundays and Mondays.
"I’m always the one cooking. People know me because I’m here every day, rain or shine, and I think that helps.” ~ Chef Roger Eydt
Eydt said he’s pretty much always in constant communication with the farmers, seeing what they have and if he can do anything with it. If not, he picks something else that inspires him that week.
