Changing Ways

Philly foodies have big plans for 2009.

by Mara Zepeda

It’s remarkable how many New Year’s Resolutions focus on what we swallow. People resolve to banish chocolate, remove the skin from future orders of Peking duck, banish a fridge full of takeout containers and skip sugary soda. I asked some of my favorite eaters, drinkers, movers and shakers to share their New Year’s resolutions. Here’s to keeping them!

Name: Sam Calagione
Position: Owner, Dogfish Head Brewery
Resolution: Continue experimenting

This year The New Yorker devoted an epic 10,000 words to Dogfish Head, and for good reason. The local brewery has been lauded for unearthing ancient recipes with the help of tireless research and molecular archeologists. Calagione hopes to continue producing “beers brewed by earlier civilizations.” He reveals this year’s arsenal of flavors: saffron, Aztec cocoa powder, Chinese hawthorn and Finnish juniper berries. A line out the Foodery’s door is good indication that bottles of time-capsule brew have arrived.

Name: Ashley Alberta
Position: Barista, Chapterhouse Café & Gallery
Resolution: Explore natural sweeteners

This barista wants to offset her fondness for the café’s indulgent baked goods by choosing natural sweeteners over sugars and artificial syrups. “I like our pastries a lot so I try to balance it out,” she says. She was inspired by customers who sweeten their beverages with honey, agave and maple syrup, which contain more antioxidants than the white stuff.

Name: Grace Wicks
Position: Owner, Graceful Gardens
Resolution: Grow more food

Wicks, a green thumb extraordinaire, hopes to make the best use of her community garden plot by “planning ahead to select my favorite foods, planting many types of foods and sowing seeds successionally to ensure a constant harvest.” She also has big plans for the balcony of her fifth-floor condo: planting a potted herb garden on the bistro table to “garnish our meals with herbs at the table … a pot of mint for mojitos, too.” Look for Wicks and her amazing bike-powered garden shed come spring.

Name: John Doyle
Position: Owner, John & Kira’s
Resolution: Lose 20 pounds

“People ask all the time if I still like chocolate even though I work with it all day,” says Doyle, whose company produces some of the best chocolate in town. “I unfortunately say yes, and I taste-test all day.” The taste-testing has caught up with Doyle and he’s aiming to shed the extra weight. His strategy? Exercise more and cut down on the sweets, which include his own creations: Capogiro gelato and homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Name: Kristin Mulvenna
Position: Owner/manager, Café Estelle
Resolution: Cook more

This year Mulvenna is hoping there’s room for two in her home kitchen, and looks forward to sharing the stove with her husband, chef Marshall Green. “For a while I was more than happy just to do the dishes. I used to cook and experiment with food all the time, but for the past few years, in between eating out (a lot) and living with a chef, I’ve gotten away from it. I did the menu planning and a good amount of the cooking for the holidays and the bug is back. I hereby resolve to get my butt back in the kitchen.”

Name: Marcie Turney
Position: Chef, Bindi
Resolution: Master the art of chocolate

The Queens of Midtown Village are expanding yet again this spring with Verde, a mix of urban garden store, fresh-cut flowers and a chocolate shop. In the back of the space will be an open kitchen where the artisanal chocolates will be made. Turney is on the hunt for the most scrumptious recipes to share.

Name: Tegan Hagy
Position: Mid-Atlantic Farm to School Coordinator, Food Trust
Resolution: Rethink school lunches

This spring Congress will reauthorize the Childhood Nutrition Act, which subsidizes school lunch programs. As it stands, each school receives $2.57 per student per lunch. About $.70 is used on food. The rest goes to salaries, benefits, cleaning fees and paper goods. And the food, Hagy explains, comes from “the cheapest, most highly processed foods–agricultural surplus.” Hagy is out to encourage Sen. Bob Casey and his colleagues to rewrite the bill, increasing reimbursement and inserting language that indicates a preference for locally sourced food. These improvements will support underserved children and local family farmers, and put “locavore” in the mouths of legislators.