Granor chef Abra Berens named semifinalist in James Beard Awards

For Abra Berens, the best part of being named a semifinalist as Best Chef for the Great Lakes Region - which comprises Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Michigan - for the James Beard Awards is getting the word out that there’s more than one way to partake in the universal dining experience.

Berens is the chef at Granor Farm, which is a certified, organic farm cultivating grains, vegetables, flowers, and herbs that’s located at 3480 Warren Woods Road in Three Oaks. She started there in 2017, when the owners first floated the idea of implementing a limited private dining experience: Taste of Granor.

“The owners of the farm wanted to put in more programming that connects people to the land and so they thought, ‘Maybe if we make dinner, people will come and get another window into what we do,” she said.

Guests meet in the Schoolhouse and hear a talk about the business before moving to the new multi-purpose greenhouse, which features the farm kitchen and programming space, to enjoy dinner featuring crops grown on the farm.

Being named a semifinalist validates the success of Granor Farm and its dining approach, Berens said.

“It’s not a traditional restaurant, so it’s also saying there’s some support for the different ways of having a food business,” she said.

Everyone at Granor has a hand in bringing the cornucopia of food that this little corner of southwest Michigan has to offer to the plates of their guests. Which is why Berens credits her recent honor to all who work there.

“It’s thanks to the whole place…We can’t do any of the meals without any of the produce that they’re growing and greens that the green department is

BY FRANCESCA SAGALA — PHOTOS PROVIDED

growing so really, to me, it’s part and parcel,” she said.

Johannah Frelier, Granor’s farm manager, said that the farm works closely with Berens in the dining program to use the produce that’s harvested weekly, which results in no waste because “the dining program takes everything and turns it into soups and vinaigrettes to go on the salad greens. The farm’s “primary direct to consumer outlet,” Berens said the store includes items that are grown on the farm. something magical.”

Educating the public on where their food comes from was how Granor began, as Berens said it was started in 2006 to be a farm camp for children.

School in Cork, Ireland, where she partook in a 12-week training course on the 100-acre working organic farm that’s “intimately tied to the land itself.” She also worked for Paul Virant at the V Restaurant, which was “tied to farm to table and preservation,” in Chicago.

In 2009 she co-founded Bare Knuckle Farm in Northport, Michigan, where she farmed and cooked for eight years.

“I grew up on a commercial farm and it was surprising to me to realize a lot of folks don’t interact with agriculture the way I grew up interacting with agriculture and so I thought, ‘Maybe we could do a restaurant that’s on a farm that’s tied to what we’re growing’ and so we started farming, we did a handful of dinners and that was really the start of it,” Berens said.

Berens credits the Beard Foundation for not only recognizing good food but the “shortened distance with how that food is produced to how it lands on the plate.” It’s a journey, she said, that comes with its share of risks.

Take onions, which are seeded in the greenhouse in early February but not harvested until July.

“We all kind of play a part in the dining program’s successes…It’s really exciting she’s recognized and that this is only the second year in operation in the dining program in the new space,” she said.

In 2020, Granor Farm implemented another program: The Granor Farm Store, which sells items such as frozen

“Education is really the founding pillar of the business,” Berens said.

One could say Berens’ career has also been rooted in the education of food and its journey to the table.

She grew up near Holland, where her dad’s family were pickle farmers. After college, she cooked at the storied Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor. Soon, she landed at Ballymaloe Cookery

“Something that goes into everything like an onion has such a long lifecycle and what that means for people producing it is they’re paying for the seed and soil to plant it in January and February but they’re not going to get paid for it until July - and how different is that from most interactions in our world,” she said.

Nominees for the James Beard Awards will be announced Wednesday, March 29. A full list of semifinalists can be viewed at www.jamesbeard.org/ blog/the-2023-james-beard-awardssemifinalists.

For more on Granor Farm and to purchase tickets to the dinners, visit www.granorfarm.com.

Some things in our community feel like they’ve always just been there.

As if the hard work of starting something and nurturing it so it can thrive simply occurs on its own without intention and sacrifice. We take for granted the many achievements of our neighbors, who create businesses and organizations to serve and support us. Sometimes, we need a milestone to remind us to acknowledge the gifts and dedication of someone’s passion that has touched our lives.

Friday, March 10, will be one of those milestones.

Thirteen years ago, Fred Lange and Dylan Lange sat behind the microphone at WRHC and broadcast their very first live radio show, All Over the Planet. The year was 2010. President Obama was in office and Apple had just released the very first iPad. From that first Friday night (and most Friday nights since), listeners have been rewarded with a two-hour radio show celebrating everything that is great about rock ‘n’ roll.

On March 10, Edgar Wilbury and Dylan the Dude (the Langes’ radio DJ names) will celebrate 500 shows together, an impressive milestone for sure.