Chris Ferris

a long-time food partner & owner of Farmhouse Deli

Tell us about yourself. Where did you grow up, and how did you come to Saugatuck? I was born in South Haven [Michigan] in 1964. I grew up in the art community, attending many classes, shows, openings, and studios of artists belonging to SPACE, which was a local artists’ club. I moved to Santa Cruz, California, in 1977, but would come back to Michigan every summer to visit my family.

Describe your business and your path as a chef. I attended culinary school in California in 1983–1985. It was an amazing time to be in culinary school, as famous chefs would visit our school and engage us for projects. I met and talked with Alice Waters, Jeremiah Tower, and Randall Graham. These chefs, and many others, were passionate, and loved sharing their skill sets and viewpoints with us young and eager cooks. I am unfathomably grateful for their guidance. I moved back to southwest Michigan in 1993, after working in California and Chicago. I began catering shortly thereafter and continue to do so still. I opened the Farmhouse Deli [in Douglas] in 2013. At that time, it was my dream to have a tiny farmto-table deli that provided the community madefrom-scratch food featuring healthy, fresh, local products. I thought it would be me cooking in the back and someone out front selling the food. I had no idea it would grow into what it is today, employing over 50 people in the summer. We still serve made-from-scratch healthy foods, featuring local products as much as possible.

When and how did you first come to know Ox-Bow? My stepmom attended Ox-Bow to learn glassblowing in the 1980s, and I was intrigued. I visited the campus and loved the creative atmosphere. I took glassblowing from Jerry and Kathy Catania at Vesuvius [Art Gallery] in the late nineties and catered all their openings. Many Ox-Bow students and faculty would attend the openings, and I became friends with a lot of them. I had the opportunity to run the kitchen the first few seasons that Ox-Bow did a winter program, which was an amazing experience that I am grateful for. I began catering the Summer Benefits years ago as well.

When traveling, I love going to local farmers markets. This salad was made only with ingredients from my friends organic farm in Kauai. You have taught cooking workshops for our Art on the Meadow program; tell us about your decision to bring cooking workshops to Ox-Bow. I have a long history with Ox-Bow and have always wanted to support it in any way I can. It is a joy to teach cooking on the Meadow. There is an energy on the campus that allows one to tap into a vein of love and creativity in an amplified way and share that with the students, who feel it as well. It carries you away!

STOP BY THE FARM HOUSE DELI TODAY! www.thefarmhousedeli.com IG: @Thefarmhousedeli