A former chef familiar with all kinds of farm produce

By Lloyd Garrison

A year ago, Lisa Auclair was head chef at the Passiflora Tea Room in New Hartford. Customers came from afar to indulge in the restaurant’s all-organic fare. When Erin, her ten-month old daughter was born, Lisa Auclair left the Tea Room intending to be a full time mom, but her interest in organically grown food led her to apply for the seasonal job of managing Norfolk’s first farmers market.

When the farmers market subcommittee of town’s Economic Development Commission (EDC) began its search for a manager, it placed an ad in Norfolk Now, and Auclair answered it. Both Auclair and the subcommittee are happy with the outcome.

“It seems like a good fit,” says Auclair, “At Passiflora, I was always looking for fresh, locally grown produce. I think managing the farmers market is a great way to keep my hand in the business.”

Auclair has a BS in general studies from the University of Connecticut along with a culinary degree from the Connecticut Culinary Institute in Farmington.

The biggest task facing the EDC subcommittee at the moment is obtaining a suitable site. If approved at a special town meeting later this spring, the proposed new Emergency Services Building will occupy the site on Route 44 and Shepards Road where a highly successful trial run of the farmers market was held last year. “Because it is in the middle of town and so visible to passers-by on Route 44, it is an ideal spot for us,” says Sue Frisch, who heads the EDC subcommittee. “We are hoping it is possible to work out a way to use some of that space. The other option is the village green.”

Photo by Lloyd Garrison.