FSR July 2023

TOP INDEPENDENTS

TOP 5 0 INDEPENDENT RESTAURANTS

From intimate family-owned gems to chef-driven destinations, these 50 indie eateries showcase the diverse talents found across America that are paving an innovative path into the future of foodservice, while still honoring past culinary traditions. BY FSR STAFF

JEREMY FORD was just 14 years old when he felt a calling to the culi nary world. His first hero was Emeril Lagasse, whose show “Emeril Live” on the Food Network sparked Ford’s imagination. “He was funny, he was creative, his food’s delicious, and I got the bug from watching that show,” Ford says. That bug soon transformed into an experimentation beast, and Ford began “doing weird sh**—I was grilling strawberries on my dad’s grill, just weird stuff that would pop into my head, and some of it tasted horrible, and luckily I stuck with it.” Little did Ford and his parents know he would one day win the 13th season of Bravo’s popular cooking com petition show, “Top Chef,” in 2015, and earn a Michelin Star rating at his res taurant, Stubborn Seed. But before all that, Ford’s journey to becoming a chef started with a harrowing search for his maternal grandparents, since his

mother was adopted at a very young age, which brought Ford and his family from Jacksonville, Florida, to the West Coast in Carmel, California. “We went on this crazy search to find her real mother, and we ended up find ing her,” Ford recalls. “She was Italian, [and] barely spoke English. And our first meeting with her, she invited us to her home. It was a very emotional day … She prepared a large lunch for us with all of these garden delights out of her backyard, and we connected over food.” “I didn’t really understand anything she was saying, and neither did any body else. But it was a really special moment and I’ll never forget the aroma of being in her living room that first time, and I think from that moment on, I was like, this is what I want—I want to cook,” Ford continues. “Doesn’t that speak volumes about what food can do? Because you talk sometimes through food, and I feel like you have

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FSRMAGAZINE.COM

JULY 2023