When Mark Pawliw created Farm to Fork 101 back in 2015, he hoped for the event to be a fun and informative way of engaging people with their food and its origins. For the past four years, Farm to Fork has carried that mission to establishments across the city. 

Farm to Fork partners with other restaurants in the Syracuse area to promote sustainable food practices. Thus far, Pawliw has worked with one restaurant each month for the past three years. The workshop’s next event, which is now sold out, will take place at Otro Cinco on March 25 and will feature chefs Carl Helgersen and Clem Coleman. 

As event organizer and host, Pawliw does the shopping for each workshop, combing through local produce and ingredients at farmers markets to help chef’s style more imaginative menus. Participants, he said, are shown more innovative and inventive ways to interact with the garden-fresh ingredients coming right from their local community. 

“I planned an event to showcase farm–to–table cooking and eating in a different way,” Pawliw said. “It was a way to tell a story about the food chain from start to finish.” 

Food has always been an integral part of Pawliw’s life. He started working with food at age 15 and loved it immediately. Ever since, he’s strived to find ways to focus on chefs and farmers who are often overlooked within the industry. 

“I loved the way people felt after eating at one of my events,” Pawliw said. “Seeing their joy brings me joy.”  

This month, he will be working again with Otro Cinco. Farm to Fork 101 has collaborated with the restaurant before, and Pawliw said it was a great experience. Helgerson, a chef at Otro Cinco, agreed that past collaborations like Salt City Iron Chef Throwdown have been a good time.  

Farm to Fork 101 hosts workshops with restaurants across the city to spread the word about sustainable food practices. Courtesy of Farm to Fork 101

Helgerson has been cooking in Syracuse for about 20 years and said he eventually hopes to become a farmer and junk shop owner. For him, these future interests are what make events like Farm to Fork so appealing.   

“Otro Cinco is our community, we hire local, we buy local and we sell local, working with Farm to Fork allows us to give people a different culinary experience,” Helgerson said.  

Nowadays, Pawliw said he wants to shift his focus toward educating the general public. He hopes to show people that the ingredients around them are easy to work with and that if they give sustainable cooking and eating a try, they might change their views on it. 

Helgerson said he is looking forward to helping Pawliw on his mission and will assist in curating the menu and planning the service — all while the restaurant remains open, as usual. While he said it is sure to be a long night, Otro Cinco staff members are excited for the task. 

“Food is where it all starts for my team and I,” Helgerson said, “and our guests can expect to dine on some scrumptious morsels.” 

Published on March 20, 2019 at 10:46 pm

Contact Leah: ltoney@syr.edu