Sometime in 2023, Luke popped in at Marianacci's. At the time, Jeremiah was a sous chef, and it was obvious that he was destined for great things... there was something special about him. When he left for a few months, we were sad to see him go, but then elated to see him return as the executive chef a short time later! Chef Jeremiah says he enjoys every minute of his time at Marianacci's, "The Restaurant showers you in a family, yet professional, atmosphere surrounded by teamwork, family love, and support. I happen to consider everyone there family, myself." He also shared that he's, "More then grateful to take the helm as executive chef and give Marianacci's a fresh change of direction," with the food he currently serves using fresh and local ingredients like Back Mountain Microgreens and 3rd Kingdom Mushrooms. It's great to hear that Chef Jeremiah uses local produce to create an uplifting, up-scale level of Italian-American cuisine, and by doing what Marianacci's knows best—pasta!
Fork Over Love
Fork Over Love, is the charity Chef Jeremiah chose to support with this Mari-Jae Mission Microgreen Mix collaboration. The reason he chose Fork Over Love is because Chef Jeremiah believes food can solve a portion of hard, or desperate times. This belief comes from the times in his childhood when his family struggled to keep food on the table for him and his siblings. Since he knows what it's like to depend on places like Fork Over Love for food, Fork Over Love's cause to "Help your restaurants feed your neighbors," hits home for Chef Jeremiah in a way many people may never know. Fork Over Love is doing something Chef Jeremiah believes in—shining light into the lives of people in the midst of what might be their darkest moments in life, offering them a glimmer of hope in the form of a fresh, warm meal. In his own words, Chef Jeremiah shared that, "What people need, to get back to a stable mindset and place in life, is a glance of light and hope. To know that everything will be okay. I believe in the good in individuals and what better way to be that good hearted person than to give to an organization that once helped me and my family."
The Mari-Jae Mission Microgreen Mix
Chef Jeremiah, Himself
The mix that I collaborated on with Back Mountain Microgreens is called, “Mari-Jae.“ Luke helped me pick out the name so I'm not going to take all the credit but, it's a mix of “Mari” - Marianacci's Restaurant, and "Jae" - my nickname. It's a mix of Italian and Genovese Basil, Pea Shoots and Red Veined Sorrel. The basil micros we use here at Marianacci's currently, as a staple garnish & green to provide fresh basil flavors along with the beautiful look of fresh basil on our Italian dishes. The pea shoots and red veined sorrel are personally my favorite greens to use as they provide so much character and color to the plates on weekly specialty dinners along with the other micros Back Mountain Microgreens provides and offers. I want to use this mix to provide chefs around the area with some fresh basil and beautiful textures and colors to add to plates for that, “wow,” factor—make plates look and taste as fresh and natural as can be.
To Chef Jeremiah:
Chef Jae, it has been a pleasure getting to know you, popping into the kitchen at Marianacci's—we totally picked up on, and LOVE the family vibe!—and we are so excited to have you as our Farm Fresh Hope collab Chef for the months of March and April! It was a fun time to have you here in the grow room, and we're so excited to see where this mix goes!
