{"id":202,"date":"2013-10-17T21:27:34","date_gmt":"2013-10-17T21:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/?p=202"},"modified":"2013-10-17T21:27:34","modified_gmt":"2013-10-17T21:27:34","slug":"local-natural-pure-at-the-bluebird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/2013\/10\/17\/local-natural-pure-at-the-bluebird\/","title":{"rendered":"Local, Natural, Pure at The Bluebird"},"content":{"rendered":"

By LAURA ZOLMAN<\/strong> – ARTS & LEISURE EDITOR<\/em><\/p>\n

Warm wooden tables and locally upholstered booths welcome diners to The Bluebird in Stanford, KY\u2014about a 20-minute drive from Centre\u2019s campus. Executive Chef Bill Hawkins can be seen behind the sleek counter space, crafting food that is clean from preservatives, naturally grown\/raised by local farmers, and made to order.<\/p>\n

On Tues., Sept. 17, a friend and I had the opportunity to sit down with Hawkins over a cup of Somerset-produced coffee. He greeted us with a big smile and a sturdy handshake. Then he sat down and began his narrative.<\/p>\n

Hawkins has been an executive chef for 25 years and has had a lot of success working for prestigious restaurants throughout the South. However, until 2005, he did not believe that there was any real value in natural foods.<\/p>\n

But something changed. \u201cI saw my health getting bad. And I didn\u2019t really know why. I was 35 and had a great career; I had a new boy,\u201d Hawkins said. It turned out that Hawkins was suffering from a gastrointestinal issue. The doctors gave him medicine, but he had an allergic reaction to it. \u201cIt forced me to start looking at alternatives,\u201d Hawkins said.<\/p>\n

So, he started working with a natural farmer. At first, it was only because he thought the natural foods tasted better, but then he \u201cstarted believing in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Pictured<\/a>
Pictured are Blueberry Granola Pancakes and The Granny\u2019s Oatmeal. The Bluebird is located on West Main Street in downtown Stanford.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWhile I was selling [and eating the natural farmer\u2019s] food,\u201d Hawkins said, \u201cmy health was getting better. My stomach started repairing itself. I started putting weight back on. I started feeling better and believing in this natural foods thing: the whole no growth hormones, no steroids, no antibiotics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLong story, short, I have been medicine free since 2005. And that\u2019s really what led to The Bluebird,\u201d Hawkins said. \u201cThe Bluebird was an opportunity to partner with [Stanford\u2019s] Jess Correll and open a restaurant that would be based solely around natural foods.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a long term health benefit to learning to eat naturally, or at least food that has not been sprayed down with chemicals,\u201d Hawkins said. \u201cI was 35 years old before I had a problem and I had been eating whatever my whole life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, that\u2019s the \u2018why,\u2019\u201d Hawkins said, as to why they serve natural, pure foods.<\/p>\n

The Bluebird and Hawkins also believe in buying local. Their main supplier is Lancaster\u2019s Marksbury Farms, but they also partner with secondary suppliers such as Midway\u2019s Weisenberger Farms for grains and Springfield\u2019s River Run for eggs.<\/p>\n

The average burger in America has about 2,000 miles on it, meaning the burger has been trucked and processed and trucked and processed for about 2,000 miles total. \u201cThat process [involves] tons of diesel fumes and energy that are put out,\u201d Hawkins said.<\/p>\n

What about The Bluebird\u2019s burger? \u201cRight now if you buy a burger at The Bluebird our farm, where our cattle are, is if you turn left at that light, [the farm] is the first [turn] on the right,\u201d Hawkins said.<\/p>\n

The burger is processed at Marksbury and transported back to Stanford for a total of about 10 food miles on a burger. The bun and mayonnaise are produced right in the restaurant.<\/p>\n

However, it is not just food that they are buying local.<\/p>\n

Their glassware was sourced from a craftsman that lives by Harrington Lake. Their furniture and equipment all came from local salespeople. Hawkins turned to the very booth he was sitting in. \u201cThis booth, this leather: upholstery shop next door. Everybody that swings hammers in here is local,\u201d Hawkins said.<\/p>\n

This attention to detail and care for the community is carried through in The Bluebird\u2019s menu. Hawkins told us that, when designing the menu, he was going for \u201cSouthern, an almost comfort-food feel\u2014 but with the idea that a chef has had an influence.\u201d<\/p>\n

He hit the mark there. Everything on the menu looked scrumptious: Southern favorites molded by a true culinary expert.<\/p>\n

The Bluebird has only been in business for a year and a half, but there are Centre students that are willing to regularly make the drive from Danville to Stanford.<\/p>\n

Senior Caroline Phelps accompanied me on my visit and expressed her enthusiasm to Hawkins. \u201cI\u2019m excited that you are bringing [natural and local foods awareness] to Kentucky,\u201d Phelps said.<\/p>\n

Heading out that day, we ran into senior Rachel Ison, who said she loved The Bluebird because it has such a welcoming environment. \u201cThe staff is always so friendly,\u201d Ison said. \u201cIt\u2019s a great place to get off campus for a bit, eat some amazing food, and enjoy the company of friends. Plus, the coffee it perfect!\u201d So, who\u2019s ready to become a regular?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By LAURA ZOLMAN – ARTS & LEISURE EDITOR Warm wooden tables and locally upholstered booths welcome diners to The Bluebird in Stanford, KY\u2014about a 20-minute drive from Centre\u2019s campus. Executive Chef Bill Hawkins can be seen behind the sleek counter space, crafting food that is clean from preservatives, naturally grown\/raised by local farmers, and made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":203,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-leisure"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cento.centre.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}