"Farmers appreciate every dollar you spend with them as much as I appreciate every carrot they grow for me."

[Photo: Danya Bader-Natal]

Mas (farmhouse) is a gem of a restaurant tucked away on Downing Street in Greenwich Village. It has long stayed under the radar, despite chef and co-owner Galen Zamarra's fantastic market-driven cuisine. Starting at Bouley Bakery, where he was chef de cuisine by age 24, Zamarra proudly utilizes all he learned there (and in some of France's top kitchens) to create dishes of his own in an elegant setting. Zamarra tells us about his journey to opening his own restaurant, shares some of his Greenmarket secrets, and admits to a weakness for Diet Coke.

Name: Galen Zamarra
Location: Greenwich Village
Occupation: Chef, Mas (farmhouse)
Website: masfarmhouse.com

Tell us a bit about your path to becoming a chef. I grew up in Santa Cruz, California. Santa Cruz isn't really known for its food, but it is known for farming, specifically its farming practices. Even in the 80's, Santa Cruz supported small local organic farms (back when organic meant something). I first started taking culinary classes at night in a local community college around 14, and worked in a sandwich deli; later in high school, I worked in a small fine dining restaurant.

After my time at CIA, I did my internship at Bouley, and stayed there upon graduation. My eyes were really opened to a higher level of cooking and restaurant in general. At the time, Bouley was actively involved in local and small farms, bought a lot of products from the Greenmarket and straight from the producers. At that time, in the mid-90s, fine dining restaurants didn't really do that. In the Chef de Cuisine position, I was awarded a James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef. I worked in France for a year and half, at Georges Blanc, Michel Bras, and l'Arpege. I tried working for some other chefs in NYC, but really only enjoyed my time in the Bouley kitchen. I left after September 11, and after some failed restaurant ideas, I opened Mas(farmhouse) in April 2004.

How did Mas come to be, and what is the culinary philosophy there? Mas was started without me by a large group of people with very little money and less experience. When I came on board, we changed just about everything but the name—and the emphasis on seasonal and local, sustainably grown foods. Over the years, I have bought out all the other owners but one.

We buy locally from small farms and producers as much as we can. In the warm season that means 90% or more of our foods. In the winter I use a lot of local foods, mostly cellared vegetables, some local hot houses, but also we ship in from small farms in warmer regions. Most foods are bought straight from the farm.

How do you create your dishes? Most of my inspiration comes from the ingredients. Working seasonally presents some real challenges, however. Sometimes, by the time inspiration hits, and the dish is perfected, the season runs out. So I started keeping a journal of all the foods in season. Every day I wrote down what I saw at the markets. So I have years of the journals I can leaf through to spur inspiration.

Carrots from Paffenroth Farm

Who are some of your favorite farmers and purveyors with whom you work regularly? For vegetables and fruits: Guy Jones at Blooming Hill. Jeff Frank at Liberty Gardens. Liberty is a Certified All Natural Farm in Pennsylvania. They grow more specialty vegetables and I buy my tomatoes from him. Paffenroth at the Greenmarket is great at cellaring during the winter. And I have been involved with a group called Farm to Chef. It links a lot of farmers from the Saratoga area to New York City, generally a little too far for a farmer to drive. It's now owned by a group called Basis.

Dairy from Battenkill Creamery; Flying Pigs Farms and Violet Hill Farms for meats; Marvesta Shrimp, a sustainable shrimp farm in Maryland.

Talking to some of these farmers is generally a highlight of my day. It is a far cry from calling up the big food companies of New York and having to deal with them. When you are a small company like Mas, big companies pay you no mind. Your business is so unimportant to them because you spend so little. Farmers appreciate every dollar you spend with them as much as I appreciate every carrot they grow for me.

Even when you are not in the kitchen, you are an advocate for seasonal, local, and sustainable food. What are you doing on that front at the moment? Right now I am working with getting more farms to grow and sell produce year round. Winter is rough to be a seasonal restaurant in New York. I am not proud of where some of the food I buy this time of year is produced, but I can't just sell cabbage and potatoes either. Also I am working to get better foods in schools, and educating people on the reasons and benefits to buy locally sustainable foods, and cooking at home. Thirdly, sustainable fish farming. We won't have wild fish commercially available much longer.

Valentine's Day is around the corner, and Mas is certainly a romantic place to dine. Can we get a preview of the menu? I haven't finalized anything yet, but I will have oysters for sure. People love oysters on V-Day. Also we will have plenty of truffles.

If you could put together a three-course meal with dishes from three different NYC restaurants, what would you include? I would start with Soto and let him do anything for the first course. My wife was a huge fan of Soto's from Atlanta and we are excited he is here now.

Then I would go to Saul in Brooklyn. He is an ex-Bouley veteran. We never worked together there, but we have done some events on the local food circuit together and I appreciate his longevity. I have been meaning to make my way out there.

Then I'll cheat and go to Stone Barns for dessert, where my good friend Alex Grunert is the Pastry Chef. He gave my kids some ice cream this summer when we visited the farm, and I miss his food from Bouley days.

What is in your fridge that you'd be embarrassed to tell us about? Diet Coke. I don't know why I drink it, I really don't. I don't even like it, and I know it is garbage. But I drink it none the less. Actually I haven't had one in months—so maybe there's hope.