Cafe without fryer: Milwaukee medical complex chef makes healthy food - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Cooking is simply a continuum of attraction for Sara Crawley. Feeding others feeds her ain needs, too. 

Crawley started retired studying nursing, and portion putting herself done schoolhouse she worked successful the edifice industry. It rapidly became wide to her that her way was meant to beryllium successful food. 

She attended Waukesha County Technical College’s culinary program, past worked her mode done roles successful restaurants and catering with Eddie Martini’s. 

Five years agone she took connected the relation of running Hub Central, managed by Eddie Martini’s Enterprises successful the Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 W. Watertown Plank Road, Wauwatosa. She recovered the cleanable acceptable arsenic the kitchen’s cook and manager. 

This isn’t your emblematic workplace cafeteria, and it isn’t unfastened to the nationalist either. 

Her customers are the radical moving successful wellness care, acquisition and astatine the aesculapian facility. Eschewing overly processed foods, she doesn’t person a fryer successful her room and doesn’t privation one. Lunch usually includes a peculiar she’s created, often focused connected comfortableness nutrient with a steadfast twist. Baked goods are produced regular in-house by a pastry chef. Crawley works with section farmers erstwhile possible, and approaches menus focusing connected seasonality and minimal waste.

She talked with america astir her inheritance and her attack to feeding others.

Finding her fit

I was successful the edifice manufacture portion putting myself done nursing school. Like truthful galore people, I got spot by the edifice bug. I ended up going to WCTC for culinary school. I learned galore things astir what I wanted to bash and galore things I didn’t. I had immoderate truly large mentors on the way. My archetypal days successful cooking were successful restaurants and hotels. … I transitioned to catering for immoderate time. I was arrogant to beryllium portion of immoderate beauteous nutrient and venues. I yet got into firm enactment successful the culinary tract …

My children were growing. Working firm Monday done Friday, motion maine up. 

Behind the business

We’re managed by Eddie Martini’s Enterprises. When the accidental opened present 5 years ago, it was a marque caller cafe and the hours were Monday done Friday, nary nights, nary weekends. And, luckily and happily for me, I americium fixed a batch of autonomy to marque the specials and nutrient that marque maine blessed and I americium arrogant to beryllium doing. That includes moving with section suppliers and vendors, keeping discarded down arsenic overmuch arsenic I can.

Anybody who works for maine has to clasp that arsenic well. They perceive “That’s however you utilized to chopped onions. That’s not however we chopped onions.”  

Her nutrient roots

I’m 1 of 8 children. My dada was a tiny municipality veterinarian, a dairy husbandman veterinarian. There was a batch of butter. The milkman brought full milk. My dada was a nutrient and potatoes guy. Both of my parents grew up successful the depression. I deliberation I get immoderate of my frugality from them. I americium OK with frugality, it doesn’t marque maine cheap. It is frugal, not wasteful. …

I was looking successful the backmost of Betty Crocker cookbooks erstwhile I was 10, 11, 12. They’d person things similar however to acceptable a ceremonial eating table. I’d effort to bash that. … Hospitality was a happening for maine from the clip I was a young girl. 

Her comfortableness nutrient craving

I inactive judge successful my bosom and psyche that nutrient brings radical together. It connects america to who we are and what we came from and what makes america happy. For me, that is grilled food and herb soup.

Try thing new

It is astir trust. It is making section nutrient approachable. It is making a kohlrabi slaw and being blessed to illustration it out. We’re not going to springiness you thing that doesn’t sensation great. 

What defines her menu

Soups, salads, blistery sandwiches, paninis, and the luncheon specials each day. … I effort to bash a heartier repast connected Wednesday oregon Thursday. My acquisition is we deed the reset fastener travel Monday morning. We bash a batch of crockery connected Mondays.

We connection drawback and spell comfortableness food, take-home meals, a batch of quinoa bowls, caller crockery each day. We marque each of our dressings from scratch. Our breadstuff comes from Troubadour, but each our bakery, the scones, cookies, are each made successful house. 

Different by design

Food tin beryllium medicine and it tin beryllium healing. That is precisely what I americium trying to beforehand without being successful your look astir it. Healthy nutrient promotes a steadfast body. I privation to beryllium mindful that these are ace educated, truly dedicated people. It is not up to maine to archer them what to eat. 

I’m blessed to supply alternatives to cafeteria nutrient oregon fried food. We don’t person a fryer successful this cafe. That was by design. When I discontinue and idiosyncratic wants to enactment successful a fryer, fto ‘em. Not portion I americium here. We cook tortillas to get crunchy chips. We don’t request to fry them. 

Locally sourced

I don’t person a walk-in cooler oregon walk-in freezer. We are truly constricted successful this abstraction we person here. Every week my nutrient comes successful from Centgraf Farms successful Mayville. I discovered them astatine the West Allis Farmers Market, wherever I americium a lawsuit each weekend. I enactment with Troubadour (Bakery), a forager called Sourced successful Nature and fractional of his concern is Pink Teepee (Farms). …

He brings maine mushrooms and sprouts, asparagus, ramps successful the spring. I rather honestly didn’t person that overmuch acquisition cooking with ramps. You commencement investigating what you tin bash ... and present I marque ramp butter. I get whiskey barrel-aged maple syrup. We person maple sweetener we enactment connected apical of 1 of the muffins. This clip of twelvemonth I americium trying to banal up connected dried mushrooms. I’m buying ridiculous amounts of butternut squash and roasting and freezing it truthful erstwhile February comes I person it. 

When she’s not working

I provender people. When I volunteer, I enactment astatine the nutrient pantry. I’m a gardener, and I conscionable became a maestro gardener. I enactment at Eble Gardens, and 100% of (what they grow) goes to the Waukesha food pantry. Last summertime I worked with a radical called Green Power successful Waukesha. For maine it is ever astir feeding radical and the transportation to the earth. I cognize however that sounds, but carrots travel dug from the ground. They don’t travel already sliced oregon canned. 

Carving her path

When I constitute up the barn doorway astir days, I effort to prima the section items. If I forget, idiosyncratic volition usually punctual me. I deliberation radical person travel to expect section here, and I anticipation so. Nobody told maine this is however they wanted the absorption of the cafe to go. There were nary parameters I was alert of, they came to bash a tasting of the nutrient I wanted to bash if we were awarded the declaration here. I came retired and said this is important to me, locally sourced, adjacent to the world arsenic possible.

We’re successful Milwaukee County, and if I tin get vendors successful Milwaukee County I americium blessed to enactment those people. I americium good alert I americium successful a unsocial situation. Most chefs don’t get this accidental moving successful a firm mounting similar this. I americium truly lucky. 

Fork. Spoon. Life. explores the mundane narration that section notables (within the nutrient assemblage and without) person with food. To suggest aboriginal personalities to profile, email psullivan@gannett.com.