Madison Originals

Better Eating, Better Communities

by nate on 05/03/10 at 8:24 pm

As Featured in the November 2007 Issue of Madison Originals Magazine.

Perhaps we should already expect positive change from L’Etoile. Known nationally for both its outstanding cuisine and its iconic founder, Odessa Piper, L’Etoile has successfully sown the seeds of change since 1976 with its seasonal, locally sourced menu. In the past two years, the restaurant itself has seen a significant transition, shifting ownership from Odessa Piper to its current co-proprietors, Traci Miller and her brother, Executive Chef Tory Miller. Sustainability and top-flight dining are still at the top of its list of priorities, but L’Etoile now brings those goals together with a fresh perspective and redoubled efforts at community outreach. For those accustomed to thinking of L’Etoile as “Odessa’s restaurant,” the national acclaim now being bestowed upon Tory Miller is proof positive that the restaurant is thriving under its current owners. Still, Traci and Tory cite a continuing dedication to Odessa’s original goals as a major reason they were drawn to the restaurant from the first.

Thanks to their grandparents’ diner in Racine, Traci and Tory Miller grew up around food. Tory’s first cooking lessons took place in a supportive environment where he quickly found his gift, displaying the talent that eventually sent him to the prestigious French Culinary Institute in New York City. “It got me to New York and got me training with some of the best chefs in the country,” Tory says of his experience at the Institute. After working at several high-end restaurants in New York, however, Tory felt drawn to return to the Midwest. He also wanted to develop a new focus on his love for food. “I wanted to get closer to the ingredients. It was kind of like a whim,” he remembers. “And that was before I knew Odessa.”

After settling on Madison as his destination of choice, Tory sent a résumé to Odessa Piper for a part-time prepping job at L’Etoile. Odessa knew what she was looking for, and her reply was swift. “She called me two days after I sent it off and asked if I wanted to stop in,” Tory says. The prepping job quickly led to Tory’s promotion to Chef de Cuisine, a position he held for two and a half years before purchasing the restaurant with Traci. In short order, Tory had caught Odessa’s attention and earned her respect. “She was getting ready to move on to the next stage in her life,” says Tory. “After working here for awhile, without me knowing it, she was kind of grooming me to do that takeover.”

Tory attributes his confidence in ownership of the restaurant in part to his sister, Traci, who agreed to realign a career in pharmacy to join him as co-owner of L’Etoile. Traci says that one of the reasons she’s enjoyed the shift to restaurateur is that “every day is different. Pharmacy is very monotonous, and there’s some security in that. I love pharmacy for everything it’s given me, but I’m not passionate about it. It was different for Tory. From a very young age, it was apparent that he was interested in food and eating and everything to do with it. I’m so glad to be in a position where I can support him in something that he’s so passionate about. I find it’s infectious.”

Traci’s experience with Mercy Ships—an organization that travels to impoverished countries to provide free health care—has influenced the Millers’ combined approach to the restaurant. Traci remembers her astonishment at the desperate need she encountered during her Mercy Ships journey. “I couldn’t help but, on a daily basis, think of the food. How are you going to feed people starving by the thousands? How are you going to do it in a way that doesn’t harm other people or resources? At the time, Tory was working in fine dining. I was interested in how you could link it.” So far, the answer for both Traci and Tory has been to explore feasible approaches to sustainability.

Of course, before the popular movement in “regionally reliant” eating, there was Odessa Piper, whose groundbreaking work in the field helped inspire restaurants around the country to adopt strict ethical standards regarding the source and quality of the ingredients they use. “It is one of those hip words,” Tory says of sustainability. “But we’ve been doing this for awhile. We look at every item that we buy, every ingredient, to make sure that the providers are not mass-producing, not using up resources—whether that means crowding animals or using excessive fuel to transport products. We have to call each individualalmost on a daily basis and make sure ingredients are available. Not only are we buying from them, we’re cultivating a relationship with them.”

“The menu is completely dictated by what’s available,” Traci adds. “It’s very different that way. I’ve eaten all over the world, and I’ve never eaten at a restaurant like this.” As Traci has observed close-up, the availability of ingredients is a constant reminder of how connected the restaurant is to the people and the environments supplying it with goods. Produce is an especially fickle resource: “It’s literally a crapshoot,” Traci says. “If it doesn’t rain, [Tory] might not be able to get something he was planning on using. There are chefs who don’t do this, who know they can call up Sysco or whomever if they run into a problem. It’s a challenge for Tory, but he thrives on that challenge.”

Traci believes that the result is well worth the extra time and effort. “History repeats itself, it all comes full circle, however you want to say it—how Odessa saw it is a philosophy that’s been around for a long time, and that some parts of Europe never really got away from: essentially, using a local food system. I’ll never be convinced that’s not the best way to do it. It’s so simply the right thing.”

Brimming with a shared commitment to these goals, Tory seeks ways to share his enthusiasm for and belief in what he does. One such channel is through his teaching of small, personalized cooking classes at L’Etoile, something that brings rewards to Tory and the class participants alike. “I do, of course, end up learning new things,” he says. “It’s especially useful in getting to understand flavors, because I’m getting immediate feedback, which I don’t often get in the kitchen. I can see their faces when they’re trying something out.” The feedback encourages Tory to continue branching out in his cooking: “I’ll take a chance on some flavors. Right now I’m interested in bringing more of an Italian flavor to complement the French food influence.”

In the past year, Tory’s teaching has also fostered a community connection through outreach to local schoolchildren. Through C.H.O.W. (Cooking Healthy Options in Wisconsin), part of the Wisconsin Homegrown Lunch Program, Tory and his Pastry Chef, Eva Ringstrom, work with students at Sherman Middle School to explore healthy, satisfying cooking. The program uses locally grown produce wherever possible, encouraging students to eat fresh fruits and vegetables by introducing them to ways of preparing simple, delicious dishes. The L’Etoile staff hopes to help combat childhood obesity and imbalanced nutrition at a time when school lunches are increasingly made of precooked and processed foods, created to accommodate easy preparation rather than nutritional needs. “These kids don’t even have the opportunity to make the right choices about food,” Traci laments.

Whether educating youth about better eating or supporting local farmers, Tory and Traci Miller demonstrate a genuine commitment to the communities that in turn support L’Etoile. Appropriately, Tory feels the most important factor in the restaurant’s future success will be “cultivating a relationship with our community and our customers.” To achieve this through the dining experience, he intends to focus on “keeping it simple, not overdoing it. We want to make sure ingredients taste like what they’re supposed to taste like, and look like what they’re supposed to look like.” Affordability is another touchstone for future emphasis, since Tory wants excellent food to be more accessible. “You don’t have to spend $100 a person,” he says. “I hate to think that you walk into a restaurant and have to be ready to spend your paycheck on dinner. We’re trying to change that. We want to give our customers the chance to try as many new flavors as they can without breaking their budget. What I would like to convey to people is that you can enjoy what you want to from our menu, the way you want to. You can come in and be relaxed and enjoy yourself.”

Since its inception, L’Etoile has demonstrated that thoughtful change can offer fresh insight to solid ideas. Now, under the considered guidance of present co-owners Traci and Tory Miller, the restaurant stands to share even more benefits with its customers and community. After all, progressive thinking made Odessa Piper a success; it should be no surprise that her hand-picked successors are showing the same level of talent and commitment.