“Housed in what was for generations the family-run Bond Fruit & Dairy Stand, the seasonal Stonecat Café in Hector, Finger Lakes, NY has a rich history of connecting the community to healthy, locally grown ingredients. Founded in 1999, the Stonecat Café was an early leader in the farm-to-table movement in the region.”
“Stonecat Café’s late owner and founder, Scott Signori, believed passionately that food is life and how we choose to nourish our bodies has a direct connection to and impact on our communities. When we feed our bodies with vibrant fun food, grown locally and sustainably, we sustain the soul of our community helping local farms and businesses to thrive. Scott passed away tragically in late 2021 at 54, leaving a lasting legacy of passion for good food, wine and scotch. His character, integrity and kindness live on in the Hector community and beyond.”
“Today, the Stonecat Café continues to be owned by the Signori family and is managed by a team of dedicated restaurant professionals, all proud to have been Scott's friends and have worked at the Stonecat in previous years. Staying true to their original mission, they are threading sustainability through all aspects of the operations. Stonecat partners with more than 20 regional farms to source high-quality, fresh organic ingredients to satisfy guests’ hunger and numerous local wineries, breweries and distilleries to quench guests’ thirst. Management ensures equitable pay and shared tips for all team members and strives to reduce their environmental footprint and keep menu prices reasonable, while still providing guests with the same amazing food experience.”
Executive Chef Jeremy Personius cooked with Chef Scott previously and maintains his traditions of utilizing the whole animal and house-smoking. Classic menu items include cornmeal crusted fried catfish and slow smoked pulled pork.
General Manager Katy Dunlap joins us to share the inspiring story of resilience that is Stonecat Café.
This is Wing Lam, founder of Wahoo's Fish Taco, with my brother's Mingo and Ed. You're listening to the SoCal restaurant show on Sports Radio AM A30 KLAA, the home of Angels Baseball. And welcome back. It is the SoCal restaurant show and we're here with you every Saturday morning from 10 a.m. until 12 noon right here on AM A30 KLAA, the home of Angels Baseball 2024. And it can also catch us on the AM A30 Angels app. I'm Andy Harris, the executive producer and co-host to the show. And we're proudly presented each and every week by Melissa's World Variety Produce. I was fortunate enough for the last week to be in the Finger Lakes area of New York, known as an emerging wine destination, but also an area that has some great food. And it's a little bit of an overused concept now in terms of farm to table, but 20 years ago, when actually 25 years ago, when the restaurant we're about to talk about in the Finger Lakes was founded, sourcing local ingredients, supporting family farmers and producers, was a very innovative and novel concept. So again, props to Stone Cat, Stone Cat Cafe for doing all of that. And I had the pleasure as part of the culinary panel I moderated for the International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association Conference in Finger Lakes this last week to get to know the Stone Cat Cafe and the story behind Stone Cat, which is truly inspirational. And I wanted to share that with our listening audience. And it is a pleasure to welcome their general manager, Katie Dunlap to the show. Katie, good morning, actually good afternoon your way and welcome to the show. Thanks so much for having me, Andy. Well, again, Katie, I was very inspired by the legacy that is Stone Cat Cafe and we'll get into it. But the first question I know our audience will have is what's a Stone Cat? Well, the Stone Cat is actually a thick species. It's part of the catfish family. It is native to the Finger Lakes region, but it's a very tiny, small, almost baitfish size fish. And so it's not something that we serve on our menu, but it is something that ties us to the region. We do have a, as you know, a very popular cornmeal crusted catfish on our menu. Obviously that catfish is not coming from the Finger Lakes, but we wanted to tie our name back to the region a bit. Good to know. Now, your visionary founder, the late chef Scott Signore, who was also a restaurateur, he pioneered something in the Finger Lakes area back in 1999 when he opened the cafe. Can you tell us about what his concept was in terms of the type of food that he wanted to serve? Absolutely. So Scott, as you mentioned, was a pioneer in the farm-to-table movement in our area, but Scott actually got his beginning or his start in Washington, D.C. as a brave entrepreneur in his 20s, starting as a restaurant there. He moved up to the Finger Lakes in his 30s and really saw an opportunity with the abundance of local dairy, produce, and fruit farms around to start this farm-to-table restaurant. And he has actively reached out to these entities to get them on board to provide local produce, but we started in 1999, as you mentioned, and since then have them partnering with local farms to provide the ingredients for our dishes. And just as an example, goat-smelt cheese, in terms of the pantheon of cheeses that are available, is a little on the unusual side. There's more cow's milk and there's more sheep-melt cheese that's out there, but as I learned from doing some extensive tasting in the Finger Lakes, goat cheese is a variety to really be appreciated, and the foremost producer in your area is the lively run goat dairy and creamery, and I think you've been featuring their cheese in different combinations on your menu for all of those 25 years. Do I have it right? You absolutely have that right. And the thing about goat cheese and chev is that it can vary based upon region in terms of flavors, and what we have always loved about partnering with lively run chev -- I'm sorry, lively run dairy -- to provide us with their chev. They also give us feta as well, and we incorporate that into our menus. But the thing that makes it really unique is that it really brings forth the flavors of this region. We are a very unique region with our produce, our fruit, our berry, our wines, and obviously these specific nuances come up in the ingredients that we end up incorporating into our food. Now one little other footnote is, as you mentioned, the late chef Scott's commitment to local ingredients and local produce. Share with our audience, if you will, Katie, the location you're in, because it ties into all of that. Absolutely. We are in the heart of the Finger Lakes region. We are located on the east side of Seneca Lake, even where there is a predominant of wineries and adversaries, and distillery, and also local farms. It's kind of like a little bit of a banana belt. The climate right along the lake where all of these restaurants and businesses are located can be completely different than 20 miles away. And so it is, as I said, in the heart of the Finger Lakes region, which is experiencing national and international recognition as a destination these days, but the Seneca Lake area, especially on the east side, the southeast Seneca, east side of the lake just has this density of amazing wines and food and beverages, beer, craft, and a filling to be enjoyed where we represent the area. And just to footnote what you're saying, some of the most prominent and well-respected wineries are on Seneca Lake, not to take anything else away from all the wineries that are in the region, but it just seems that there is a predominance there. But the thing I want to get in before we go to break, Katie, is the specific location you're in. What was it before it was the Stone Cat Cafe? Well, thank you for asking Andy. So, as I said, we're located in the heart of Hector. We are actually physically located in what was the Bond family in Derry stand for generations. They provided local produce dairy fruits to the community, and that building set that vacant for a few years before Scott and partnering with Loomer Creek Winery, and a few other folks, decided to buy the building and turn it into this farm-to-table restaurant in partnership with the winery who also had a wine tasting on the other side to begin with. Pretty amazing. Now, you have several rooms that are part of your interior space, but talk a little bit about your vine-covered patio and the view that you get from there, because not only is the food terrific, but the ambiance is something really special. Well, thank you so much, Andy, for acknowledging that a lot of people ask us if we have Lake View. Well, yes, you can see the lake, but most of you can see the list across the way, and amazing sunset for sure. We have a willow tree on our property that is estimated to be over 200 years old, which is, obviously, unheard of for a willow tree. And then we have what needs to be, if you're on the patio, which is this beautiful grapevine coverage, it's all coming from one particular plant. We've kind of trained it to follow our deck cover and our trellis. If you're looking out, the view looks a whole lot different than it did 20 years ago, because that vines and everything between us and the lake has grown up quite a bit, but it's quite spectacular. And I think part of the ambiance is the fact that we have a new model in place, and a lot of people could just casually die for as long as they like. You know, again, a very special location. We need to go out to break Katie. We're going to pick up the conversation on the other side. But before we do that, what is the best website for the Stone Cat Cafe in Hector Finger Lakes, New York? Okay, it is Stone Cat Cafe. That's all one word, StoneCatCafe.com. We are speaking with the general manager of the Stone Cat Cafe in Hector Finger Lakes, New York, a destination that is really worthy of your attention when you're in the area. When we come back after our top of the hour break, we will talk a little bit more about the vision of the late founding chef Scott Signore, who unfortunately passed away very tragically at the young age of 54. But his legacy is being extended by the team at Stone Cat, including Chef Jeremy Personius. And we'll talk about all of that on the other side. You are listening to the SoCal restaurant show. We're proudly presented by Melissa's World Variety Produce. Don't wonder far.
