IN A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF A PERSON, ALMOST ANYTHING SOUNDS LIKE A SIMPLIFICATION. But with Odessa Piper, nothing is more telling than her response as I was bemoaning America’s horror at blemishes on fruit and vegetables: “The little bug bites tell me the fruit has been pre-approved.” Only Odessa would see the insect world as her partner and not an enemy, and then relate it to how she buys food, cooks it, and creates the feeling and experience of her restaurant L’Etoile.
On the wall of the restaurant dining room is a map of all her hundreds of farm suppliers around Wisconsin. It is a celebration of how she, with her usual perfect clarity, sees sustainability: when all relations prosper, and when everyone does well—the supplier, the restaurant, and the person buying the food.