TownEat, Northstar House offer meals that sustain

What’s for dinner? That perennial question is particularly fraught these days. Everyone wants food that tastes great and meals that are easy and convenient, but there is so much more to be considered.

Do you trust the people who are preparing and selling your food to maintain safe practices? Are you supporting the local restaurants and farms that are such a vital part of our community? Are you adding to the ever-growing mountain of containers and packaging that fills our landfills and litter our roadsides? A new business being launched in Ithaca seeks to help busy parents and professionals address all of these questions.

Chase Benjamin, Ithaca native and founder of TownEat, describes the service as a way to provide locally sourced food prepared by locally owned restaurants to local people with minimal waste.

“So much of everyday life now takes place online, especially when it comes to shopping and food ordering,” Benjamin said. “This has been incredibly useful during the pandemic, but it means we have become even more disconnected from our local food system. We are packaging things more than ever and consuming more processed foods. I want to build something with the ease of these online food ordering apps but putting local first.”

The “farm to takeout” service works like this: customers purchase or rent reusable glass containers from TownEat, pre-order meals made from fresh, plant-based foods from area farms and pick them up at participating restaurants.

TownEat’s first restaurant partner is Northstar House, Fall Creek’s favorite neighborhood gastropub. Northstar is a hidden gem, worth seeking out at 402 E. Falls St. in Ithaca for its delicious food, creative cocktails and relaxed vibe. Co-owner Jed Ashton is excited about the new program and the possibilities it offers.

“Since Northstar opened, we’ve been committed to supporting other local businesses who in turn, support the community,” Ashton said. “TownEat puts the same food in a sustainable package.”

A typical meal might consist of grilled corn and roasted squash from West Haven Farm, salad greens from Remembrance Farm, seasoned white rice, seasoned black beans, pickled red onions from Silver Queen Farm, pepitas and an herb vinaigrette.

Offerings will change depending on what is in season locally that can be paired with healthy, sustainably sourced bulk foods. Because meals are ordered in advance, the restaurant can prepare only what is needed and eliminate food waste. (And yes, the restaurant will sterilize your clean, glass container before refilling it.)

Ashton sees the weekday meal pickups as a welcome supplement to Northstar’s takeout business, which has been offered since March. Colder weather will bring an end to outdoor dining in their spacious backyard and beer garden area.

“The backyard has been a popular spot over the summer,” Ashton said. “Our tables are 10-12 feet apart, and many people have told us it’s the only place where they feel safe.”

The small dining room, on the other hand, which usually contributes to the restaurant’s intimate atmosphere, means that safe social distancing would be difficult inside.

“It’s been a struggle, but we’ve decided not to open for indoor dining,” Ashton said. “We don’t want to do anything that would make our customers uncomfortable.”

Ashton said that they would consider adding an in-house delivery service if the need was there but have stayed away from delivery apps like DoorDash or Grubhub.

“We want to be able to assure people that the person handling their food took the proper precautions, that they weren’t in and out of other restaurants where we don’t know what conditions exist,” Ashton said.

He went on to explain that while food delivery apps might seem like a good idea, they really do nothing to help the local restaurants or economy.

“Many customers don’t realize that their fees take away our profit and then some,” Ashton said.

TownEat, on the other hand, wants to work with local restaurants. Benjamin, whose father owned the Salty Dog and the MV Manhattan dinner boat on Cayuga Lake, currently works in his family’s B&W Restaurant Supply business.

“I grew up around the Ithaca restaurant industry, and it’s something I care about deeply,” Benjamin said. “I want to build a membership-based community of local people where we [TownEat] don’t need to charge the restaurant exorbitant fees, if any at all.”

On the contrary, Benjamin hopes that participating in TownEat will be beneficial for all involved by improving efficiency and reducing waste.

“I want to build a healthy, sustainable, weekday local meal system,” Benjamin said. “We’re building a way for restaurants to put their expensive kitchens to use during the week. Right now, 70% of local restaurants are closed on Mondays. The opportunity for a weekday service exists.”

On the sustainability side, Benjamin said that 40% of all food in the U.S. is never eaten. By allowing restaurants not to over-order or guess at the demand for the week, it saves them money and allows farms to proceed with other sales avenues for the leftover food.

“My goal is to build an online vendor platform for local farms to post food items that restaurants can then select and build meals around,” Benjamin said.

The membership model is on hold for now until more restaurants are added and more meal choices become available, but Benjamin hopes the business will grow in that direction. For now, he is thrilled to be working with Northstar House.

“Northstar is located in the heart of Fall Creek,” Benjamin said. “Take that away, and you change the character of the entire neighborhood. Locally owned restaurants give back to the community in ways a chain never will.”

For more information or to order meals through TownEat, go to towneat.co. To order from Northstar House’s takeout menu (including lively libations to go), visit northstarpub.com.