Connecticut Farm-to-Chef Week and CT Grown: a guide for restaurants

Connecticut diners like to know where their food comes from, and the state has a program built for restaurants that want to tell them. The Connecticut Department of Agriculture's Farm-to-Chef program links chefs and food service businesses with CT Grown producers and helps the public find restaurants that use their ingredients. The department has run a Farm-to-Chef Week each September. This guide, written in October 2026 for next year's planning, explains what the program offers, how to take part and how to avoid overpromising. Dates and requirements change each year, so confirm with the department.

What is the Farm-to-Chef program?

It is a state program that connects Connecticut chefs and food service professionals with growers, producers and distributors of CT Grown products. It also helps the public find restaurants that serve local food. The department keeps an ever-growing list of restaurants and food businesses that consistently feature CT Grown products, which works as free advertising for businesses that qualify. It sits alongside CT Grown, the state's brand for products grown or raised in Connecticut.

What is Farm-to-Chef Week?

An annual September event open to any restaurant or food service business in the state. Participants create a special menu that showcases Connecticut Grown ingredients and beverages. Earlier editions asked for several menu items made with CT Grown ingredients, and later editions put more emphasis on venues that regularly use local ingredients, not only on a special menu for the week. The details have changed over the years, so read the current rules on the department's page before you sign up.

Why take part?

It brings attention at a time of year when diners are interested in harvest food. It connects you with farmers and gives you a reason to write a new menu. It gives you a story for your page, your social media and your regulars. Staff often enjoy it, because a menu built from nearby farms is more fun to cook and sell. The benefits are greatest for a restaurant that keeps the relationships going after the week ends.

How do you find the farms?

Start with the department's directory of CT Grown producers and the farmers markets in your area. Visit a market on a Saturday, talk to growers and ask what they will have in September. Orchards, dairies, vegetable farms, egg producers, honey producers, shellfish growers, breweries, wineries and cideries all count. Some farms deliver; others sell through food hubs or distributors. A visit to a farm gives you a story and a sense of reliability.

How do you design a local menu?

Pick ingredients at their September peak: tomatoes, sweet corn, peppers, eggplant, apples, pears, squash, greens, herbs, eggs, cheese, honey and local seafood. Build starters, mains and desserts around them, and choose dishes your kitchen already does well. Calculate food cost carefully; peak-season produce is often inexpensive, but small-farm meat and dairy cost more. Keep the menu small, so you can source what you need and avoid waste.

How do you describe it honestly?

Name the farm and the product, and say what part of the dish is local. "Heirloom tomatoes from a farm in the Connecticut River Valley" is better than "locally sourced". Do not claim what you cannot back up, because customers and regulators care about misleading statements. Keep invoices that show where you bought the items. Update the menu if a supplier runs short.

How do you promote it?

Tell your regulars in an email two weeks before. Post photos of the dishes and the farmers. Put a card on each table with a short story. Invite the farmer in for a tasting evening. Ask the department to list your event, and tell local media. After the week ends, thank your guests and farmers and say what you will keep on the menu.

After the week ends, keep what worked. If a tomato salad sold well, keep it on the menu while tomatoes last. If a farmer was reliable, order from them again in October. Add a line on your menu that names the farms you buy from, and update it each season. Over a few years you will build a network of suppliers who know your needs, and a reputation among diners for a menu that reflects Connecticut's seasons.

Consider the limits as well. A small farm may not deliver every day, may run short of an item, or may charge more than a distributor. Build a backup supplier into your plan, and tell your guests honestly if a dish is not available. Guests accept a note on the menu saying "while the corn lasts" far better than a substitute they were not told about.

Do you want diners to find the dishes your farms make possible?

Mosey is a food-first app where diners search by dish and mood, rate what they ate and keep lists of places to try. For a restaurant that cooks with Connecticut farms, that means a guest can look for the dish by name, and the ratings from people who ate it tell the story of the season. Nobody can pay to outrank you there, because Mosey Gold is earned from ratings alone. Mosey also gives your business its own page and list of regular guests, so the people who care about local food remember you.

More guides for your business:

• Connecticut's 7.35 percent meals tax: what restaurants collect
• Connecticut gift card law for restaurants: no expiry, no fees
• Connecticut restaurants by the numbers: sales, jobs and taxes

More in the US guides for food businesses.