Business & Tech

Collingswood Restaurant Week, from Springdale Farms to the Tortilla Press

Chef Mark Smith and farmer John Ebert give dinner guests a taste of the farm-to-fork food cycle.

Chef Mark Smith gave diners a behind-the-scenes look at the people who help bring his signature recipes to life on Tuesday, welcoming John Ebert of Springdale Farms to The Tortilla Press as part of Collingswood’s Farm Fresh Restaurant Week.

Chef Mark Smith’s menu for the evening brought some of New Jersey’s finest fresh vegetables to the table, commemorating the important relationship between local famers and local businesses.

For years, Smith has been purchasing fresh veggies from Springdale Farms—the only remaining farm in Cherry Hill—building recipes that not only reflect his culinary creativity but also showcase New Jersey farm offerings during the peak growing months of the year.

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“[It's] important for my guests to meet these people that I hold in such high esteem,” Smith said.

Ebert says that his relationship with The Tortilla Press has been “extremely successful” and is “great outreach” for local businesses and farms.

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“After coming back to Collingswood’s Farmer’s Market and to events like this, there’s been a reconnection between us and the customers,” said Ebert, whose family has sold produce throughout Camden County for nearly 50 years.

Hand-picked 

Ebert and Smith took turns illustrating the complexity and depth of the farm-to-fork process, which makes cultivating and picking a routine eggplant seem like an ardous, yet artistic, task. 

Smith communicates on almost a daily basis with Ebert to determine what produce is available, fresh and can be appropriately incorporated into the Tortilla Press menu. 

“We went back to the barn, and they had all of the tomatoes stacked, each layer onto individual trays,” said Smith. 

“John went through each tomato and every fifth tomato he would put off to the side. Each one his hand packed. I saw a really nice-looking tomato and picked it up and noticed a tiny, little bruise on the side and thought, ‘Wow.’”

“Their standards for the produce that they grow are so high and it’s kind of like an extra insurance policy for me,” Smith said.

The process seems almost unnecessarily tedious. But after trying some of these dishes, guests remarked that the time invested in growing and selecting the individual vegetables used in them was a worthwhile investment.

“Its so fresh, you can tell,” said Atco resident Sharyn Keenan. “I’m a Jersey girl so I love Jersey tomatoes, love Jersey corn, and he’s incorporating all of that.”

The Jersey tomato, of course

Each dish on Tuesday’s menu used vegetables like corn, tomatoes and eggplant in place of proteins like chicken or beef.

Smith's appetizer, the esquites quesadilla, was a flower tortilla wrapped around fire-roasted sweet corn and cheese, topped with lettuce, pico de gallo and chipotle Mexican sauce. 

It was followed by a flavorful gazpacho dish and eggplant lasagna that at first glance would fool any meat lover.

But without a doubt, the tomatoes stole the show, the 589 varietal understudy stepping in for the famed Ramapo tomato to rave reviews.

Ebert relies on seed providers that can produce the right kind of tomato: not shippable or freezable varieties cultivated to travel long distances, but those best served within days of being picking. 

He selects seed providers based on their proximity and dependability, which he believes is the cornerstone of the flavor and fame of a tomato.

“When we go through our seed selection, our focus is the taste, the palatability of that product,” Ebert said. 

“We’re looking for those things like the texture and the flavor that probably isn’t going to be associated with the big seed providers.”

Smith will serve the special Farm Fresh menu through July 26.

The Tortilla Press is located at 703 Haddon Ave. in Collingswood. For reservations, call 856-869-3345.


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