FRESH, PURE AND DELICIOUS

Sure, organic ingredients are healthier – but they just plain taste better, too.

By PATTY LaNOUE STEARNS

From the August 2008 Lake Magazine Issue

The chef de cuisine at the Amway Grand Plaza hotel in Grand Rapids did his apprenticeship in Austria and cooked in several European ski resorts before he came to Mackinac Island’s Grand Hotel in northern Michigan. He cheffed at Gasthof Gramshammer in Vail, Colo., and at the Scottsdale (Ariz.) Hyatt before joining Cygnus 27 at the Amway in August of 2003. He’s been paving the way to green gourmet ever since.

Werner Absenger wants you to think twice about what you put in your mouth. The 41-year-old chef has made it his mission to educate his customers – and anyone else who’ll listen – about the benefits of eating local and sustainable/organic foods. Not just because the typical American diet is laden with poor fuel, laced with hormones and pesticides, mind you, but also because fresh, local food tastes so fabulous. Continue...