Local farmers in the spotlight in new cookbook

Chef Alfred Portale has been shopping at Union Square Greenmarket for decades, supplying Gotham Bar & Grill, where he's executive chef, with fresh, local produce before that was what every chef and knowing foodie did.

Portale, a three-time James Beard Award winner, spent time cooking in France, where a stop at the market was the start to any day in the kitchen.

"I'm not surprised there's such an emphasis on it [farm-to-table cooking] today," Portale said. "The obvious benefits are foods in season and grown locally are going to be fresher, cheaper and taste better."

And after years of crafting menus based on what he found at the market, Portale has published a vegetarian "recipe journal" called "Greenmarket to Gotham," which is organized by farm. Following a profile of a farm and farmer are recipes using ingredients sourced from that farm.

"We wanted to highlight them and the market and the work they do," he said. "Give them some well-deserved credit."

Portale uses the same organizing principle with his weekly Greenmarket to Gotham vegetarian dinner menu.

Next week's prix fixe ($28, plus $7 for dessert) features Eckerton Hill Farms, from Berks County, Penn. On the menu: heirloom tomato salad, sweet corn polenta with spiced peach chutney and raspberry cremeux for dessert. Ten percent of Greenmarket menu revenue is donated to GrowNYC's educational initiatives.

For Portale, seasonal and vegetarian eating is second nature.

"More emphasis on vegetables and grains, it's the way of the future," he said.