The bounty of the County is beef and lamb and artisan cheese; the sweetest corn and beets as big as bocce balls. Chefs fry local pickerel and serve it with Picton potatoes and South Bay salad, and they bake County apple pies. But when chefs want asparagus in December, or shrimps and scallops any time of year, they talk to the guys at Sysco.

I talked to Tony Bennett this week, Sysco’s Quinte district sales manager, and I discovered just how many kitchens in the County are visited by that big Sysco truck.

“We’ve got three reps who look after the County, Ted and Greg and Al,” Tony said. They’re the go-to guys for chefs at the Waring House, Currah’s Café, Harvest and many others including good old Gus’s and the Wellington Grill.

“You don’t see our name upfront like Pepsi or Coke,” Tony said. “We’re behind the scenes, sort of backstage, and that’s the way we like it. We’re very respectful of County produce, like Vaders’ lamb, you can’t beat it. But we’re here for whatever else the restaurants need. Part of what we do is fill in the gaps, and we do it all year round.”

Tony is an ex-butcher who used to own The Great Canadian Beef Company. “I’ve been in this business a long time. I’ve been working with Chris Currah since he opened the café, then his catering business and now his seasonal restaurant at the Sandbanks. Sysco helps restaurants any way they can.”

Tony was in the County this week seeing customers and friends, and he ate lunch at the Blumen Garden. “I had a lamb burger,” he said. “It was delicious.”

He’s the guy responsible for Sysco’s sponsorship of the annual TASTE! a celebration of regional cuisine event. “We all love this place,” he says. “Sysco had its senior managers meeting in the County last year, my niece had her wedding at County Cider and the Crystal Palace. And me, I spent a lot of time at the Outlet beach when I was a kid. It’s kind of like I’ve grown up along with the restaurant scene in the County.” Tony agrees it’s a scene that’s getting better all the time.