There’s nothing outwardly obvious about what local eateries Hey Taco, Lyfe Café, Press Burger, and Kneads all have in common. And indeed, it’s not the cuisine they serve that binds these restaurants together: it’s the oil they use to cook their food. These spots are all early adopters of Zero Acre Farms’ Organic Fera fruit oil, a new, seed oil-free, high-heat-performance cooking oil brought to Westport by Jeff Nobbs, founder and chairman of Zero Acre Farms, and vice president of marketing Jacqueline Hensel, a Westport native who has worked with Michelin-starred chefs in New York City and beyond. Westport Lifestyle sat down with Jeff and Jacqueline to talk through concerns about seed oils, and how Zero Acre Farms is helping local restaurants make the change.
Westport Lifestyle: There’s a lot of buzz behind the idea of ditching seed oils—can you tell us a little about why?
Jeff Nobbs: The reason chefs have been using canola, soybean, and other seed oils for so long is because they’re not solid fats, they have a high enough smoke point, and they’re neutral-ish tasting. But when you fry with oils that are high in polyunsaturated fats, they break down into known toxins. (They create off flavors, too.) Honestly, that’s why the industry spent so many years frying in trans fats—they’re quite stable in fryers. And where seed oils become the most unhealthy is when they’re heated over and over in a deep fryer. We get nearly 20 percent of our daily calories from oils, so making them better can have a big impact. Restaurants have been saying ‘please help us, we want to move off this stuff.’ But there just hasn't been a good alternative.
WL: And how did you land on organic Fera fruit oil as a replacement?
JN: Everything else to date has required some sort of sacrifice. Extra virgin olive oil is far from neutral and far from affordable. Coconut oil is more like a shortening. Avocado oil is prohibitively expensive. I’m very passionate about oils, and my research led me to South America, specifically Colombia, where this tree, oleifera x guineensis, was being grown as a disease-resistant tree. We saw that this fruit was very high-yield in terms of oil, and that the oil was high in monounsaturated fat and had a really clean taste. It has a high smoke point, and is affordable and accessible, and is liquid at room temperature. It’s organic certified. It performed really well in our tests. So we were the first to bring this organic oil to the U.S. food service market.
WL:Jacqueline, how did you come to the brand?
Jacqueline Hensel: I met Jeff and the team when I was running marketing and communications at Gracious Hospitality Management [Michelin-starred restaurateur Simon Kim’s group, which includes COTE Korean Steakhouse and COQODAQ]. At COQODAQ, our goal was to create the healthiest version of fried chicken on the market. And the components of fried chicken are just chicken, batter, and oil. We trialed dozens of oils. Zero Acre Farms’ was light-years ahead. I was excited to get involved.
WL: You’ve had some pretty impressive places sign on, like the aforementioned COTE, Craig’s in Los Angeles, and 1 Hotels. And then you’ve got a slew of Fairfield County spots!
JH: I think Westport takes a lot of lead from what’s happening in the city, especially as we’re getting more N.Y.C. transplant chefs, and that’s why we’re seeing a lot of growth here. Ingredient integrity is becoming such a profound thing for chefs. I spent the last dozen-plus years of my career working with chefs. Knowing I can finally give back to them and do something to help their businesses feels really rewarding. When I see another restaurant adopt it, especially in my hometown, I feel so proud.
To learn more, visit zeroacre.com