As a champion of locally-sourced food, Matt Landry is an ideal fit as the new executive chef of Tower Hill Botanic Garden’s restaurant. Landry’s determination to provision his kitchen with produce from local farms – and even from Tower Hill’s own vegetable gardens – dovetails with the organization’s longtime commitment to horticulture and to Worcester County. Now, after a month on the job, Landry is welcoming new and returning patrons to sample his new menus in the re-energized Twigs Café overlooking the Wachusett Reservoir in Boylston.  Landry, a Johnson & Wales culinary arts graduate, began his professional career with the Ritz Carlton in Boston and at Henrietta’s Table in Cambridge before opening Chloé, an American bistro in Hudson, Mass. During his decade as the chef-owner of Chloé, the popular restaurant often received rave reviews.

Kathy Abbott, the CEO of Tower Hill, said it was Landry’s commitment to using local produce in his dishes that made him the ideal candidate to recommit Twigs Café to the sustainable food movement. Landry, a Berlin resident, brings with him a preexisting partnership with the owners of Indian Head Farm in Berlin. Since taking over Tower Hill’s kitchen, he’s also used ingredients from Tougas Farm in nearby Northborough and from Tower Hill’s own vegetable garden. There will be many more local collaborations to come, he said.

For Landry, cooking is about building community and supporting local businesses. Local ingredients are fresher, he said, and provide both challenges – such as New England’s relatively short growing season -– and opportunities, such as a hearty sausage and kale soup to warm visitors on these ever cooling fall days.
“They care about their land,” Landry said of local farmers. “And they care about the community they are serving. I see that making a difference every day.”
Twigs Café is open to any admission-paying visitors Tuesday through Sunday and holiday Mondays, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and on Wednesday evenings from 4:30 p.m. until the last seating at 8 p.m. In December, the restaurant is open extended hours on Mondays, Wednesday, and Thursdays, in conjunction with Tower Hill’s Holly Days festival of outdoor lighting, holiday programming, and indoor decorations. Visitors can check www.towerhillbg.org for more information.
After all these years crafting menus of New England specialties, what motivates Landry to take on new challenges and to continue to cook for the masses?
“I like making people happy,” said Landry. “At the end of the day, that is what this is all about.”  For more information on events presented by the nonprofit Tower Hill Botanical Garden at 11 French Drive in Boylston, Mass., please call 508-869-6111.