<span style="font-weight: 400;">After Debra’spassing in 2011, the Bistro pushed forward to continue to raise the localvore bar even higher, with literally 99% of everything in the Restaurant coming from the Finger Lakes. The only exceptions? Coffee, cocoa, black pepper, vanilla, cane sugar. That’s it. Connections with local farmers became stronger, and the commitment to innovation and excellence was unmatched. The region had so evolved from the early days that it seemed that “everything” could come from our neighbors… and it nearly did.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Since then, the Bistro has changed its face from a full service localvore restaurant serving lunch and dinner to an informal lunch spot... still utilizing meats and produce from our local farms, but serving delicious, informal food without fanfare. As the needs of visitors to the region have changed, so has our service evolved into something more sustainable and in line with the needs of our guests. </span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">By 2014, David Whiting had passed the reigns of winemaking to Kelby Russell and shifted his focus to the Bistro. Having worked behind the scenes with Debra for 20 years did not qualify David to operate a fancy localvore restaurant, but it absolutely gave him the inspiration to parse the most essential aspects of Debra’s culinary goals and carry them forward with the pragmatism that made Debra’s efforts so successful: Focus on community, quality, and simplicity.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">The menu today is local, simple and delicious. With a focus on hearty local lunch fare, Red Newt Bistro continues to source from local farms and makes the example that localvore does not have to mean fancy and expensive. What it does mean is that eating local is delicious, fresh, simple, and builds communities of farmers and producers whose lives are driven by passion.</span>

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