From the farm to the kitchen, a restaurant is only as good as the people behind it. And as we turn the corner on a new year, we’re raising a glass to the very folks who help our favorite local restaurants run – whether you know their names yet or not.
Our annual list of Rising Stars celebrates up-and-coming talent throughout the food-and-beverage industry, including farmers, line cooks, pastry chefs, baristas, brewers and winemakers. Despite the challenges brought on by the pandemic, these individuals are finding new and creative ways to engage our communities and strengthen our food scenes, from pop-ups to food hall stands to cottage bakeries operating out of their very own home kitchens.
Alyssa Hughes, farm manager, Urban Roots Farm
Much like the brightly colored snacking peppers and zinnias she grows, Alyssa Hughes exudes cheerfulness. When she’s out tending the fields alongside farmhands or setting up flower displays for farm-to-table events, she offers a warm hello to visitors of Urban Roots Farm. In 2018, the farm’s owners, Adam Millsap and Melissa Young-Millsap, relocated to Bentonville, Arkansas, to help start an urban farm residential community. Hughes was brought on as the family farm’s first paid employee in 2014, so she was a natural fit to take over as farm manager. She knows the exact lay of the land, and she has led the farm during some of its most profitable years. A few years ago, she helped introduce a new monthly CSA payment structure, making the program more accessible for people on a budget. Although Hughes briefly spent time operating her own native landscaping permaculture business with her husband, she missed farming full-time. “I realized that if I was going to learn how to make small farming financially viable, this is the best place to do it,” Hughes says. “Springfield has a really amazing network of small farmers that gladly and freely share information with one another.” Hughes and her husband recently purchased a homestead with farmable land, and she has dreams of raising livestock and practicing regenerative agriculture there. (Photo by Starboard & Port Creative)
Urban Roots Farm, 831 West State St., Springfield, Missouri, 417.597.4858, urbanrootsfarm.com
Miguel Guzman, chef and co-owner, El Tamale Drip
Miguel Guzman’s tamales have quite the origin story. Before he opened El Tamale Drip inside Sweet Boy’s Neighborhood Bar in Springfield, Missouri, you needed an in with Guzman to get one of his tamales. Around the time bar-goers would start craving a late-night bite after kitchens had closed, he’d unveil a cooler full of homemade tamales stuffed with chicken, pork or vegetables. It was his friend-turned-business partner, Phillip Ulesich, who encouraged Guzman to open a more official business, knowing his tamales would be the perfect dish to serve out of the limited 400-square-foot kitchen in the back of Sweet Boy’s. Guzman’s tamales hark back to his childhood; growing up in a large family, his mom was frequently cooking from-scratch meals and would always encourage her kids to get involved in the process. At El Tamale Drip, Guzman’s cochinita pibil tamale highlights a signature dish from his family’s home in the Yucatán Peninsula that his mom would often prepare for the family while the rest of them slept. “I haven’t really seen her make [the Yucatán-style pulled pork] because she’d usually slow-cook the pork at around 2am,” he says. “I was never up that late, but it would be ready by 8 o’clock in the morning.” (Photo by Dean Groover)
El Tamale Drip (inside Sweet Boy’s Neighborhood Bar), 310 South Ave., Springfield, Missouri, facebook.com/ElTamaleDrip
Sam Elliott, head roaster and green buyer, The Coffee Ethic
Sam Elliott wants to make specialty coffee culture more approachable, and being an amiable person himself, he’s well-equipped for the mission. These days, he mostly works at The Coffee Ethic’s off-site roastery, prepping beans for the cup. “We want to create a really good product that’s appealing for coffee snobs and accessible for coffee-and-cream people,” he says. Although Elliott is still in his 20s, he’s already racked up almost nine years of industry experience. He worked as a barista at Eurasia Coffee Co. and Kingdom Coffee, and he even started a roasting program at Victory Mission + Ministry. Now at The Coffee Ethic, he’s tried out a variety of roles since joining the shop’s team – he’s designed seasonal beverages with unassuming combinations, such as blood orange syrup and Askinosie Chocolate, and also led barista training. But he’s since found his niche as the head roaster and green buyer, a role that allows him to create all the flavor profiles of the coffees while also overseeing sourcing – an aspect of the industry that he hopes to continue to explore in his career. “I would love to be able to be in the coffee industry long-term,” Elliott says. “For most of my coffee experience so far, I’ve been working on the cup end of the process. So my goal would be to get closer to the farm. I would love to get to know the farmers on a personal level.” (Photo by Riley McCullough)
The Coffee Ethic, 124 Park Central Square, Springfield, Missouri, 417.866.6645, thecoffeeethic.com
Tim Cook, sous chef, Progress
When it comes to describing sous chef Tim Cook, Progress executive chef and co-owner Daniel Ernce doesn’t pull any punches. “Honestly, he’s the hands-down best pound-for-pound chef in the area,” he says. “He’s got the best résumé I’ve ever seen.” That résumé includes stints in Chicago at Alinea and in New York City at The Aviary and The Clocktower, the latter of which earned its first Michelin star during his time there. When Cook and his wife found out they were expecting their first child, however, they knew they wanted to relocate, and they felt like Springfield, Missouri, was a great next step for their family. In July 2020, Cook joined the team at Progress, where he collaborates with Ernce on the seasonal menus. “It’s really fun to be able to just sit down and talk food with [Ernce] because his background is entirely different than mine,” Cook says. “He kind of gravitates toward Asian flavors and Nordic style, and my background is mostly in Italian food and classic French cooking.” Take, for instance, a recent seasonal dish of apples with foie gras. Served with golden apple mousse, pickled apples and fried sunchokes, the shaved foie gras torchon offered an approachable way to consume the classic French delicacy. (Photo by Dean Groover)
Progress, 2144 E. Republic Road, Suite B101, Springfield, Missouri, 417.799.9388, springfieldprogress.com
Tessa Cooper
Tessa is a freelance writer and photographer in Springfield, Missouri. She enjoys the finer things in life like cappuccinos and free samples.
Our annual list of Rising Stars celebrates up-and-coming talent throughout the food-and-beverage industry.
The seasonal four-course tasting dinner with beverage pairings will celebrate the restaurant’s partnership with the organization.