The restaurant, At Sara’s Table Chester Creek Café, has become a Duluth staple, known for its welcoming neighborhood atmosphere, inventive menu, and role as a gathering spot for both locals and visitors.
Over two decades, the restaurant has built relationships with local and regional farms, specialty producers, and small businesses whose ingredients and products help shape the character of each dish.
Started in 2002, the restaurant’s farm-to-table concept was one of the first of its kind in the Duluth area. The restaurant began with soups, salads, and baked goods. It gradually expanded to include dynamic menu items such as the hippie farm breakfast, bison and wild rice polenta, and Lake Superior fish tacos.
“The idea of sustainability and supporting the local economy and community is where it started,” said Pete Ravinski, the operations manager for At Sara’s Table.
The restaurant’s menu items transition with the seasons, calling on nearby and regional growers for produce, heritage meats, and baked goods. The restaurant features products, ingredients, and meat from over a dozen suppliers, many of whom supply organic goods and help define the kitchen’s personality.
Here’s a look at three of the suppliers who help shape At Sara’s Table Chester Creek Café’s menu throughout the seasons.
Bay Produce
Bay Produce has become a familiar name in the Twin Ports for its greenhouse-grown vegetables and herbs, which are found in restaurants and grocery stores throughout the region. In operation since 1986, Bay Produce specializes in cultivating a range of garden goods, including tomatoes, lettuce, peppers, and basil.
With an expansive acre-sized greenhouse, Bay Produce provides reliability for the At Sara’s Table restaurant in a region where long winters limit the availability of fresh produce. It’s a steady partnership that gives diners in Duluth a taste of summer even when the snow may still be on the ground.
Similar to the At Sara’s Table restaurant, Bay Produce models its business after sustainability, both in locally grown goods and in supporting the local economy and job force. Based in Superior, Wisc., the company operates in partnership with the Challenge Center, a nonprofit organization. The Challenge Center provides vocational training and support services to individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment.
“They have a good philosophy with the Challenge Center, helping to employ people. It’s a good fit for us,” Ravinski said.
Through this connection, Bay Produce offers prevocational opportunities that give participants hands-on experience to cultivate and harvest garden vegetables and herbs, while helping to build practical skills. With the partnership, individuals involved in the program develop a strong work ethic, task management, communication skills, and gain confidence in educational and workplace settings.
Y-ker Acres
The family-run farm south of Duluth in Carlton raises pastured, heritage-breed pigs that bring a pronounced flavor to the At Sara’s Table Chester Creek Café menu.
The Stamper family took over the Y-ker Acres farm in 2021 from Matt and Sara Weik. Since then, they have carried forward the farm’s focus on raising pigs and cattle with care, giving the animals time to grow naturally and produce meat with richer flavor and texture.
With pig breeds such as Large Blacks, Tamworths, and Mangalitsa, Y-Ker Acres offers the At Sara’s Table restaurant diverse and complex flavors to incorporate into their dishes. The restaurant’s chef and staff treat those products with a light but intentional hand, letting the animal’s character shine. The approach ties the restaurant to the nearby local Cloquet landscape, allowing what’s on the plate to be an expression of how the animals are raised and the rhythms of a nearby farm.
While the farm provides products for At Sara’s Table, Y-Ker Acres also sells its products for individuals and families, available for pre-order on its website. The farm has a ‘Butcher Box’ option that consists of various pork cuts and products that highlight the uniqueness of the farm’s pigs. The ‘Butcher Box’ is available in a small or large size and is customizable.
Larry Schultz Organic Farm
Another key supplier of the At Sara’s Table menu items is Larry Schultz Organic Farm. The Owatonna, Minn., based operation is a free-range certified and USDA organic operation known statewide for its eggs. The chickens and poultry on Larry Schultz’s farm are raised organically and fed certified organic feed.
Raised in natural outdoor conditions, the birds yield wholesome eggs and meat for chefs and home cooks alike. At Sara’s Table relies on these eggs for many of its most popular breakfast dishes, including the hippie farm breakfast, vegetable omelet, smoked salmon omelet, and more.
Using Schultz’s eggs also aligns with the restaurant’s philosophy of sourcing products with integrity. By choosing organic, pasture-raised eggs, the café signals its commitment to animal welfare, environmental stewardship, and flavor—all qualities Schultz has built his reputation on.
“We’ve been using him for a good 16 or 17 years,” said Ravinski.
Across northern Minnesota and the state, Larry Schultz’s eggs are a familiar presence in local grocery stores and restaurant menus.
The farm-to-table concept for the At Sara’s Table restaurant is simple. Small local farms and producers reduce the distance from the field to the fork. Furthermore, each dish on the menu reflects the restaurant’s choice to work with suppliers who prioritize responsible animal care and sustainable garden produce production.
“A lot of our employees feel proud to do what they’re doing,” Ravinski said. “They’re also invested in the concept and stand behind the products and feel proud to be serving them.”
The At Sara’s Table restaurant takes a practical approach to food by working with trusted local partners, choosing quality ingredients, and letting those ingredients guide the menu. For diners in Duluth, the result is a meal that reflects the community and the people who help produce it—proof that strong relationships with suppliers can be just as important as what happens in the kitchen.
While Bay Produce, Y-ker Acres, and Larry Schultz Organic Farm products help craft the flavor and personality of the restaurant’s menu, numerous other suppliers do just the same. At Sara’s Table Chester Creek Café also incorporates products into their dishes from Love Creamery, Organic Valley, B+W, Food Farm CSA, Duluth’s Best Bread, Positively 3rd Street Bakery, Johnson’s Bakery, Peterson Craftsman Meats, Mino Mashkiki, Simple Gifts, and many more.
