Today's Main Ingredient: Bring Farm Food to Your Table

Travis Lugo is the group executive chef for Settler’s Hospitality and executive chef at their Glass-Wine.Bar.Kitchen in Hawley PA. Travis says the idea to become a chef first percolated while enjoying the meals his mother made at home. His culinary dreams were further flamed by the ideals of Chef David Kinch. “His precision in cooking and belief in letting ingredients speak for themselves were really an inspiration,” says Travis, who also relishes the opportunity to cook with fresh, locally sourced ingredients. He takes pride in creating innovative plate compositions and bold flavor profiles that complement the main ingredients. Travis makes his home in Stroudsburg, PA. He’s an avid outdoorsman who enjoys fishing, hiking and woodworking. He also loves to spend time training his German Shepherd, Jax.

Keegan Marchand is the chef at The French Manor Inn and Spa, a AAA Four Diamond hotel in South Sterling, PA. Keegan grew up in Lackawaxen PA in a family where ‘magical things’ happened in the kitchen, and at a young age he realized, “Food is more than just nourishment, it’s an experience. It’s time spent with loved ones.” Attending Wallenpaupack High School, his passion for food was transformed into a complete obsession while studying under Mrs. Sue Rowe, the school’s foods instructor. “Mrs. Rowe cultivated my creativity and love for manipulating food.” After high school, while studying culinary arts and business management at Northampton Community College, Keegan began working in the culinary industry. Cooking professionally for 12 years, Chef Marchand has worked at many other great local restaurants including The Settler’s Inn and Glass.Wine.Bar.Kitchen in Hawley; and Honesdale’s Dyberry Forks.

Kate Woerhle graduated from Paul Smith’s College with a degree in Culinary Arts and Service Management in 2012 and started shortly after at The Settler’s Inn in Hawley PA as a prep and garden manger cook. She’s held several roles for Settlers Hospitality, including positions at Glass-Wine.Bar.Kitchen and Cocoon Bakery before being promoted to Sous Chef at the Inn. From there she worked her way to Chef De Cuisine and in 2019 she was promoted to Executive Chef. She leads the Chef’s Demonstration Garden and the Apiary Program at The Settlers Inn, integrating her love of gardening with the restaurant. She works closely with local farms, showcasing their products on her menus. She also spends time collecting blankets and food to donate to Pike County Humane Shelter.

Donna Fitzgerald Vannan was born in Tasmania, Australia, and grew up on a farm. “I have been cooking as long as I can remember and have always had an affinity with fresh and beautiful fruit and vegetables.” Donna has been living in the United States since 1994, and in NEPA since October 2001. She is the owner and chef at Maximum Zen Bakery and Café, a vegetarian & vegan, bakery/cake shop and café in Clarks Summit, PA. “I serve fresh, organic, local foods, which I create from scratch, with love and joy. I truly believe that what you eat can change your life.” Donna is the mother to two amazing kids and several cats.

Josh Tomson is the executive chef at The Lodge at Woodloch in Hawley, PA where he and his staff offer five-star spa cuisine at the distinguished TREE restaurant. In accordance with Josh’s farm-to-table philosophy, TREE’s menu features just-picked items from the Woodloch’s own Farm-to-Table Garden, and whenever possible products from local farms as well. The result is a cuisine that is fresh, flavorful, inventive, and nutritious. In 2016, the chef and his team gathered recipes—personal and guest favorites—to create a cookbook: Nurture with Nature: Seasonal Recipes for Body, Beauty ad Healing.

Chef Tomson is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York City and the New York Wine Tasting School. Prior to joining the Lodge at Woodloch, he gained national and international exposure at award-winning restaurants, inns, and hotels in the U.S., France, and Switzerland.

Greg Swartz has been farming in the Upper Delaware River Valley since 2000, beginning as an apprentice on local farms in Sullivan County, NY. In 2007, he and wife Tannis Kowalchuk bought their first farm in Wayne County, PA. During the first couple years of building the farm, Greg held down two jobs, farming part-time and serving as executive director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York (NOFA-NY). In 2010, Willow Wisp Farm earned its organic certification, and he returned to full-time farming and hasn’t slept much since. In 2015 Willow Wisp Organic Farm moved 5 miles down the road to the banks of the Delaware River. This new farm has allowed a tripling in production. Greg’s goals are to grow high-quality food, improve the farm ecosystem, and employ as many people as possible to show that farming can be and should be the key to economic development in our region.