Worcester Business Journal

8 Worcester Business Journal | March 16, 2020 | wbjournal.com FOOD LOVE A Sturbridge BBQ chef whipped up a match made in farm-to-table heaven BY KAITLYN MODE Special to the Worcester Business Journal O n Feb. 7, Worcester's downtown grocery store, Maker to Main, opened as the brainchild of Lynn Cheney, who carved a name out for herself by hooking farm-to- table restaurants up with locally sourced food via her Sterling business Lettuce Be Local. Two weeks later, the Worces- ter License Commission considered an application from B.T.'s Smokehouse in Sturbridge for the BBQ joint to open a second location in Worcester. e two seemingly unrelated events can both be traced to four people at a Boston comedy show 18 months ago. "I didn't even realize that it was a date, despite my mother telling me that's exactly what it was. I just thought I was one of the guys," Cheney said. Cheney had been invited to the show by Brian Treitman, founder of B.T.'s, and his girlfriend, Carly Cowher. Coming along was Bill Nemeroff, Treitman's best friend, who Cheney knew from their time working in the food industry but had never gotten to know all that well. "I was sitting with Treitman one day and I said, 'at's the kind of girl I should be going for," Nemeroff said. Treitman, who knew Cheney from her delivering products to B.T.'s, decided to play matchmaker. "I called my mom and was like 'I think you were right; I think I went on a date,'" she said. "And I think I've gone on three more since then, and I didn't realize it!" Now, 18 months later, two food entrepreneurs who for years developed independent careers can lean on each other for expertise and support as they launch into their latest ventures. Independent beginnings Nemeroff and Cheney first met when they worked together at the Beechwood Hotel, where he was the executive chef at the Ceres Bistro and later the hotel's director of food and beverage. Shortly aer Cheney lost her job there, a friend suggested she turn her passion into a business. Cheney had built relationships with local farmers for years, as she enjoyed their products and had a passion for sharing these products through her personal blog "Local Cheney." Her friend suggested her insight could become a revenue stream. "I told her she was insane," said Cheney. "But she challenged me to iden- tify the challenges in hospitality and how difficult it is for them to get local products. So, I approached a farmer ... and I said, 'Would it be helpful if I brought your product for you to a restaurant?'" e farmer tried to hand Cheney produce on the spot, which threw Cheney com- pletely off guard. e farmer's excitement at Cheney's propos- al to hand-deliver his products was not isolated, just as chefs, food and beverage coordinators, and business owners were excited to have local food delivered directly to their establishments. "ere was no forethought on how this was going to work," said Cheney. "I learned ... people didn't have the knowl- edge or the network that I had built." Cheney's first delivery consisted of two cases of produce, and the rest is history. Her Lettuce be Local business would make her the go-to woman for delivering the area's freshest ingredients to busi- nesses all over Central Massachusetts. Before Nemeroff first arrived in Cheney's life at the Beechwood, he was a Virginia Beach native, who moved to Massachusetts at age 22 to manage a restaurant in Bernardston. He eventually landed in Sturbridge to own and operate the Cedar Street Grille. Nemeroff would become a fixture in the local culinary scene, winning Worcester's Best Chef competition in 2016 and 2017, when he was culinary director at e International in Bolton. "e art of cooking, satisfying and entertaining people was instilled in me at very young age," he said. "My mother wouldn't even allow ketchup in the house … She said it was a cop out for a sauce." Sturbridge BBQ in Worcester Nemeroff first met Trietman while running Cedar Street Grille. "We became fast and close friends," said Treitman. "I lived nearby Cedar Street and would frequently stop in on my way home. I would sit under the TV in his tiny little kitchen while they finished service, and Bill would make me a bowl of pasta. We would just talk." e two chefs always dreamed about teaming up, but that would take years. "B.T.'s was in its infancy, it wasn't big Lynn Cheney and Bill Nemeroff at Cheney's Maker to Main grocery store in Worcester PHOTO/MATT WRIGHT

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