Drew Adams – Foraging and Feasting

I started doing it [foraging] five, six years ago. The first thing I found were ramps in the spring and I just got excited about it. I like it because it gives me a lot more appreciation for the product that I'm working with. Really enjoy that part of it. Obviously you want to do everything you can to make sure you really showcase the product. Especially when you find it outside and you find it yourself. That's incredible. The more I learned about it, the more I never realized how much edible things were out there. I find something new each year and nature very fascinating to me.

It's like when you're younger, everyone wants to be that kid on the block who has that new toy. I want to be that kid! I like to use things that not many other people use. But there are very few people that use pawpaws in the city. And come spring, everyone uses ramps in the city but there's other things out there like ground nettles and different types of flowers that you can pick. There is this field that I go to in the spring that's covered in violets. I make violet syrups and candied violets. We use them as garnishes. So for me it's the smaller things in life that you really start to appreciate, the little things.