Wisconsin chef Elena Terry has been on TV shows like "Chopped" and "Top Chef," sharing the importance of Indigenous foods.
Her newest project involves collaborating with the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art on a new dining experience: Tall Grass.
Terry is a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation. She is also a talented chef with a fierce dedication to her community and the preservation of ancestral knowledge.
Terry founded a nonprofit called Wild Bearies to help educate communities about Indigenous foods. She says, she wanted to take that work to the next step.
“I actually had been talking to several different entities for over two years, including my tribe, the Ho-Chunk Nation is one of them, in trying to provide a space to continue the work that I was doing with permanency," says Terry. "We have not been able to — for Wild Bearies, my nonprofit — to be in a brick-and-mortar space with our own kitchen. We work out of the community kitchens, and I really wanted to envision permanency for individuals who wanted to learn more about the culinary process that I take.”
Tall Grass is expected to open early summer, depending on construction. Terry is still figuring out how to work around the odd angles of the museum and the sensitive fire suppression system.
She is also working out how to manage hot and cold kitchens in separate parts of the museum.
Terry says the museum has found every way possible to support her in the process.
"Gratefully, we have an architect on the board of directors who's like, 'I will help, and I want to be a part of this project,'" says Terry. "My first day I showed up to drawings on my desk saying like, 'This is what we're thinking. What do you think?' Being included in that conversation — one for functionality, and two for design — it's just incredible.”
Terry is also developing the menu. As a person and chef, she doesn’t want to be kept to one particular label. She just wants to cook. She’s hoping to, of course, feature Indigenous ingredients and techniques, but she is also hoping to showcase classical French cooking, smoked meats and baked goods.
Terry says, it’s not just about how food is consumed, but also how it’s sourced.
“I don't want to put a strain on tribal communities by over-procuring any ingredient — say, wild rice — and taking so much of it that it becomes unattainable for my tribal communities," says Terry. "I want to be able to highlight the ingredients in the most sustainable and responsible way that I can, without putting a strain on tribal communities, but economically supporting them by including those ingredients.”
For Chef Terry, Tall Grass is a way to continue her work of teaching and providing opportunities for the next generation.
