When Chef Sam Charles left Iowa to open restaurants in Chicago and Denver, he missed something that reminded him of home: good, pure whole milk. As co-chef at The Way Back in Denver, Charles learned that he could get Kalona Supernatural milk for his restaurant there. And he was excited.

“The milk was this constant reminder of Iowa and the quality of the product that Iowa has,” Charles said. “Milk is very true to my heart, so that Kalona whole milk is just what I envision whole milk should really taste like.”

Charles, who opened Rodina in Cedar Rapids with his wife Phoebe in 2018, was recently awarded Chef of the Year by the Iowa Restaurant Association.

“When Phoebe and I were talking about moving back [to Iowa], there was always these pulls because of the ingredients that Iowa has: the pork, the dairy, the vegetables, the soil. Kalona was always one of those that was never far from my mind,” Charles said. “When we moved back here, it wasn’t a hard decision to say, ‘OK, I am committing to Kalona Supernatural.’”

Charles has used several Kalona Supernatural products at Rodina, including yogurt, heavy cream, cottage cheese, milk and buttermilk.

“There’s something really special about the fact that the Kalona milk and heavy cream have that fat cap. It’s a sign of the dairy industry that once was but is no longer,” Charles said. “Being able to open up that container and push through that little dairy fat cap, it just adds to its quality.”

At Rodina, Charles and his staff remain committed to sourcing as much product as they can from local farmers.

“When you’re trying to say that you’re a small business that’s rooted in the community, then you sure should be supporting the people in the community. When you’re talking about these restaurants that are sourcing from places in California or somewhere far away, they’re taking that money out of the community,” Charles said. “By simply supporting the people that are growing or making or raising the products that are based in the Iowa community, you’re supporting the people of Iowa.”

Rodina serves farm-to-table, family-style food in the heart of the Czech Village. The restaurant has remained committed to serving the best quality and freshest food they can source from local farmers.

“At Rodina we always try to talk to our staff and people about how, in actuality, a lot of it is the story that makes what we serve special,” Charles said. “Sometimes we have a piece of meat and some vegetables, but we know that meat comes from this local farm, which is grown by these people who are third generation farmers. There’s so much more feeling behind it when you can say that your food came from around the corner. That’s a pretty special thing and not enough people do that.”

Charles also said he’s a firm believer that a lot of health comes from the gut, and when you’re eating food grown locally in the environment in which you live, you’re ingesting things that your body is continually exposed to, which makes you healthier.

“If you are eating non-processed, non-over-transported, non-over sanitized food that is based right around the corner, you’re getting fresher food, you’re getting real food and your gut is going to be happier,” Charles said. “By someone sitting down at Rodina, they’re supporting us as a small business, you’re supporting us support other small businesses like farmers, ranchers and bakers that are all focused on making a better food system. And you’re eating food that is better for your gut, which leaves you happier and so you’re leaving with a little bit of a story and the sentiment that you’re supporting people in your community and you’re eating food that is a higher quality.”

Rodina means family in Czech, which is a sentiment the restaurant stands behind whole heartedly — the Charles’s sons Otto and Felix visit the restaurant frequently, and the staff at Rodina works hard to make sure that families feel welcome at the restaurant.

“We knew we wanted to open up a restaurant, we knew we wanted to open up a family-style restaurant because that’s the way that we enjoy eating, and we knew that we were coming back to Iowa to not only be near our families, but to start a family,” Charles said. “So right there, we already have several layers of why the word family is important to us.” 

Charles’s recent award from the Iowa Restaurant Association proves that Rodina’s concept is working, that local high-end ingredients can thrive in Iowa restaurants. Whether it’s dairy from Kalona Supernatural or beef from Over the Moon farms just north of Cedar Rapids, Charles and his talented staff are committed to making local ingredients shine in award-winning dishes, served family style to the people of Iowa.

“It was a huge honor [to win best chef in Iowa] and very humbling. It’s an affirmation of what we’ve done but also a reminder of what we need to keep doing,” Charles said. “This industry is dominated by egotistical individuals that always have the ‘me’ mentality and that’s just not my belief. When I won, I said that this award is not just mine, it’s something that a collective of individuals— everyone from our staff to our purveyors — was able to achieve together. There are so many people who have invested hours, time and energy in order for this to even become something and I’m very proud of that.”