It’s National Chef Appreciation Week and for one Greene County chef, she has been having quite a last couple of weeks.

Sara Ostrander is the restaurateur and chef of The Centennial in Jefferson. Running a kitchen in her home county, Ostrander says they have a rotating menu which allows her to be more flexible in creating dishes.

“So we can really lean into what people are liking and maybe take away the things that people really aren’t liking. So that’s kind of really a fun thing for me to be able to see is, ‘What’s selling really well? What are people really gravitating towards? And then, how can we keep coming up with some new things that maybe people will want to try?’”      

Last week US Representative Cindy Axne ate lunch at The Centennial before hosting a meet and greet at another local business, Greene Bean Coffee. Ostrander describes the unique experience with it starting with a texting conversation.

“And then we got a phone call from probably her assistant and made reservations, and that was just so exciting. What an honor. Not everyday your representative comes in to eat with you. She was very nice. Yeah it was really neat.”

Ostrander was also recently named to the Iowa Restaurant Association’s 40 Women to Watch list.