A Gourmet Harvester in the Wilds of New Jersey

Tama Matsuoka Wong in her New Jersey backyard with Norway spruce tips, served at Daniel with salted tempura soft-shell crab and broccoli.
.Tama Matsuoka Wong examined the unruly greenery growing in one of a dozen raised beds in her New Jersey backyard. Most gardeners would be reaching for a spade or a bottle of herbicide to eradicate this bushy plant. Ms. Wong had a very different reaction; she saw a crop, ready to be harvested.

“Look at that beautiful deadnettle!” She snapped off big handfuls and shoved them into a large Ziploc bag. “It's only a weed if you don't want it.”

In a few hours a truck would arrive at Ms. Wong's house in rural Hunterdon County to pick up bags of deadnettle, creeping jenny, chickweed and other plants most people would step over or pull out. They will be delivered to Daniel, the three-Michelin-star Manhattan flagship of chef Daniel Boulud. Ms. Wong is the restaurant's forager, relied on to help keep the menu diverse, unique and flavorful. “With Tama, the level of trust is absolute,” said Daniel's Chef de Cuisine Eddy Leroux. “We know that if she brings us something, it's unique and pristine.”

Ms. Wong and Mr. Leroux have collaborated on a cookbook, “Foraged Flavor.” The recipes are largely simplified versions of dishes on the Daniel menu, such as pan-roasted wild turbot with pine needles and spring wild herb ravioli with Gorgonzola, which includes deadnettle, wild garlic mustard, chickweed and dandelion.

Change your perspective: Tama Matsuoka Wong put flowers in vases to show the Daniel restaurant staff. Her sketches help her identify plants. 'Sometimes a sketch can be more helpful than a photo,' she said. 'I intentionally exaggerate and point out features in my sketches, as notes and reminders to myself.'
.Ms. Wong has a meticulous approach to foraging, which she attributes largely to her background as a financial attorney and manager. “Like being a lawyer, foraging is a discipline of categorizing and attention to detail—and not being afraid of Latin really helps in both worlds,” said Ms. Wong. “I worked as corporate counsel for Merrill Lynch, a very conceptual role, and that's how I approached foraging—with a plan, not just picking willy-nilly.”

Ms. Wong began foraging a decade ago, after moving onto a 28-acre property in New Jersey that she bought while living in Hong Kong. “After living in an intensely urban environment for 12 years I had very fresh eyes,” she said. “I only knew the names of two plants—dandelions and oaks—and just started trying to figure out what everything was.” She enrolled in weekend classes at a wildflower preserve and grew ever more involved, eventually working with the N.J. Department of Environmental Protection to record botanists' knowledge of every wild plant in the state, and their judgments as to their ecological quality.

As her obsession grew, Ms. Wong left her job as a general counsel of Merrill's international private client group and set up her own business consulting operation. In 2009, friends urged her to bring some fresh-picked plants when they met for dinner at Daniel, having heard the kitchen was open to such submissions. Ms. Wong handed the restaurant's receptionist some fragrant anise hyssop.

A few hours later, she was served shrimp and melon with anise hyssop vinaigrette and anise hyssop and sorbet for dessert. Afterward, Mr. Leroux invited her into the kitchen and asked what else she had in her meadow. “What do you want?” she wondered. His answer: “Bring me everything.”

Ms. Wong expanded her alliances with farmers and conservation groups, heading out in a circle that now extends two hours in every direction from her house. Soon, she was lugging garbage bags filled with stinging nettles on her commute. She sells her harvest to the restaurant at wholesale rates: $7 a pound for the stinging nettle.

As she got more involved at Daniel, Ms. Wong found another advantage to her business background: an immediate comfort zone in the kitchen. “It's a tough environment for an outsider to walk into, but the intense, macho world was just like a trading floor, so I was comfortable,” she said.

Ms. Wong sat on her patio after several hours foraging in her own meadow and a nearby nature preserve. A carafe of lemonade sat on a wooden table, surrounded by dog-eared foraging guides, including one in Japanese, with taped-in translations written by her father. Next to that are a pair of gardening gloves and two kitchen shears for snipping stalks. A broad-brimmed hat rested on her knees. Ms. Wong's most essential piece of gear is on her feet: knee-high rubber Hunter boots.