Farm to Table

It's a bit of cliche.  Isn't this how we all should be eating anyway? There are several restaurants where I live that are "farm to table" and they happen to be some of my favorites. The menu changes often depending on what is in season and you really can taste the freshness of the food. It's amazing when you have children and you realize that they don't really know where their food comes from. That food doesn't just magically appear in the market.  

Lindsay you introduced us to the wonderful Stone Barns - a working four-season farm and educational center just 30 miles north of  New York City. 

where: stone barns

We went there last Spring so the kids could see how a real farm works and where "real" food comes from.  The boys helped gather eggs from the hens and wandered through the amazing vegetable gardens, saw the new baby pigs and we all just had a great time.  If you live in the area you really should visit. They offer amazing classes as well as lots of fun activities for families.  

where: stone barns

It's also home to Blue Hill at Stone Barns restaurant, which sources everything from the fields and pastures of Stone Barns.  Instead of a menu they refer to it as a Farmer's Feast, they create multi-course tastings around the day's harvest.

Another great take on the farm to table concept is Outstanding in the Field. Their mission is to "re-connect diners to the land and the origins of their food and to honor the local farmers and food artisans who cultivate it." The group from Outstanding in the Field travel around the country putting on amazing dinners set on long tables in the fields of the various farms.  Here is how they describe the experience: 

"Outstanding in the Field is a roving culinary adventure – literally a restaurant without walls. Since 1999 we have set the long table at farms or gardens, on mountain tops or in sea caves, on islands or at ranches. Occasionally the table is set indoors: a beautiful refurbished barn, a cool greenhouse or a stately museum. Wherever the location, the consistent theme of each dinner is to honor the people whose good work brings nourishment to the table.

Ingredients for the meal are almost all local (sometimes sourced within inches of your seat at the table!) and generally prepared by a celebrated chef of the region. After a tour of the site, we all settle in: farmers, producers, culinary artisans, and diners sharing the long table."

where: outstanding in the field

where: outstanding in the field

where: outstanding in the field

 Wouldn't this be fun?! Linds, I know we've talked about it, but we have to figure out a way to go.  Take a look at the calendar and the incredible feasts they have planned for the months ahead.