I am a self proclaimed foodie. Nothing makes me happier than a trip to somewhere new to eat! If there is a food truck, hole in the wall place with great reviews, or a five star restaurant, I will likely convince someone to take a foodie adventure with me, although I have been known to go on my own (great food cannot wait!). In fact, I need to get out and taste other food than my own. Being able to taste other people’s creativity inspires me to try new flavor profiles in my kitchen. It also gives me a chance to see what the trends are in the dining industry and hop on board!
This past week I had not one, but TWO foodie adventures and my little chef heart couldn’t have been happier! Normally I only eat out once a week because a) it can get expensive and b) although I do like to try new places, not everywhere adheres to my clean eating standard for ingredients. Luckily for me, BOTH of the restaurants were farm to table and had many organic options on the menu. I love that the farm to table trend has been growing and purveyors are opening up restaurants in even small towns like the one where I live. The demand for better quality ingredients from local sources has made its impact and we the consumer benefit from the delicious side effects.
Thursday night my roommates and I headed out to a farm to table style pub in the downtown area of where we live. It had recently opened up and with COVID still being a very valid concern, we didn’t know what to expect with the crowd of people at the restaurant. Luckily, it was a quiet night and there was plenty of socially distanced seating. The menu was vast and had a wide variety of appetizers, sandwiches, salads, main entrees and personal pizzas all using locally sourced and organic ingredients. When I go out to eat, I choose either the most interesting thing on the menu or something that I cannot make at home (yet). In this instance I had an organic blackened chicken ciabatta sandwich and organic salad. The flavor that came out of that sandwich is still making me drool thinking about it. Delicious! I’ve had plenty of blackened chicken in my life, but I tell you, using organic ingredients takes food to a whole other dimension of flavors. I would totally reorder this sandwich again.
Friday I drove to visit my mom and we went to our favorite farm to table restaurant where she lives. While the restaurant in my home town was tasty, this place blows the other one out of the water. The menu here is adventurous and playful using more uncommon ingredients. For appetizers we each ordered a flat bread; mom had asparagus with goat cheese, daikon radish, and sunflower seeds- yum. I had a caprese style with pesto. As for the main event I went for a total reorder- grass fed burger with caramelized onions on a poppy seed bun and a glass of French Rose’ of course! Mom had a teriyaki chicken skewer with pineapple. Both were incredibly delicious. The best part of this meal is that all of the food on the menu is 500 calories or less. Not only was the meal organic and local, it was also calorie friendly and didn’t use up my daily allowance. This particular restaurant also rotates its menu based on season, making the food that much more exquisite.
Even though I ate out two nights in a row, I didn’t feel poorly because of how fresh the ingredients were. It was like eating a meal made in my kitchen, except not by me! From this expereince I'd like to expirment with my own flat bread recipes. Who knows what kind of creative ideas I will dream up! Maybe someting pumpkin and goat cheese, just in time for fall. The next opportunity you have to eat at a farm to table, I highly encourage you to try it out. The flavors are brilliant and the chefs are eager to do fun cuisine with seasonal ingredients. It will be a trip to remember no doubt. I can’t wait until anoher foodie adventure with friends to see how I will be inspired next!
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