Through the Yelp contest held by Candice G., and won by my lovely wife, I had the chance to partake…read morein a truly wonderful experience and dinner held at the McDonald Farm in Naperville. After parking in the nearby Kingsley Elementary school lot, we were whisked away via magic school bus a half mile away to the farm. Stepping off the bus steps, we were met with the familiar odor of campfire. We followed our noses to the crowd gathered around an outdoor lobby area where diners mingled and sipped on beer or champagne and nibbled on the amuse bouche, a Puff Pastry fill with Cow Cheese Quark topped with tomato jam. The Quark is very similar to cream cheese. Alcohol by Chateau Chantal and Two Brothers Brewing were Tonight Champagne and the specially made Pale Ale, just for Farm to Fork. Lucky us! After warming up a bit we were led into the fields where we learned about the Conservation Foundation and the Green Earth Institute from farmer Martin Lemos. We were allowed to pick some of the cherry tomatoes right off the vine and eat them! Careful not to overeat we were led into one of the greenhouses which were converted into dining areas.
String lighting and white tablecloths, you couldn't have guessed that a dinner this elegant was happening here. We were shown to our seats and the parade of food started making it's way through.
The food was lovingly made by Valerie Bolon, who has quite an impressive resume, having been through the kitchens of Emeril's, Gordon, and MK, one of my favorite restaurants!
Our first course was an Apple Onion Soup, with Gruyere croutons and Bacon as garnish. I would never think to pair those two together as a soup base, but it works very well, neither flavor overpowering the other. The meaty bacon and salty croutons also helped to balance the sweet/salty profile. Since I went with the beer pairing, Cane and Ebel was the accompanying pour. Sweet, creamy, latte-like. this was one of my favorites.
Salad course was Arugula, Pickled Cucumber, Radishes, Goat Cheese and Pepitas. The best salads I've ever had in my life contained arugula, and this was no exception! So many flavors on one plate, peppery, sweet, acidic, nutty, sweet, and explosion of taste. So good. Paired with this was Prairie Path, a blonde ale. Sweet and minorly bitter finish and sort of light, it was almost citrusy.
Vegetable course was a Roasted Beet, Eggplant and Fennel with Mixed Pears and Creamed Tatsoi. At first when I saw this on the menu, I thought it said Roasted BEEF. Score! Bonus! Negative. It was Roasted Beet. With a T. But it was okay actually. I take it back, it was good, considering I'm not the biggest fan of beets. The fennel did surprise me though, I've never had fennel as crisp as this, since I usually eat it cooked. With a light licorice flavor, lighter than I expected. The creamed tatsoi also helped to add balance to the sweet flavored vegetables. Tatsoi is kind of a cross between bok choy and spinach. Domaine Dupage was served with this course. Smelled almost like iced tea, this beer did. Tart and caramel flavored.
The meat course! And my favorite meat, PORK. Love pork. Honey Roasted Pork with Candied Jalapeno Squash? Thank you sir, may I have another? Perfectly roasted pork renders enough fat out that you don't feel like you're eating something too unhealthy, and still leaves enough fat to push the flavor. THIS WAS PERFECTLY ROASTED...The squash was good too, but it was the second fiddle to that pork GOOD GOD. I regret that I couldn't clean off my plate due to the shrinking capacity of my stomach during an epic meal as this was. Outlaw IPA was the beer, starting to get buzzed was I. Citrus and pine scented, medium to full body, I wasn't sure if it was this particular beer or just all the beer I drank that was getting me full. Oh yeah, and the food too. I don't know.
AND THE BIG FINISH! Brown butter berry tart with Honey Basil Yogurt and Balsamic Caramel. Talk about everything in balance! I'm a libra, this must be why I'm obsessed with everything balancing. When I first looked at the dish, I saw the yogurt and thought someone accidentally put tzatziki sauce on my tart. And then I forked a bit of it and tasted it. HOLY MOTHER NATURE! You know when you're finished with dinner and you don't even finish your dinner, then you see dessert and think, "I don't have room" but you demolish your dessert with reckless abandon? That was me. Stuffed to capacity, I somehow found the space to fit this in, along with the beer, the Ebel's Weiss. Unfiltered and very strong banana flavor, at this point, I can't tell if I'm smelling or tasting it. I smashed it.
The things I loved about going to this event/dinner was the fact that all components of the dinner were locally sourced within 125 miles and we shared a table with people from all walks of life, had great conversations with everyone and thoroughly enjoyed everyone's company.
Farm to Fork is a great thing, support sustainable agriculture!