Farm-to-table fine dining: Two events showcase Kentucky’s best
Kentucky farmers grow some terrific stuff, and here are some opportunities to taste it at the height of the season.
Berea Farmers Market will again host a fine-dining farm-to-fork event. The July 28 Dinner on the Creek is a nine-course exploration of deeply local and artistic cuisine presented by Adam Burke at the Clear Creek Schoolhouse and Community Theater. Dinner will start at 6 p.m., but get there early for a guided tour of the grounds at 5:20 p.m.
The dinner is a fundraiser for the market, which is open from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday at 416 Chestnut Street. It’s a minimum donation of $75 per person, or $85 if you want the option of wine pairings. Seating is limited to 20 people. Tickets are available at Bereafarmersmarket.org, or in person at the Berea Farmers Market. There is also an Airbnb suite available for one guest or one pair in the farmhouse for $100 a night.
The dinner will feature ingredients directly from the garden as well as pasture-raised meat and honey and foraged items from the Appalachian foothills.
The venue is seven miles from Berea and, weather permitting, the dinner will be served in the open air, on the lawns between the historic farmhouse and the gardens and orchard. If the weather turns, the dinner will be inside the restored schoolhouse.
And in Lexington, Fayette County Farm Bureau will host the 2018 Field to Table Dinner on Aug. 10, beginning at 6 p.m. at the newly renovated Historic Courthouse downtown, including in the pavilion and in Limestone Hall.
The five-course progressive dinner will feature more than 20 of central Kentucky’s best chefs and makers preparing a meal sourced from Kentucky farms and farmers. Participating restaurants will include Coles 735 Main, Corto Lima, Smithtown Seafood, Distilled Restaurant on Second Street, Dudley’s On Short, Sunrise Bakery, middle fork kitchen bar, Pasta Garage, The Sage Rabbit, Holly Hill Inn, Honeywood, AZUR restaurant & patio, Dupree Catering + Events, Crank & Boom Craft Ice Cream, Martine’s Pastries, Doodles Breakfast & Lunch and Apiary Fine Catering and Events. There also will be cocktails with Bluegrass Distillers products and beer pairings from West Sixth Brewing.
Tickets are $75 per person and are available on Facebook and Eventbrite. The event will benefit GleanKY, a non-profit that gathers and redistributes excess fruits and vegetables to nourish Kentucky’s hungry.
