Eating local never tasted better

More than 100 people gathered at the Deep Run Hunt Club on October 21 as an autumn sunset kissed the land, to celebrate the bounty of Goochland.

Delectable appetizers on the terrace of the Deep Run Hunt Club

 

A Farm to Table dinner, sponsored by the Center for Rural Culture(CRC) combined the skill of three of Central Virginia’s finest chefs with local food to produce an exquisite meal. The experience will be long remembered by everyone there.

The evening began on the terrace with an extravaganza of locally sourced sumptuous finger food and regional wine or beer. Good food and conversation was enhanced by the autumn glory of the surrounding trees.

A four course meal prepared by three of the area’s premier chefs: Executive Chef Randall Doetzer of Julep; Executive Chef Lee Gregory of the Roosevelt, and Chef Carlos Iga, personal chef and specialty caterer, who donated their skill and time for the event.

Although every morsel was delectable, the centerpiece of the repast was the braised short ribs prepared with grass-fed beef from Brookview Farm in Manakin-Sabot. Local foods enjoyed by the diners included shitake mushrooms, butternut squash, pumpkin, chard, goat cheese and greens. Wines from the Barboursville Vineyards were paired with each course to further enhance the meal.

Volunteer servers did a great job moving food from kitchen to table; others wove burlap tablecloths, country flowers, greenery, and handsome candles into an elegant backdrop for the feast.

Held as a fund raiser for the CRC, the inaugural Farm to Table Dinner highlighted the quality and variety of locally produced edibles, not to mention the culinary talent of the region.

Founded about eight years, the CRC, a non-profit organization, works to pass along our rural heritage to newcomers and the next generation to ensure it is not devoured by the steam roller of progress.

It sponsors the online Local Roots Food Co-Op that connects consumers with area food producers on a year-round basis. A series of homestead workshops that include mushroom growing and deer processing are offered to pass along “rural” skills. For more information about all of these, visit the CRC at centerforruralcultre.org.