The beginning of my obsession with farm dinners (Blake Vineyard)

On the evening of September 11th, I was back in my home state of Connecticut to join my mother and her friends for a charity wine dinner at local vineyard in South Windsor, CT. Blake Vineyards has a very touching back story of a man “Blake” who planted grape vines in his backyard and tended to them until he found out he was ill and wasn’t supposed to live for long. He reached out to his next door neighbor and offered up his grape vines in exchange for a committment from his neighbor to tend to the vines for at least one year to give them a chance. If his neighbor had said no, Blake and his wife would have had the vines pulled from their yard and that would have been it for his dreams of making wine. But luckily, his neighbor agreed and years later Blake Vineyards is successful enough to host a charity farm wine dinner to benefit the old library, Wood Library, across historic Old Main Street.

My mother’s friend, Kelly, found out about this dinner when she stopped by the weekly farmer’s market that is held in the lot of the old Wood Library. She invited my mother who brought me as her date, knowing how much I love food and wine. We drove up and I was struck by how easy it would be to miss the vineyard because it was set perfectly in the backyard of a very nice old house. As we strolled up the long driveway, there were very cute autumn scenes set up along the tree-lined path to the tent where the dinner was being held. I had never been to a farm dinner or anything like this. We were welcomed by Blake Vineyards staff members and asked to take a picture with a professional photographer.

We found a spot for our group of 6 under the tent. The table was set beautifully and simply with dried corn cobs at each table setting (that were for making your own popcorn), a crisp white table-cloth and a taste bud teasing farm dinner menu that consisted of four courses paired with wines.

Vito’s Restaurant fed us with fresh food options that were made in a separate tent steps away from our table. I’m a sucker for the opportunity to see chefs at work.

The first course was an extensive spread of appetizers made of fresh fruit and veggies — dandelion greens with local cheeses, stuffed artichokes, roasted peppers, native tomatoes with basil, smelt filets (not a fan), prosciutto wrapped figs, and grilled fennel with grapefruit. The wine selection for this course was Priam Vineyard’s Gewurztraminer. The official description of the wine is ”a beautiful dry, crisp Alsatian style white. Very complex, with a floral, fragrant nose of honey & citrus” and it is from the Colchester, Connecticut vineyard. I really enjoyed the pairing of this wine with the fresh, light appetizers. I couldn’t get enough of the fennel and the artichokes.

This course was followed by a second course of crostini with foie gras and a white balsamic, honey-glazed strawberry paired with a Grove Street Pinot Noir. I ran over to the cooking tent to watch them whip up this course. I loved the dish! Many of my fellow tablemates were afraid of the foie gras, but I assured them that it would be worth at least a try. They were very happy that they followed my suggestion and cleared their plates.

When YouTube is back up and running I’ll be able to post a quick video of the chefs and servers getting the food out as I lingered around with my iPhone in hand, trying my best to stay out of their way.

Side note: I always try to encourage people to overcome their food fears, mainly because the fears come from our very limited food experience living in the US. When I studied abroad in France, I learned to get out of my own way because some of the best food I ate was food that on the menu made me scrunch my face in disgust initially. One additional element of my food past that I believe makes me more comfortable with trying new, odd, kind of gross items is growing up with a mad love for Haitian food. My father was born in Haiti. He and I used to go and visit my grandmother “Bebine” in New York frequently and as a little kid with a big appetite, my grandmother knew how to make me smile by having a feast ready whenever we walked in the door. Her food consisted of things that I didn’t know at all and I will always remember that after we all ate, she would sit in the corner make herself a plate and suck the bone marrow out of the bones we’d left on our plates. Who knew that would be such a delicacy in metropolitan restaurants years later? I’m sure there will be more about my Bebine, her wonderful personality, quotes and unforgettable ability to make the best food I’ve ever eaten in my future blog posts.

Ok, back to the farm dinner. Between courses, the chef/owner of Vito’s would come out and explain each course for all of us. There were some between course additions that spanned from impromptu opera performances from a fellow diner with a wonderful voice to a local priest who gave a very intense and passionate prayer to honor and remember the victims and survivors of the tragedy of 9/11/01. All of this just made me realize how amazing people are, there was a group of probably 150 people and everything had some skill to bring to the table that others would enjoy. And best of all, everyone was there to celebrate the wonderful food and wine from local farms and various vineyards.

Before we received the third course, the chef came over and spoke with our table, answered many questions and expressed his gratitude that we attended. As I mentioned with my Erbaluce review, I think it adds such a great touch when the chef and/or owner comes to your table to see how your meal is and is open to answering questions and chatting with you. It really makes you feel less like you are a customer and more like you are a guest that they are cooking specifically for.

The third course was whole-grilled prawns and seared scallops in a corn, lobster, saffron broth. This was paired with Girard Chardonnay Russian River. I’m usually anti-Chardonnay, but I liked this one. It was a great complement to the seafood and the smooth, light broth. I have seen numerous dishes on television and in magazines with head-on prawns, but this was my first experience. It was such an exciting looking plate when it was placed in front of me with the little guy sitting atop the beautifully seared scallops. My picture doesn’t do it justice. Next time, I hope I’m in a more casual atmosphere so I can try the head portion since Andrew Zimmern and many others say that is the best part.

The fourth and final course was what I had been looking forward to. It was porchetta with a grilled gorgonzola polenta cake and smoked paprika oil. Gorgonzola will normally deter me from ordering a dish on most menus because I feel like it makes the dish taste rotten. However, this time the gorgonzola was blended into this polenta cake so it was most apparent in the creamy texture rather than the overpowering flavor. I wasn’t aware of what goes into making porchetta, so I’m going to guess that you might not know either. Kelly had cooked porchetta before so she was able to explain to us all of the blood, sweat and tears that go into the final product. The process can take up to 2 days!

This plate was by far the most flavorful and largest portion we received that night. It took the overall meal to an entirely new level of enjoyment. The meat was tender, moist and full of flavor. I ate the fatty pieces without even noticing. If you get a chance to go to one of the Vito’s locations, I would recommend for you to try the porchetta dish on the menu so you will understand what I am gushing about. This course was paired with the long-awaited Blake Vineyard St. Croix. This wine was not my favorite of the night, but the porchetta worked with it.

After this course was over, there were little tarts and sweets placed at the center table to pick at, but I opted against it. Instead, I watched the special fireworks they planned then headed to the cigar barn. “Cigar barn?” you say? Yes, cigar barn! There was a gorgeous newly renovated barn behind the tent that included the original 200-year-plus-old beams. The cigar barn had a spread of numerous types of cigars and various after dinner drinks to choose from. I had a cigar that tasted somewhat like figs. I know that sounds weird, but I picked it up and it smelled like Fig Newtons, so naturally I chose it. I’m not normally a cigar kind of girl, but it was all part of the experience and it was fun! We hung out in the barn for a while, they had a silent auction and then we headed back to the car to head back to reality.

Wine dinners are usually pretty expensive because they are organized to benefit a charity or support the local farm. This particular event was $125/ticket, but if you think about it we got a four-course meal with endless wine and cigars, a couple of free opera performances, an intimate experience on a gorgeous September night, and wonderful descriptions of the food directly from the chef’s mouth. Well worth it without the added bonus of charity.

Since this dinner, I’ve been searching for farm dinners in the Boston area without much luck. If anyone knows of any farm dinners coming up around here, please let me know I’d love to go!