Sunday, July 31, 2011

Supporting Restaurants Who Support Local Farms

I have write this post quick, being that I just took an Ambian to settle down for the night. Currently I'm in Virginia doing some training and I will head back home in about a week or so. Just enough time to get back and see what shape the gardens in. I miss writing on the blog...but when traveling I'm deeply engaged in work and I don't want to have anxiety over what I can't control (I hope to God My wife didn't Destroy the garden). The past few days I have been having the itch for some really good home grown food. Food that when you bite into it, you can taste the journey and envelop yourself in every stage of it's life. From garden to kitchen to plate. I knew exactly what I wanted. But I didn't know where I was going to get. So I recruited my new best friend which is the HTC Thunderbolt BY Droid Carried by Verizon. If something happens to this phone I will probably go into a state of depression. But anyway I did a quick search on the web for restaurants that serve dishes with locally grown produce and instantly I got a place called the Mezzanine. I pulled up my maps on my phone and typed the restaurant and immediately I had all the information with distance and direction and so I began my trip.

Often times we find ourselves wanting to support businesses who support our local farms but many times it never comes to be a reality. Lets face it most of us are all busy and the even though doing search on the net doesn't seem like a lot of time to be taken. It really is when you have other things compiled on your day. However, today I proved to myself that there is rich reward when a little effort is put forth. Because you never know what small gems are within fork distance.

Upon arriving there I was seated by a very professional and knowledgeable staff. I ordered some wine (High Note Melbac, Argentina) for anybody that cares to know what type and I ordered the special... A rare Bison with a creamy chunked Lobster Mash Potato and sauced with a red lobster rue. Wellllll I came to find out the Bison was grown in Virginia at farm that was not far from there and the Green mesculine lettuce were provided by a couple that I had the pleasure of sitting next to at the bar. These guys were pretty awesome! They were working Farmers who had full time day jobs, but they grew vegetables and sold them to the restaurant. This is a perfect example of how communities can support one another to accomplish a goal.

So now Going forward my New hobby is going to be... to try to compile a list of restaurants that I want to visit who cater to the community by supporting Local Farms and Produce. I would love to learn about any place in the World that supports Local Farm... If I am in the area I will seek out these little gems and thank them for their Service........ To Good Times and Hard Work!!

4 comments:

Sue said...

Are you one of "those" people that is staring at a phone all day?????
LOL!
Glad you found a decent place to eat on the road. And yea....it matters. I shudder to think if people didn't support these types of places. It would be a world of McDonalds. Ugh!

ATW said...

LOL!!!! Yes sue..... I am a certified self proclaimed smart phone zombie :) I stare at it all day because I'm waiting for it to jump up and start doing the dishes.. I think were close...LOL....but yes being on the road it does help to find places like these ill do some more research on each state and identify those places and post.... It should be fun.

therese wolf said...

Hi Jonathan --

So glad to see your blog. We thoroughly enjoyed talking to you at Mezzanine. We are sharing your blog with the restaurant...they are so good to work with. i see you have been trackiing your plantings and am looking forward to reading through your history of planting. Look forward to sharing more with you over time.

Therese and Steven
Graywolf Farms, Amelia VA

ATW said...

Therese--- If you get a chance I sent you an email. Im not sure it was the right one. It was great meeting you guys!! Looking forward to staying in touch:)