Outstanding on the Farm
| August 25, 2009 | Posted by admin under Uncategorized |
Executive Chef, Bryan Moscatello
I have only a couple of memories of being on a functioning farm from my childhood and they were sufficient enough for me to realize I never wanted to be a farmer, until today. I am doing an event “Outstanding in the Field” on September 7 (http://www.outstandinginthefield-reservations.com/?p=156) which will feature an outdoor dinner made of all local products, from a fifty mile area, but most being from the host farm.
So I figured lets go see what I will be working with and took a trip to Ayrshire Farm (http://www.ayrshirefarm.com/farm.php). I started the day off thinking it would be like any other farm. I had only ever been to dusty places with a slight off aroma in the air and inadequate facilities to host an event such as this.
I cannot tell you how wrong I was, it was quite possibly the best working farm I have ever been to. With all of my research for our farm-to-table program, there have been many. Ayrshire Farm has it all: the gated entry way, the luxury estate, the shire horses with vintage carriages, and the barn. As if that was not enough there is full poultry, beef, veal, and hog processing plant. Oh yeah and it is USDA certified organic. They even have full composting that makes it fully sustainable. And if this seems like it might wear on you getting from one area to another don’t worry- the farm vehicle happens to be a Range Rover. The best part simply put is that there is probably about 30-45 staff to take care of all of the dirty work for you. So you can sit back and enjoy a leisurely ride on your favorite horse then head to the produce area to pick some ripe tomatoes and clip some basil for lunch. Then stop by the butcher shop and grab a veal tenderloin for dinner. Now that’s my kind of farming.
