Farm to Table dining

In anticipation of our upcoming weekend trip to Vermont (I sure hope that it will be this coming weekend of August 15-16, barring any work emergencies), I found this Top 25 list of Farm to Table restaurants in the U.S. I was searching for the elusive name of a renowned Quechee restaurant in Vermont that focused on locally sourced ingredients. I found out about The Farmers Diner when researching local CSA options in the Boston area, and came across a description of a Vermont CSA that sounded idyllic, but alas, was much too far away and fully contradictory to one of the reasons for joining a CSA in the first place (the proximity of the farms, reduced carbon emissions). This Top 25 list dovetails quite nicely with my previous post on the Top 25 pizza joints in the U.S.!

(Note that we've been on hiatus with the posts...forthcoming posts on our meals at Alinea in Chicago, and O Ya in Boston require substantially more thought and wordsmithing. We'd be giving those temples of fine dining short shrift to merely repeat, "Mmmmm. Yummy. Delicious." and so on and so forth. Also, we have been quite busy enjoying the amazing produce and meat bounty that our produce CSA, Waltham Fields, and our meat CSA, Chestnut Farms, have heaped on us. Lots of simple preparations, with Ben doing most of the heavy lifting.)

Highlights on this list include Chez Panisse (Berkeley, CA), Blue Hill at Stone Barns (Pocantico Hills, NY), The Farmers Diner (Quechee, VT), The French Laundry (Yountville, CA), Momofuku (NYC), and Oleana (Cambridge, MA).

I can attest that Chez Panisse exemplifies the Farm to Table ethos, since Alice Waters is pretty much the mother of the local movement. If we're lucky, Ben and I will make it to the Farmers Diner this weekend (and check out Oleana on some day when we aren't otherwise cooking at home)!

Jacques Pepin, I Heart You!

Watching Top Chef last night, I wanted to squeeze Jacques Pepin's cheeks and kiss him! He is so adorable and had the nicest comments about everyone's food, even Leah's runny slow-poached egg and thin hollandaise sauce. I felt that Bravo's commercials for last night's episode were misleading--I thought Fabio had cut off a finger or something--but the episode overall was very entertaining, esp. the Last Supper theme.

Speaking of last suppers, after Top Chef Ben and I discussed what our last meals would be. My last meal would be a huge steaming bowl of ramen, with lots and lots of craaaaaazzzy pork in it. I think I'd start with the 88 Food Court - Ken's Ramen - miso ramen bowl with the soy sauce egg, and add Momofuku's toppings, but multiply the amazing sliced and shredded Momofuku pork by a factor of AT LEAST 10. And serve some Momofuku steamed pork buns on the side. I would definitely die a happy person.

Ben's last meal would be a super burrito. It makes sense - he loves rice, beans, avocado, and good grilled meat - just hold the cheese and sour cream.