Farm Dinners Celebrate Seasonal Foods and Connect Visitors with Midwestern Farming Traditions

The following is from the Chicago Botanic Garden:

Celebrate the best in midwestern foods with the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Farm Dinner series—enlightening evenings graciously staged in the Regenstein Fruit & Vegetable Garden.

The popular series, now in its fifth season, kicks off at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, July 16, 2014, with a cocktail hour and passed appetizers. The evening continues through 8 p.m. with a tour, multi-course seasonal dinner, dessert and the chance to meet leaders in the sustainable food movement. Farm dinners will also take place on Wednesdays, August 13 and September 3, 2014.

All food is prepared by Cleetus Friedman, acclaimed executive chef of Chicago’s Fountainhead Restaurant and The Bar on Buena, popular eateries dedicated to serving farm-to-table pub fare. Guests can make connections to the food they eat by chatting with participants in the Garden’s Windy City Harvest programs. They will share the techniques they used to plant, produce and harvest the produce on the menu.     

Guests can enjoy the wares of Death’s Door Spirits, of Washington Island, WI, during cocktail hour, while beers and wines will be paired with each dinner course. Breweries and wineries include Begyle Brewing Co., Penrose Brewing Co., Stone Brewing Co., Bonterra Organic Vineyards, Candid Wines and H2Vino. Jeanne Pinsof Nolan, founder of The Organic Gardener, Ltd., a company designing, installing and maintaining organic edible gardens, will be on hand to talk about and sign her new book, From the Ground Up at the dinner in September.

Tickets are available online or at the Visitor Center Information Desk. Admission is $220 per person. Proceeds from the dinner support the Garden’s Windy City Harvest urban agriculture programs. Seating is limited to 60 guests. Vegetarian and dietary restrictions can be accommodated upon request. See our website for more details: chicagobotanic.org/farmdinners.

The Farm Dinners series is generously supported by BMO Harris Bank.

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