Farm to Fork 2014: A glorious feast

Last year, I wrote about my first experience at a local foodie event and fund-raiser, the Farm to Fork Picnic.  Today, a group of us returned to the same location for this year's version of Farm to Fork.

It was grand, a glorious feast on an overcast and breezy day that proved to be absolutely perfect for the event.  The food last year was good, but this year it was even better.  The 33 individual tents paired local chefs with local farms; the dishes they created were delicious.  (You can read the menu here.) A central tent featured another half-dozen places offering great food.

The way it works is simple:  You check in with registration, and then you go anywhere you want and eat anything you want in any quantity you want.  Each plate is small, but with so many delicious goodies on offer, you can easily fill up.  Even if it takes a lot for you to feel full, you will get there with this many things to try. 

I didn't sample everything, but I tried most of it, and every single thing I tasted was at least yummy, with most being way past that. 

You even get to feel good about going, because the event supports a good cause: farmer apprentice and internship programs.

It all happens in the field of a family farm. 

Click the image to see a larger version.

Though it is expensive--a hundred bucks a ticket--if you can afford it, I highly recommend Farm to Fork.  Everywhere I looked, people were talking and eating and smiling.  I was happy to live here in North Carolina, happy to be enjoying the day with friends, and happy that we have such a great and growing foodie scene. 

So much good food and so much happiness makes the price feel like a bargain.

Foodie fun

This afternoon, a group of us drove to a small, rural, North Carolina town, Hurdle Mills, for a picnic in a big field.  This was, however, no ordinary picnic.  It was this year's installment of the Farm to Fork picnic, an event I missed last year and was looking forward to attending this year.  It was a foodie paradise, with 34 restaurant/farm pairings offering at least one dish apiece to all the attendees.  You wander the tents, check out the food, and eat small portions--usually a few bites--of whatever you want, however much you want.  The restaurant list was a who's-who of the Triangle's locally sourced culinary scene.  Every single dish I sampled was at least tasty, and quite a few were top-drawer.

The day was hot and muggy but not unbearably so.  The setting was lovely.

Click on any image to see a larger one.

Picking favorites from such a great set of dishes is tough, but I'd probably give the nod to the goat sliders with chevre from Mandolin and the corn dogs with aioli from perennial favorite Panciuto.  Here's chef Aaron Vandemark of Panciuto bending over the little grill on which he was making the corn dogs.

Though the event is pricey, I recommend it wholeheartedly.  I certainly hope to attend next  year.