Farms? In Prosser (Washington)?

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Back in 2006, our favorite Seattle restaurateur, Tom Douglas and his wife and business partner, Jackie Cross, bought a house on a little farm. They chose Prosser, an area in the lower portion of the Yakima Valley. They converted three of the twenty acres into a little vegetable garden. Little did they know they were making tiny steps toward a farm to table operation that would become world famous.

Each week, the produce is driven the nearly 2.5 hours into downtown Seattle. Among the choices are beet greens, mint, baby rainbow chard, lolla rossa, radishes, eggplant, spicy peppers, hundreds of pounds of tomatoes. Roughly 2,400 pounds of produce are trucked into the Tom Douglas restaurants each week.

We are fortunate to be invited to attend a function out at the Prosser Farm, complete with dinner and champagne. The farm is managed by Dev Patel. He works closely with Jackie and the chefs to decide which crops to plant each season. Basically, the field is adapted to the menus of each of the Tom Douglas restaurants.



There will be the three Prosser Farm dinners, beginning in June. We will attend the third and final dinner in October. Here is our invitation:


• Saturday October 25th, 2014


We invite you to head over to gorgeous Eastern Washington to our Prosser Farm Dinners! Come and experience the best of this season’s harvest in an intimate 6-course dinner at our Prosser Farm with an exquisite menu designed by our Chef and Farm Manager, Devarshi Patel. The dinner will begin with welcome appetizers and champagne outside, followed by a tour of the farm, delicious wines and a few surprises all hosted by the Farmer-in-Chief, Jackie Cross. The communal dinner table is set inside Tom and Jackie’s farm house ~ just a few yards away from the farm! We will have three dinners this year, each showcasing the best of the season. We will send the full menu to you two weeks before the dinner - let’s see what’s popping out of the ground!

Here is the June 21st dinner:

<span><span>June 21st marked the first day of summer, the longest (and maybe prettiest) day of the year, and the first of our Prosser Farm Dinner series<span>!

The dinner was multiple courses, starting with a poached rhubarb salad and finishing with sheep milk panna cotta and perfect cherries. The chef and farm manager, Dev Patel along with his pal Brett Jennings prepared dinner for all 16 guests while Jackie and Katherine Ferl poured wine and served dinner. It was a still, warm evening that started with a special lovage cocktail and snacks at the red table overlooking the Yakima River. After introductions everyone sat down around the family table inside and enjoyed the first four courses and the lovely wines paired with each of the dishes. We took a seventh inning stretch with a stroll around the upper farm beds and a visit to the chickens before returning to finish the last four courses. Our guests were up and down throughout the evening watching the cooking action and even helping to plate a course.

Although everyone came from different parts of the state they all left as great friends with each other and especially to us! See some of the beautiful dishes from the dinner below!

THE DINNER MENU for us on Saturday evening:




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Carrots in bric dough, raisins, pinenut butter, greque sauce

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Salad of winter greens, root vegetables and chanterelles

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Winter squashes and summer preserves

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Soup and salad of rutabaga and onion

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Ash roasted beets, spinach, pork jus

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Confit of beef cheeks, dry beans, stewed tomatoes, sumac

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Cow milk cheese, anise hyssop, concord grape sauce

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Compressed apples, biscuit crumble, bay leaf anglaise

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And Washington wines and champagne to go with each course, of course!

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I can hardly wait!!!!

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PS: It is 2:30am, and we are getting ready to take a 6am flight to Seattle! What some people will do for a meal.

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