Nice! I am so glad it turned out great.
food looks great, i have always wanted to go to an event at chef’s garden…maybe next time. it is also surprising how many berserkers are in ohio, has there ever been an offline organized?
also i have read chappelle has pretty great taste in restaurants! josh’s decision could not have been easy…
The food looks excellent. Thanks for sharing.
There have been in years past, Loren S used to organize some although I never attended. It’s kind of difficult since corkage isn’t technically legal. Some restaurants will allow a bottle or so, but I don’t think they are set up to bring in a group for that kind of event.
As someone who has grown literally hundreds of varieties of tomatoes over the years, I’m a little surprised and disappointed that a menu showcasing tomatoes does not name the tomato varieties used in the meal.
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I do agree that would have been nice to have initially (and for posterity).
I did ask some questions, but the servers weren’t what I would call professional full time servers. It was pretty casual and I’m sure they just do these events for their special dinners.
The “Farmer” did come over and talked to us, but as someone who has only grown 2 seasons of “Heirloom” tomatoes it went right over my head.
If you inquired that specific info it was there to be had either from him (owner/farmer) or the chef direct.
That sort of detail on this night went past my knowledge though, but I can see why it would be appreciated right up front.
They literally said you could walk into the kitchen as you wanted. To put it in his words, “The only rule here is to have fun”.
He did show us a supposedly brand new tomato they were cultivating. Looked sort of like a Buddha’s Hand. Interestingly he was saying how they have to be careful to say too much these days until they are fully ramped up before they start. Not that they aren’t big on sharing but I guess the world moves too fast and he was wearing his trademark overalls.
(Edit to say, I just sent them an email asking if they could provide any more detail. I would especially like to know what the Tomato Toast was. That dish blew my mind)
I just feel that if the dinner was celebrating tomatoes it would have been appropriate to at least name the tomato variety/varieties used in each dish, and perhaps say something about it to the diners. Not even providing the variety name invites no curiosity, no questions. Tomato breeders (like other plant breeders) work hard to stabilize inbred (“open pollinated”) varieties or to develop good F1 hybrids. This dinner seems like an opportunity lost in acknowledging and appreciating the art and science of plant breeding.
Sounds like it might have been one of the fused-fruit varieties from Germany. They’re not that new, and not something I’ve grown myself yet–I’ll wait until reports of flavour are more positive. 
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I agree/d.
Would have been nice to have it listed on the menu and even have someone come out and give a quick summary. There were ~35 people so pretty easy…
even the wine importers mother would have been bored to death by his oddly lengthy sermon on the portfolio 
The champagne was surprisingly good though in a utilitarian sort of way.
I’ll report back just for giggles if they give me any more info you might find interesting.
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Well to their credit they did respond right away although very vaguely which is surprising a bit. I won’t take it further but this is what they offered.
Tomato toast- Big heirloom tomatoes
Beans and tuna- specialty house mixed cherry tomatoes
Eggplant- Mixed heirloom tomatoes
Black Cod- Momotaro & Matt’s wild
Pork Belly- Big green tomato
Dessert- Momotaro
Buddhas hand they are calling the bouquet tomato
I put in an order this morning.
Will get the regular box and two lbs. of heirloom tomatoes, 2 leeks, and 6 ears of corn.
There’s a thread on gardening/growing tomatoes. I’ve grown literally hundreds of varieties, some of which are worth going back to and growing again (disease resistant, productive, and most importantly they taste good).
Is the corn exceptional/special?
It’s expensive but I like it. I don’t see anything special other than it’ better than what you get at WF.
Not as good as the corn my Uncle grew on his farm in SNJ.
It’s fine. Maybe a touch small. Nothing like the corn I had last week from a southern Michigan roadside stand at the side of a corn field. Was picked an hour earlier - outstanding raw in the car
Never had much luck growing tomatoes and that was before moving to a high rise condo.
And here I was once under the impression that there could be no benefit to living in Michigan.
Stop by. I’ll give you a tour. It’s awesome
Yeah, that was a mostly vague response.
Matt’s Wild Cherry is a well known variety that tastes wonderful and is a PITA to harvest. It also self seeds everywhere, which can be nice (or not).
“Big Green” might be “Big Green Dwarf” (from the Dwarf Tomato Project), which is a fairly recent variety, and not (yet) an heirloom.
Both of the above are “OP” or “open pollinated” (i.e., self-pollinated or inbred varieties).
Momotaro is a commercial Japanese F1 hybrid. Nothing wrong with F1 hybrids–Sungold is another. But they are not “heirlooms”, in case one is fixated on that.
I think that “bouquet” tomatoes are just cherry-type tomatoes that have very uniform sizes which allow them to be arranged in “bouquets”. Unless what you saw were fused multiple fruits? (see “Reisentomate” for this type).
It takes some care and luck with the weather, but it’s not rocket science. Definitely worth the effort, if you have the room and decent sun.