Spring has been very good to us in central PA. I wanted to shoot a quick video because we have been getting two AMAZING products delivered to us at the restaurant. The first product is from Tim Brown in Littlestown.....the most incredible strawberries. We had a flat of strawberries from Tim last week that were from his greenhouse, but these little gems are the first to be produced outside and I've gotta tell you, they are just incredible. If you buy strawberries throughout the year at your local mega mart, you need to try and get your hands on a few of these babies. They don't even taste like the ones you get in the store. They are bound only by the fact that folks will refer to them as 'strawberries'. This is a perfect illustration of Marco Pierre White's assertion that 'mother nature is the true artist, we are only technicians'. That quote is spot on and was the first thing I thought of when I bit into the first little 'fruit bomb'.
The second fabulous product we've gotten our hands on lately is local morel mushrooms. We are very lucky to have Jeremy Braughler as one of our waiters. He has been with the restaurant for almost two years now and does a really great job in our dining room. The other thing he does (with his parents) is forage for morel mushrooms in the spring. I've had the great opportunity to talk to his parents about the mushrooms and food in general and they are honestly some of the most interesting people you could ever have the chance to meet. As you can see from the photo, the Braughlers have dropped off yet another haul of mushrooms to the restaurant and we couldn't be happier.(sometimes at this time of year I feel like the 'shrimp guy' from Forrest Gump. Morel pizza, morels with sea bass, country ham stuffed morels, etc, etc) I'll post some photos of finished plates in the next couple of days, but I wanted to take the time to romance the raw product. Next time you're at the market, pick up some food and really admire it in its raw state. Mother nature is the true artist. Take the products home and do as little as possible to them and allow them to shine!(I honestly considered serving a plate of simply sliced strawberries this week....that's how amazing these berries are.... no kidding)
6 comments:
This post made me smile wide. I don't think I needed any convincing that you loved food and cooking, but this certainly made it clear that you are very serious. Bravo chef.
Thanks for the post, Bob. Now comes the next test....when are you going to make the trip to Hanover to see and taste things first hand?
I wish I could say "very soon" chef but I think you are pretty far from where I live, no?
I'm assuming you are based in the northwestern 'burbs of Philly. Depending on your access to the turnpike, you're looking at about two and a half hours. If I'm really hitting good traffic I can make it to King of Prussia in just over two hours. HOWEVER, we have rooms to the Inn and you really need more than one day and night to fully experience everything we have going on out here. If you want to plan a weekend, let me know...I can arrange some tours of farms that produce our products and we can really have some time to explore the gardens on the property. Cheers!
Yeah, I mapped the route and it looks like 2.5 hours. Also, I'm mildly embarrassed to say, I pulled up your Inn's website for the first time last night and was wildly impressed by it's beauty. Wow.
I'm planning to be in the area in July, I'll try to work it out. Thanks for the invite!
Bob,
It's an hour and a half from the Downingtown Exit of the turnpike.....well worth the trip.
Take my word for it.
Post a Comment