This November, Chef Ben McPherson will venture outside the kitchen during a casual one-night farm dinner at Finca Tres Robles, his first-ever event at the urban farm located in Second Ward. The affair will take place from 5:30 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, November 5, in an intimate setting highlighted by communal tables and live music from Come Guerrero, an East End Norteño musician.
For a price of $65 per person (tickets are pre-sale only and available for purchase online), guests will have the opportunity to soak in the unique vibe, observe as McPherson prepares the evening meal, and get up close and personal with the challenges and successes experienced by property owners and brothers Thomas and Daniel Garcia-Prats in regard to developing farmland in an urban environment. Proceeds from the dinner will be donated to a local charity chosen by the brothers.
The multi-course family-style meal will include produce picked on site the day before (fingers crossed for fall tomatoes), but McPherson says he will supplement his finds with kitchen staples and meats from local sources, including chicken from The Barry Farm. Dessert will likely entail a simple dish focused on plantains grown at Finca Tres Robles (as long as they are ripe in time), and complimentary local beer will be served. “The biggest thing about this is the setting. That right there – we’re selling an experience; it’s not just a dinner, it’s a full experience,” says McPherson. “It’s not just about the food, it’s about everything – the people, the band, the sense of community; it’s about earth and farming.”
Tickets are currently on sale and are expected to go fast, so potential guests are encouraged to snap up a few as soon as possible. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Eventbrite website.
This article appears in Oct 13-19, 2016.