Farm Dinners on the Shore, a venture begun in 2010 which pairs regional chefs, local foods and upper Eastern Shore farms to create fine dining events right on the farms, begins its 2012 season early, returning to Priapi Gardens in Cecilton for an April 14 debut.
This year Farm Dinners on the Shore is offering a more intimate connection to farm dining, making use of settings that focus on specific attributes of each farm. This will be evident at their first Dinner Series, Saturday, April 14 at Priapi Gardens where dinner will be served in a greenhouse. Farm Dinners on the Shore Executive Chef Robbie Jester’s menu is designed to reflect the greenhouse theme, and features produce grown at Priapi Gardens. Reservations for the dinner may be made at www.farmdinnersontheshore.com through Saturday, April 7.
Priapi Gardens is known for their produce, plants and organic CSA which began in 2011, as well as for their commitment to being “environmental stewards”, employing production practices based on their core value of being “Bay Friendly”, using virtually no pesticides and recycling irrigation water to limit nutrients escaping into the Chesapeake Bay.
Farm Dinners on the Shore will also return to Crow Farm in Kennedyville , timed for the debut of the white and rose wines of Crow Vineyard July 13 and 14. Reservations for the Crow Farm Dinner Series will be available mid-June.
Farm Dinners on the Shore is under the direction of Executive Chef Robbie Jester, a Culinary Institute of America graduate who has been selected for the coveted Governor O’Malley’s Buy Local Cook Off in 2009, 2010 and 2011, consulting chef at Chestertown’s Harbor House Restaurant, and chef at Wilmington, Delaware’s hot ticket Piccolino Toscana. Jester’s skills have won him inclusion in trainings from New York to Spain, and his experiences are reflected in the menus he designs.
Chef Jester collaborates with a team of chefs in orchestrating each Dinner. Returning later this season is Chef Sabrina Sexton, a professional chef, educator and recipe developer, training the next generation of great chefs as a Chef-Instructor at The Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. She studied Culinary Arts at The Institute of Culinary Education and mastered her craft through an apprenticeship in Paris at Taillevent. Chef Sexton honed her skills cooking in some of New York City’s finest restaurant kitchens. Cooking under Tom Colicchio at Gramercy Tavern, in the pastry and culinary departments, she was ultimately promoted to Tavern Chef, running the casual, front room of the restaurant. Prior to that, Sabrina worked for David Waltuck at Chanterelle as a line cook.
Also returning is Chef Rob Parker, a graduate of the Restaurant School of Philadelphia, an education that included an instructional culinary tour of France! The classical techniques he learned came in handy as he progressed to apprenticeships at Philadelphia’s premier restaurants Striped Bass and Le Bec Fin. Chef Parker’s 14 years with the Hotel DuPont and DuPont Country Club landed him with the rank of Sous Chef supervising Banquets, Member Dining and the Brantwyn Mansion. Chef Parker has discovered yet another area of expertise in his current capacity as Culinary Instructor and a regular demonstrator at Celebrity Kitchens in Wilmington.
A portion of the proceeds from the Farm Dinners on the Shore dinners is donated to organizations promoting conservation, preservation and sustainability of our local rural environment and way of life. To join the Farm Dinners on the Shore mailing list email [email protected].
Saturday, April 14, 2012
5:30 pm Farm Tour
6:00 Dinner
Write a Letter to the Editor on this Article
We encourage readers to offer their point of view on this article by submitting the following form. Editing is sometimes necessary and is done at the discretion of the editorial staff.