Whole Farm Dinner at Alden & Harlow

So. many. vegetables. The bounty of summer was all around us this past week as a group of friends visited Alden & Harlow for one of their Whole Farm Dinners. On this night, they were partnering with The Food Project for the dinner, and the beautiful seasonal produce presented to us did not disappoint.

We enjoyed a multi-course meal with wine pairings in the restaurant’s atrium-style seating area. Whole Farm Dinners are limited to 10 people, and we took up seven of the seats.

The food was really beautiful and served in abundance; with the exception of some egg and anchovy slivers, it was vegetarian, which was a little bit of a surprise, but overall worked out.

{House Made Pickles}

Dinner kicked off with pickles instead of bread, something that always makes me very happy. These pickles were crunchy and tangy and perfect, one of my favorite ways to see local cucumbers used.

{Fried Shishitos, Anchovy, Grated Egg Yolk}

Our first course was bright and colorful, consisting of fried shishitos and beautiful crudité with the most addictive anchovy oil ever. We could not stop talking about the oil (bagna cauda), which went with the fresh veggies and added the perfect rich, salty, umami flavors to the course.

This course paired perfectly with bubbly , a Cote de Mas Cremant de Limoux from the Languedoc that kicked off our meal. Pink bubbles with citrus notes and the saltiness of the anchovy in both dishes went so well together.

A white wine was also poured, a Grechetto Poggio Della Costafrom Sergio Mottura. Aged in stainless, the wine exhibited notes of tropical fruit and was crisp but with a nice bit of body.

{Assorted Vegetable Crudite, Bagna Cauda}

{Seared Japanese Eggplant, Basil, Sheep’s Milk Cheese, Fregola & Garlic}

The next course was my favorite because it featured a melt-in-your-mouth eggplant dish bursting with garlicky flavor and crunch. We also had a rich ragu of pole beans, tomatoes, and bread. This course was paired with a Syrah/Nebbiolo blend from Wind Gap. This pink wine was full of flavor, super dry, with a nice body and notes of tart cherries. It was lovely with the rich tomatoes with the beans and the salty, nutty cheese with the eggplant.

{Stewed Pole Beans, Cherry Tomatoes, Torn Croutons}

Our final savory course was our carb course, a pasta that I thought was a little chewy and bland and a grilled potato dish with Za’atar Aioli. The potatoes were perfect, so tender and so summery. The wine pairing for this course was a 2012 Heitz Cellars Grignolino, a light red with strawberry notes, extremely yummy and drinkable.

{Kale Creste de Gallo, Egg, Fresh Milled Tomato}

{Apricot Parfait}

I  was full when dessert rolled around, but we were treated to an apricot parfait with a rich cardamom cream. I could only eat a few bites, but those apricots were simply summery perfection.

We all agreed the food was very, very good. Alden & Harlow took exquisite produce and dressed it up creatively, and the wine pairings were interesting, delicious, and expertly paired with the food.

Since this was a special farm dinner with a nice price tag ($60 for dinner, $30 for wine pairings, plus gratuity), we had hoped there would have been a little more of an introduction, some information on The Food Project, on the pairings, a visit from Chef, etc. Other farm dinners I have gone to (Post 390 Farm to Post) have been informational; that personal touch is what differentiates a meal from being just a regular night in the restaurant and makes it worth booking far in advance.

Service was not very warm; there was a little bit of an overall attitude. It could be because we were a chatty group of ladies, but it made us all a little uncomfortable. With all of that in mind, I don’t know that I would go out of my way to book one of these dinners again, which is unfortunate because I love the concept and have heard so many great things about the restaurant

Either way, I loved that we got to spend the evening enjoying the bounty of a local farm. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!