Over half a million Oregonians don’t know where their next meal is coming from, almost 200,000 of those being children. I know this doesn’t sound like the typical food review so far, but that’s why I’m telling you about this food experience. I find that awareness of this statistic and knowing where your food comes from in this day and age to be very important.
So I bring you to Plate & Pitchfork. The farm and dinner brainchild of Beaumont/Cully local Erika Polmar. Now, she’ll tell you that she’s an entrepreneur and glorified dishwasher, but she’s so much more. Not only does she put on the region’s most prominent farm dinners, but she also donated 150,000 servings of fruits and veggies to Oregon’s citizens in the last year alone.
Last year, I got to experience one of these events, and that’s just what it was, an experience. I arrived and was greeted with a glass of wine and hors d’oeuvre that were amazing. Things I’ve never tried before are something I’ll never say no to again. Scared of beef tartare? Try it here. With some of Portland’s finest chefs, such as Lucian Prellwitz of Beast and Maya Lovelace of Mae, you can’t go wrong. Next, we were treated to a tour of the farm where one of the owners shows you their property and explains local farming and how your food actually gets to your plate. Then, you sit down to a 5 or 6 course meal put on by these chefs that you won’t soon forget. They’re served family style in a field under the sunset with strangers that soon become friends with amazing food in common.
