Spectacular views and historic ambiance join the creations of Chef Daniel Orr on the menu for Indiana Landmarks’ Farm-to-Fork Feast in Monroe County on August 3. The event is one of four summer feasts staged by the organization to highlight historic places in Indiana.
The Farm-to-Fork Feast begins with a tour of the historic Ben Owens Farmstead in the Maple Grove Road Rural Historic District. Owned by David and Mary Ray, the impressive Civil War-era farm retains its 1864 brick home, large barn, outbuildings, and dry stone walls, a prominent feature of the Maple Grove Road area.
Plein air artists whose work appears in the new coffee table book, Painting Indiana III: Heritage of Place, will be painting at the Owens Farmstead during the event. Guests can watch Vivian Gladden, Margaret Hanke, Tricia Hillenburg, Wyatt LeGrand, Ron Mack and Larry Rudolech painting landscapes and buildings on the site. The book, published by IU Press, Indiana Landmarks and the Indiana Plein Air Painters Association, will be available for sale at the event.
The main event takes place among the grapevines of Oliver Winery’s Creekbend Vineyard on a hilltop overlooking the Bean Blossom Creek Valley. The first grapevines were planted in the 1960s by Bill Oliver’s father, long before the property began growing grapes for Oliver Winery in 1994. Since then, Creekbend Vineyard has expanded to approximately 75 acres, with a nineteenth-century brick farmhouse and historic barns.
The family-style dinner will feature a menu crafted by Chef Daniel Orr of FARMbloomington, who draws much of his produce and meats from his family’s historic Gibson County farm. Highlights include an assortment of farmers market vegetables stuffed with Capriole Farm goat cheese, yellow tomato gazpacho, grape and grain salad, and a choice of pork tenderloin or venison marinated in Oliver Creekbend red wine and smoked over vineyard vines. Dessert will be Ile Flottante, a meringue floating in crème anglaise, with fresh berries. Each course will be paired with an Oliver Creekbend wine.
The event is sponsored by Indiana Landmarks, with support from Pell Roofing & Siding, Odle McGuire Shook Architects, and Golden Hands Constructon. Indiana Landmarks, a statewide nonprofit organization, saves and restores historic places and uses preservation to revitalize neighborhoods and communities.
Farm-to-Fork Feast
Aug. 3, 5-8:30 p.m.
Dinner at Oliver Winery’s Creekbend Vineyard, 7508 N. Woodall Rd., Ellettsville
Pre-dinner tour at the historic Ben Owens Farmstead, 4595 N. Maple Grove Rd., Bloomington
COST: $65 per person; $50 per person for Indiana Landmarks members
RSVP: Reservations required; http://farmtoforkfeast.eventbrite.com
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