Creating a Weekly Menu – The Farmhouse Way
Written by Marie Nygren, Posted in Serenbe Farms, The Farmhouse
If you’ve been to the website for my farm-to-table restaurant in Serenbe, or better yet, dined with us, you know we create a weekly menu for our guests at The Farmhouse. We’re open for dinner Thursdays through Saturdays. Menu development for that week’s offerings takes place on the Friday prior. Before the team begins cooking for dinner, we take a walk in the restaurant’s garden to determine what produce will be at its peak, and we consult the Serenbe Farms’ list to see what is coming off the farm in the coming week. Serenbe’s fresh, organic produce inspires the menu.
We then sit down, pen and paper in hand, and discuss what we want to do with the produce we’ll feature. On alternating weeks, we offer fish and beef or pork and chicken. We seldom consult cookbooks, instead relying on inspiration, tried-and-true preparations, and intuition. In under an hour, we have a completed menu. Due to our location in the “country,” unlike restaurants in the city that might receive daily deliveries, we are locked in to our menu, with not much room to wander from it, since orders must be placed early in the week.
On the following Thursday afternoon, we prepare that weekend’s menu for our servers before the doors open at 6:00 p.m. On Thursday afternoon, look for photos of that week’s meal on our Facebook page.
This week, tomatoes figure prominently because right now they are spectacular, always healthy, and terrifically versatile. For all of these reasons, we gave tomatoes top billing for the “Starters” course at The Farmhouse, and they can be enjoyed in our featured salad, gazpacho, or tomato plate. This week’s menu, like each week’s, features local and regional specialties.
The Farmhouse Menu – August 23-25
Starters
Mixed Lettuces with Farmhouse Garden Tomatoes, Vidalia Onions, Bleu Cheese and Vinaigrette – or – Farmhouse Garden Gazpacho – or – Serenbe Farms Heirloom Tomato Plate
Entrées
Chicken Paillards with Green Tomato Chutney and Corn, Okra and Farmhouse Tomato Salad – or – Pork Tenderloin with Pickled Mustard Seed, Farmhouse Garden Collards and Black-eyed Pea Sauté
Dessert
Farmhouse Garden Apple Turnovers with Honey and Vanilla Ice Cream – or – Chocolate Pecan Bourbon Pie
Join us at The Farmhousefor dinner Thursdays through Saturdays between 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. or for a Southern fried chicken lunch Saturdays and Sundays, 11:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Visit us online or call 770 463 2622 to make a reservation.
