Fire and smoke drifted toward the late evening sun, forming a curtained entrance to a garden set with a long family-style table.
The seated dinner was one in a series of events hosted by Gracie’s Farm, a one-acre slice of land managed with regenerative practices under the umbrella of The Lodge at Blue Sky, owned by Barbara and Mike Phillips.
These farm dinners highlight the produce grown in the farm, usually in multiple courses prepared by Chef Guillermo Tellez at The Lodge at Blue Sky’s restaurant Yuta.
But Thursday’s dinner was a little different.
“This dinner we’ve done several times over the past couple of years and it used to be called the Women in Food and Farming Dinner,” Barbara told the attendees.
The event, sold out for the first time this year, would feature a meal of food grown by women and cooked by a woman, with drink pairings brewed and mixed by women.
“You see women handling these really tough jobs, and so we’re here to pay tribute to the women who are in these roles,” Barbara said.
The guest chef, Sarah Glover, made the meal in her “wild” style, cooking outdoors and over a fire, with simple tools and simple ingredients. Dressed in a patchwork skirt, denim vest over a flowy top, competed with a cowboy hat, Glover strolled between fires and grills, multitasking with ease and a dimpled smile.
Whole fish were sliced in half and pinned to logs in front of a rectangular fire, racks of elk hung suspended over a pit of burning wood and ash, along with slightly-scorched cabbage, pears, peaches, broccoli and other produce.
“You probably saw everything that looked a little burnt. It’s not, I promise. Inside the burntness is golden delight,” Glover told the group before the meal was served.
Each dish was served family style, on wooden platters or in large cast-iron skillets. Generous amounts of drinks were paired with each course, either wine, a beer and cocktail mix or nonalcoholic mocktails.
Mixologist Natalie Hamilton created drinks from the bar, each featuring elements of produce grown at Gracie’s Farm — a green apple martini with a fennel sprig garnish and a sunflower orgeat topped with edible flowers and mint. Beers from Templin Family Brewing showcased the work of co-owner Britt Templin, like their 210 IPA, Kellerbier, and New Day Pilsner.
“Thank you for coming and sitting at this table and investing in this land because farming and agriculture is so, so important,” Glover said. “It is what we all need to nourish ourselves.”
The meal ended long after the sun had set, a string of lights illuminating the table. After a dessert of honey roasted peaches in vanilla mascarpone, the group meandered out, bellies full, hair and clothes smelling of smoke.
Visit graciesfarm.org to learn more about the farm and to purchase tickets for the next dinners in the series — a tomato farm dinner on Aug. 20, and two harvest farm dinners on Sept. 18 and 19.