This is an experince worth traveling for.
Stone&Thistle Farm is a livestock and poultry farm located in East Meredith, NY. On Sat nights Memorial Day through Thanksgiving, you can partake in a unique dining experience.
What an interesting experience! What a great idea!
First of all, I must say...you WILL get lost. Get good directions, because your GPS is useless there. My suggestion for them would be a sign at both ends of Kelso Road.
By the time we arrived, we were 3 minutes too late for the farm tour. I was disappointed that Farmer Tom wouldn't wait 3 minutes for us when he knew we were down the block. Oh well. My husband wasn't interested in a farm tour anyway...and it was dark anyway. So we stood back in the farmhouse and enjoyed a bottle of wine by the fireplace. It's all good!
We were both surprised how good the local wine was. Usually wines from NY (upstate and Long Island are undrinkable, IMHO..but they must have took care to hand select a good selection, because they one we had was nice. However, we downed an entire bottle and neither of us felt even a little drunk...so I question the alcohol content on the label. After 2 glasses of wine, I am usually swinging...but I felt nothing. But it was tasty, so it is all good. And we did have to drive back through dirt roads swerving around cows, coyotes, deer, so even better!
The first course was a fantastic pate. Amazing stuff.
I am not usually a big bread person, but this bread was amazing. Maybe even the best bread I had in my life. And it is served with a delicious butter, that I think they make right on the farm.
The second course was acorn squash. I love acorn squash, so I liked it. It was overcooked, and a little bland. I still enjoyed it.
The third course was an amazing beef stew. The ingredients were so fresh, and the preparation was very good. The chef was kind enough to sub lamb for my non-beef-eating husband, and veggie stew for the young vegetarian couple to my left. I did tell her ahead of time, and we appreciated her flexibility.
The fourth course was a simple lettuce salad with pear viniagrette. Maybe we were all stuffed by this point, but this seemed a little boring. It lacked pizzazz. It was refreshing to have the salad course AFTER dinner though. And the lettuce was incredibly fresh. I think it needed another ingredient...perhaps goat cheese from the farm?
The fifth course was apple tart with homemade ice cream and the strongest coffee I have ever had in my life. Smart. She knew lots of folks had to get back to their B&Bs, swerving around cows and coyotes on curving dirt roads in the total darkness.
For this 3 generation city girl...it was fun to meet real farmers. I couldn't help but feel Denise was a little standoffish when we arrived, and obviously overwhelmed..but I couldn't prepare a 5 course meal for 22 people, so I understood. She was very friendly afterwards, so I think she was just stressed. Our one other complaint was that the Farmer was doing his best to make folks comfortable by chatting with them, but he tended to monopolize every conversation. Also, I am very comfortable chatting with complete strangers, but some (like my husband) are shy and very uncomfortable with that. Despite that, he enjoyed himself a lot, as did I.
This was a fantastic experience that I would highly recommend. It is unique. It not mainstream. It is so interesting to meet the folks that grow our food. It is delightful to have organic food that is fresh and lacking steroids & pesticides...it DOES taste better. The experience would be reason enough to partake in this dining experience....the gourmet food is the cherry on top. I would recommend this is everyone, and I long to return! read more