Yesterday, I was invited to attend a party thrown at the Love Apple Farm in Ben Lomond. While the food was amazing, and the company was fun, I was most thrilled to be able to spend some time walking around the farm.
Love Apple Farm has one customer: Manresa Restaurant. I heard many guests tell hosts David and Pim that they hadn't seen them around the farmers market recently. Love Apple is the reason. Chef Kinch and farmer Cynthia Sandberg work together to decide what's grown, and what is needed for the restaurant. It's an amazing relationship, and a fantastic model for restaurants around the country. Chef Kinch is able to ask for vegetables to be grown to his exacting standards, which would not be efficient for larger farms to grow.
You can see my photos around the farm here. The party was a pig roast, and while I missed all photos of the pig, you can see plenty of amazing shots by Anita on her flickr stream.
Aside from the piggie, my favorite bites of the day were a delicious quinoa salad made by Chris Avila and his wife Emily and a beautiful chirashi made by the owners of El Paseo restaurant in Mill Valley.
