Gastronomy Blog

Every month Foodbuzz.com has a 24, 24, 24, event where 24 bloggers have 24 food events in 24 hours. There are approximately 2,600 Featured Publishers and over 18,000 members of Foodbuzz and out of those 24 are chosen each month to have a 24, 24, 24 dinner party so being picked is an exciting event, being picked twice in four months is like winning the lottery.

The last time I was picked for a 24, 24, 24 event I submitted the idea of doing 24 different Tapas in one evening for 13 people and cooked from 3:30pm until 10:30 PM. It was an awesome experience that I don’t think will ever happen again unless I’m in a professional kitchen with a staff of people because doing that many insane newly created recipes wiped me out for a few days after…..just kidding, I was ready to do it again after I was done. (click here for the last event)

At the beginning of this month I submitted my idea to visit Herbfarm to Foodbuzz and I was originally going to visit them for their Basil themed dinner but I missed the cut off. The Herbfarm changes the theme of their dinners throughout the year and I didn’t realize how often those changes happened. When I made my reservation I was told it would be a 100 mile dinner consisting of food items grown within a 100 mile radius from their restaurant in Woodinville, WA.

I was extremely excited about this idea because if you have checked out this blog before you have known that when I was working at the Farmers Markets I was meeting a lot of food producers in Washington so I was interested to see which ones made it on the menu. Also, I was interested to see how Herbfarm was going to source some of the main ingredients in cooking………salt, pepper, and butter.

Eric, slow down……What is Herbfarm?

In 1974 Bill and Lola Zimmerman purchased some rural farmland in Fall City, WA. Lola began to sell chives roadside which became popular and it forced them to sell extra herbs and within a few years they were up to 300 different varieties of herbs. Years later Ron, their son, sold his business and his wife Carrie joined Herbfarm. They remodeled the farm house and built a small restaurant off the side. It was a 6 course meal and Ron was the Chef and his wife was the host.

The excellent reviews were coming in so of course, instead of sitting around and being happy with that Ron and Carrie found Jerry Traunfeld to head the kitchen in 1990.

This brought more excellent reviews as well as heavy hitting awards from The James Beard Foundation for Best New Chef, the Mobil Travel Guide’s highest 4 star award, AAA 5 star award, and the list goes on. If there is a culinary award to win then Herbfarm has probably won it and if they haven’t won it then those people responsible for providing an award simply haven’t eaten there.

I’m a culinary student so going to Herbfarm was an easy choice. I wanted to see food given all the respect it deserves and with this 100 mile dinner theme I wanted  to see the best the Northwest has to offer.

I was told to be there at 6:15PM and the dinner would last for approximately 5 hours. Sit back, relax, eat, greet, meet, and enjoy. I was told I was going to be sitting at the European table since I was going solo for this event, I would have taken Mindy but the wallet would not allow this at this time…..culinary student!

I arrived at the Herbfarm and when I walked in I was greeted by name……..they knew who I was already. “You must be Mr. Rivera, the culinary student”.  I had a 5 minute conversation with someone at the Herbfarm when I first made the reservation so they must have been taking notes on what I was saying……it gets better. I walked in the door and they handed me a glass of punch!

What a bowl of punch looks like. Yes, I took a lot of pictures!

I was told that I could go upstairs and check out the Chef’s library and I could also go downstairs and go through the wine cellar and meet Ron Zimmerman, the owner.  Chef’s library???? Oh yeah, I’m going upstairs!

The Chef’s library overlooks the kitchen and dining area so I had my first peek at where I would be spending the next 5 hours eating, laughing, and enjoying the company of others.

done

After drooling on all the books I went downstairs to meet Ron Zimmerman. Again, I was greeted with “you must be Mr. Rivera, the culinary student”.  I wasn’t wearing my student I.D. or anything so the communication level on this whole me being a culinary student is incredible. Ron is an awesome guy and it took every ounce of energy not to do a Wayne’s World, I’m not worthy tribute (Click here). There are over 22,000 bottles of wine at the Herbfarm so I had a chance to see most, if not all of them down in the wine cellar.

I’m not worthy!!!!

done

After meeting Ron I went upstairs and went outside for a tour of the herb garden. I say herb garden because the actual farm is a few miles away. The farm is 5 acres and houses most of the food used at the restaurant. The garden is used by the Chefs for the preperation of the day’s food.

done

Ok ok ok, enough set up get to the food! I will keep this simple. Lots of pictures, and very little explanation. The food speaks for itself so there is no need for me to keep narrating. The only thing you need to do is visit Herbfarm for yourself.

The Menu

Three Soups: Garden to Sea

Dilly Cotta

Clam and Eggs……notice my name on the place card…..awesome

Lummi Island Reef Netted Salmon………Please more of this!

Seashored Beef

Goat’s Milk “Truffles”

Bowl Of Cherries

A 36-Mile Dessert

A Selection of Small Treats

There you have it, my dining experience at the Herbfarm. I left a few things out and there are lots of pictures, videos, and other details I left out of this post, I want you to go there for yourself, it is worth every single penny and every minute of time you spend there (5 1/2 hours).

After this experience I will look at food, restaurants, and my own cooking techniques in a different way. This place is at the top of their game and I can only hope that one day I can achieve this type of execution. I’m just starting my professional culinary journey so it’s nice to learn from the best.

Thank you Herbfarm, Foodbuzz, and the other diners sharing the experience with me at the table. I will do my best to repay all of you one day, I am humbled and happy.

Thank you,

Eric

Maybe one day they will welcome me as a Chef in their restaurant……….I’ll keep working, practicing, and studying.