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'farm to table'

Paradise Farm Tour and Brunch by Vesta Foods

June 6, 2016 By Eleanor Hoh 1 Comment

I love that we’re going back to basics, learning where our produce comes from and then sit down to share a meal! It’s a lovely way to meet like-minded folks, support local farmers and enjoy a meal cooked by chefs who use produce harvested from the farms!  I highly recommend you search for one of these events where you live, you’ll be surprised at what you’ll learn and the experience is so worth it.
GabrieleMarewski-ParadiseFarm-MiamiRecently, I got a chance to attend such an event, this one at Paradise Farm Mother’s Brunch was a farm tour with Gabriele Marewski followed by a delightful brunch cooked by my new chef friend, Sabrina Dora Lopez of Vesta Foods. I’ll be posting about some exciting projects Sabrina is working on, she’ll even come to your home and cook for you and your family! Yes, I bet that made your heart pump.  I’m so happy to write about Gabriele and Sabrina collaborating on this brunch because I really admire what they’re doing. I videotaped Sabrina’s little talk before we all chowed down to eat.

SabrinaDoraLopez-granola
Pineapple Coconut Granola with Fresh Fruit
After a superb homemade pineapple granola with fresh fruit, we started our tour with Gabriele explaining why she is vegetarian and her mission for her farm.  Because it’s organic, she doesn’t allow meat or cigarettes on her property. It’s amazing what she has accomplished since 1999, from a 5 acre avocado farm to designing a circular bed according to the ancient art of feng shui, I love that.  More about Gabriele’s farm later.
Aerial view of circle with fountain in the middle according to ancient Feng Shui practice. Photo credit: Paradise Farm.
Aerial view of circle with fountain in the middle according to ancient Feng Shui practice. Photo credit: Paradise Farm.
ParadiseFarm-fountainWe sat down to brunch after the farm tour but I snuck off during the last part of the tour to visit with Sabrina because I enjoy watching chefs prep and cook ‘behind the scenes’! I was thrilled she used all produce harvested from the farm and her specialty is using lots of herbs and spices in her cooking, woohoo!   I was so impressed she was so calm cooking for over 70 people!  The thought of it would make me run and hide, ha, ha.
Tossing squash to risotto
Sabrina cooking in outdoor kitchen!
Topping scrambled eggs with kale
Sabrina’s Mother’s Day Menu
Paradise flowers
Alex putting on her umm…
 

SabrinaDoraLopez-Brassica
Brassica Green Salad with Shaved Radishes
Blistered Tomato, Baby Kale and Egg Scramble
Blistered Tomato, Baby Kale and Egg Scramble
Oyster Mushrooms and Squash
Oyster Mushrooms and Squash before getting tossed in with the risotto.
Risotto with Oyster Mushrooms, Squash + Pesto
I could have eaten a bucket of this creamy Risotto with Oyster Mushrooms, Squash + Pesto.
ParadiseFarm-MothersDay-Brunch
Dessert: Fresh Banana Bread with Sunbutter, supposed to be for kids but we all polished it off!
Dessert: Fresh Banana Bread with Sunbutter supposed to be for kids but we all polished it off!
Cooking with what’s fresh and seasonal instead of cooking from a recipe is what I encourage folks to do when they attend my class, so I was thrilled Sabrina’s menu used all seasonal produce harvested from Paradise Farm.

ParadiseFarm-Gazebo-Brunch
Paradise Farm started out with just lettuce and now boasts 52 varieties of edible flowers along with a whole line of micro greens, herbs, root vegetables and tropical fruits. Gabriele only sells to high end restaurants in South Florida and I cannot blame her, consumers don’t buy enough to make it worth her while.  She kept taking on more and more to grow her farm including buying a very expensive dehydrator so she could preserve vegetables and fruits and avoid chemicals usually added to commercially dried ones.   She also started growing oyster mushrooms from scratch.
Gabriele-oystermushrooms-ParadiseFarmWhat I love best about Paradise Farm is an outdoor gazebo built for holding farm to table events, mostly in the winter months, so check their schedule.  It’s so idyllic and a beautiful setting for weddings, private events, learning lunch, group tours, birding or a B & B farm stay in one of her adorable bungalows, endless possibilities.
ParadiseFarm-B&B-2The best part of that day was seeing so many families out together to celebrate Mother’s Day, I got to sit next to my two “adopted moms”, Gabriele and my foodie photographer, Wok Star, blogger friend, Brenda Benoit. Go check Brenda’s version.  I could feel my mom’s presence and happy I finally made it to Paradise Farms Organic.  It’s the first year I’ve been able to actually enjoy an event and not get emotional when I see other people with their moms!  It was super Sabrina’s mom got to experience her daughter’s cooking!
SabrinaDoraLopez-mom

Sabrina-Gabriele
What a wonderful collaboration between Sabrina and Gabriele!
Alexandra, a yoga instructor was a trooper helping Sabrina!
Alexandra, a yoga instructor was a trooper helping Sabrina!
I’ll be posting about Sabrina’s exciting projects soon.
 

Filed Under: blog, chefs, farm, Support Local Tagged With: 'farm to table', "eat local", "Farm Tour", "Gabriele Marewski", "Paradise Farms Organic", "Sabrina Dora Lopez", "Support Local", "vegetarian brunch", brunch, Miami Event

Snail Award Party Updated

March 23, 2012 By Eleanor Hoh 5 Comments

Winner of last night’s Snail of Approval Award went to Chef Paula Dasilva, 1500 restaurant for her OUTSTANDING Crispy pork belly in a crispy wonton wrapper. The execution of this dish was truly sensational. I knew the minute I bit into it she’d be the winner!

Slow Food Miami’s 2012’s Snail of Approval Awards Party last night was held at the newly renovated Miami Beach Botanical Gardens in South Beach!   Fourteen Chefs using locally sourced quality ingredients competed for title Snail of Approval.  Judges included Lee Schrager, Bruce Seidel, Chef Art Smith and Victoria Pesce Elliott, with event ambassador, Chef Michael Schwartz.  There was a nice variety of dishes from an exotic Yucca Gator Croquetta to a simple Feta Cheese Mousse. As I’m not a chef or a foodie, I was worried I wasn’t going to meet anyone I knew there so was pleasantly surprised to see 2 guests who were both chefs and had attended my classes!
What a beautiful setting and perfect weather for this inaugural Awards Party to help raise funds for the Edible School Garden Program.  I’m all for encouraging kids at a young age to have a healthy, respectful attitude towards food.  That’s why getting to meet Chef Art Smith, founder of Common Threads was one of the highlights of this evening. I so enjoyed teaching a Common Threads class, their mission is similar to this Edible School Garden Program. Find out how you can get involved with Common Threads here. The other highlight was meeting Bruce Seidel, now with Electus.  He developed Food Network Star and Iron Chef America and is now heading up Youtube’s new food channel beginning July.  I’m working on a video of Bruce, so stay tuned.

Find out what the Slow Food movement is all about here and see how you can get involved or to attend future events.

Finally, here’s what everyone wants to see, the chefs and their dishes!  If you were there, tell us which dish you liked and why?

 
 
 
 
 
 

Filed Under: Miami Events, restaurants, Slow Food, sustainable Tagged With: 'farm to table', 'Slow Food', 1500 Degrees, Chef Paula Dasilva, Miami Event, Snail Award

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