By Teri Williams
This event was island born! It was about community. It was about family. It was about local food and farmers. It was about wine and connecting.
Here is an email I received from Kika Westoff, event coordinator, describing the unique details of the experience:
We’re all getting super excited for our upcoming farm dinner on Orcas! Nate and I were up on the island this past weekend tasting wine with Stephanie and Cole Sisson, meeting with farmers and fishermen who will be providing all the food for the meal and taking final measurements of the beautiful barn with Steve and Mimi who own Morning Star Farm.
Needless to say, Orcas is magical and we’re beyond excited to share this experience with you all!
An additional bonus is that Cole and Stephanie (Doe Bay Wine Co.) were able to connect with seven Chilean winemakers who will attend the event and showcase their wines. The group is visiting the U.S. as part of a tour with their importer, and will serendipitously be in the San Juan’s after stops in New York and San Francisco. Many of these wines have never been sold in the states, so this will be quite the introduction!
Again, we are SO very excited to share this unique dinner with you all and thank you in advance for making your way to the Island!
And, here is the email blast from Doe Wine Company (Let me just say I was sooooo honored and excited to get 2 tickets for the event!):
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This was also about island raised generations coming back to Orcas to showcase and share what they have learned in the world. Both Cole Sisson and Nate Simmons went to school and grew up on Orcas. Nate’s dad, Eric Simmons (good to see ya again!) was the Spanish teacher for Orcas Island High School. The barn was located on Mimi and Steve’s Morningstar Farm where they have raised a family and mentored many interns of farming.
The dinner was so tasty and engaging … this is the only picture I took of the food.
The fresh menu was simple and tempting:
SEA – Dungeness crab, manila clams, seaweed, salmon skin and nori puff. The appetizers displayed on a wood tray at our table built anticipation around the menu and the wine pairings. I sipped a Jose’-Ignacio Sauvignon Blanc 2015.
GARDEN – coal roasted baby root vegetables, local mushrooms, raw milk ricotta & whey. Baby greens, peas, peavines & hen yolk, sourdough bread, farm butter with $ sea salt. A juicy Jose’-Ignacio Maturana: Camermenere 2014 was poured.
LAND – Buried lamb leg and lamb jus, smoked baby carrots, radish, honey and spruce, new potatoes, butter, herbs and garlic. Enjoyed a Jose’-Ignacio Maturana: Cabernet/Syrah 2013.
There were SWEETS served of raw milk panna cotta and strawberries, fresh chocolate cookies. We were so full by this time we had to take a pass on the last course. However, we did go down to the lower level of the barn where all the magic was happening with the food, thanked our food crew, caught a glimpse of the plating of the delicate dessert and wondered what the pairing would be for the finale.
I made many new friends from Orcas, Seattle and Chile and renewed connections with old (and younger) Orcas friends.
I definitely came home full.
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- Aglow, enchanting barn setting for dinner.
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- View of the tasting from the barn loft.
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- Mushroom melody, shrimp delights and smoked pork belly – great paring!
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- Chef Nate Simmons and his partner, Kika Westoff, who made it happen!
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- Ambrosia Chilena Imports showing off winemakers from Chile.
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- Doe Bay Wine Company’s Cole and Stephanie Sisson, introduce the winemakers and welcome guests.
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- Festive and fun, very “Orcas”
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- Winemaker – Bluehands Carignan 2011.
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- Doe Bay Wine Company is located off North Beach Road in the Eastsound Square Building. Go say “hi”.
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- June strawberries! I was “jamming” later that day.
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- Morningstar Farm veggies.
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- Pond overlooks the lush vegetable fields … or is it the other way around?
So honored to receive the invite and have a chance to check out this new and exciting farm I’ve been watching for many months. I live just around the corner and have been watching the transformation, the newest being the lavender fields.
Orcasong’s mission is to restore the land they steward on Orcas Island using ecologically regenerative practices. Guided by the wisdom of nature, they are committed to local resilience and social change and to advance through holistic education, arts and event programming, environmental advocacy and interwoven farm-based enterprises.
You can feel the mission statement when you arrive. On this day, farmers were working in the gardens and offer big smiles encouraging me to come help harvest fresh vegetables, wander and dream in the flower-filled overgrown garden laid out with purpose and standing proud in the soil. I love the mix, feeding the soul and the body.
One boy decided it was time to properly install the large stainless sink we salvaged from the old shop building before it was torn down. Each week he would lead a group in the many steps it took to put the sink in its final resting place.
