Dinners on the Farm
PHOTO BY LISA BRALTS-KELLY
Come dine with us on the farm and experience the essence and pleasures of eating locally and sustainably. With our on-farm certified kitchen and our Culinary Institute of America-trained chef, Alisa DeMarco, we are creating four to five course meals crafted from the freshest local ingredients. Many of the vegetables and fruits served are grown organically on our farm.
The meats and other products come from neighboring farms throughout Central Illinois and within our Midwest region. We invite many of these farmers as guests so that diners can meet them and learn about their farming practices. We offer a vegetarian main course for those requesting a vegetarian meal. You must make this request via email upon completing your reservation. Of course, we try to weave in our award winning cheeses into many of the courses. Exclusive of the dinners featuring local micro-brewed beer or those featured as "wine dinners," we ask you to bring your own wine or alcoholic beverag, since we don't have a standing license to sell or serve alcoholic beverages on the farm.
We'll kick off the 2012 season in late May with our customary spring lamb dinner. In total, we will be hosting 14 dinners every two weeks well into the late fall. For inclement weather dinners, we have a fully furbished "dining room" inside our barn. Using recycled barn siding to line the walls, you're sure to feel cozy.
Most of the dinners are held on Saturdays, except where noted in the descriptions. Saturday evening dinners start at 4PM, whereas Sunday afternoon dinners start at 1PM. When guests arrive, typically, they are greeted with hors d'oeuvres and a refreshing non-alcoholic drink prepared from herbs, fruits and honey produced on the farm. We encourage you to arrive on time to ensure you get to try all of the hors d'oeuvres. We offer a tour of the farm after about 30-45 minutes from the start of the event. Feel free to bring a lawn chair if you would prefer to just sit in the orchard and enjoy your hors d'oevres and drinks before dinner.
PHOTO BY LISA BRALTS-KELLY
Following the tour, we serve dinner starting at around 5PM for Saturday evening and around 2PM for Sunday afternoon, and expect to end the meal after about three to three and one half hours. It is a truly slow food event, and we encourage guests to wander the garden between courses.
While we strive to create an elegant, peaceful and delicious evening for our guests, we need to acknowledge that this is a farm and the meal is served outdoors. As many of you know, farms come with ocasional odors, insects, wind and dirt. Outdoor events can be subject to inclement weather as well. We will try to complete the meal before it gets too dark and biting insects become a problem. However, if you're attractive to biting insects, we encourage you to bring the repellent of your choice.
PHOTO BY LISA BRALTS-KELLY
Our events are held RAIN OR SHINE. If rain is forecast, we will dine inside the dining room of our pole barn.
Because we believe that the full flavors of local foods are best savored outdoors, we want you to be prepared for the 'darker' side of the outdoor elements. It could be a hot sultry evening, it could be windy, it could rain or in the fall, it could get chilly. Please wear or bring appropriate clothing and hats for the weather of the day. If the forecast calls for significant really nasty weather, we will move the dinner inside our fully furbishe pole barn dining room.
To make reservations for one or more of the dinners, please CLICK ON THE LINK IN THE DESCRIPTION OF EACH FARM DINNER ON THE "DINNER SEASON" PAGE OF OUR WEBSITE.
Our policy regarding children and pricing: Given the limited number of seats for each dinner, we are not able to offer a reduced price on meals for children. We don't discourage people from bringing their children; however they would have to pay the full price. Also, please let us know in advance if you plan to bring your children.
CANCELLATION POLICY: You can receive a full refund if you cancel your reservation one week prior to the date of the dinner you are scheduled to attend. Please email or call us as soon as possible, if you need to cancel (prairiefruits@gmail.com or 217-643-2314). If you cancel less than one week prior to the dinner, we won't be able to issue you a refund.
WAITING LIST POLICY: We no longer take names for waiting lists for each dinner. If we receive cancellations, we will repost the seats on the website and notify folks through our email mailing list. Sometimes, we will offer dinner seats for sale on the day of the event at the Urbana Farmers' Market.
