To showcase its new gardens, the Brasserie restaurant began hosting a series of ‘harvest dinners’ in January.
The concept was simple, even if the food was not. Each meal would, as much as possible, consist of locally grown vegetables, locally produced meats and locally caught seafood.
To reinforce the farm-to-table concept, the harvest dinners take place outside next to the garden at one of two long tables. The food is served family style in bowls and on platters which the guests pass around.
The communal seating makes the dinners convivial; conversation and laughter prevail. And typical of family-style meals, no one goes home hungry.
The dinners are just part of a new initiative begun last year by Brasserie owners Clarence “King” Flowers and his wife Lisa, corresponding with some major renovations at the restaurant.
Lisa says the dinners progressed out of a friendship with Joel Walton, who encouraged the Flowers to start their own organic garden.
That was music to the ears of the Brasserie’s consultant chef, Dean Max.
“He is all about farm-to-table and had been encouraging King and me to use a piece of land in Cricket Square for a chef garden,” says Lisa.
With design expertise of Margaret Barwick and garden expertise of Joel and head gardener Winston Cobban, the Brasserie created a growing area connected to its dining room. Not satisfied with the limited growing space, the gardens also moved to areas of the Brasserie car park, including at the base of the light standards.
As much as possible, the Brasserie uses its own grown produce for the harvest dinners, but fresh fruits and vegetables are also obtained from local farmers to fill the need.
The first harvest dinner in January took place the same time as the Cayman Cookout and the Taste of Cayman, but once the harvest dinners were able to take the spotlight and shine on their own, their popularity soared. The harvest dinner in April was sold out weeks in advance.
Each dinner also includes talks by Chef Dean about the food and by Joel, who shares some of his vast knowledge of growing.
Lisa thinks the combination of all of the elements, along with the camaraderie of family style approach, has been a key to the success of the series.
Each of the harvest dinners offered different vegetables, depending on what is available ripe and fresh at the time. April’s event, for instance featured beet carpaccio, turnips, carrots, callaloo and tangy pickled radishes. Other dinners offered fresh tomatoes and vegetables like eggplant, kohlrabi, and garlic chives.
Local fruits were also featured in April; java apple slaw was served with the main course, while papaya fruit salad and chocolate cheesecake topped with oriental mulberries from Joel’s gardens were served for dessert.
Chef Dean says all of the harvest dinner menus are based on what is available locally and fresh.
“I always work my menu on a product base, so going farm-to-table is easy for me,” he says.
A classically trained chef, Dean says he can’t really classify the type of cuisine served at the harvest dinners.
“The feel encompasses the willingness to learn island cultural styles, blended with a long study of French technique and delivered in an Italian’s casual love of dining,” he says. “Maybe we can call it Modern Cayman cooking?”
With the Brasserie having its own fishing boat, fresh fish is a given at the harvest dinners.
The harvest dinners have also each featured a local meat dish. Curried goat, Cayman-style beef stew and salt beef and beans have all been on the menu.
Chef Dean says it is important to bring the local culture into the harvest dinners.
“We do so many things in the dinner our modern way, I wanted to have a feel of the local style in there,” he says.
With Cayman’s main growing season now over, the harvest dinner series will take a break until November.
Chef Dean says he doesn’t really plan to make any changes in the format.
“I just hope to keep them interesting and diverse. I love to surprise people and to educate them, so I hope to do more of that.” WH