The barn was restored, the new floor was in, the lights were hung, the farmers ready, wine glasses polished (all 150 of them!)…time for the first Barn Dinner.
The inaugural Barn Dinner on November 6, 2008 went off pretty much without a hitch considering it was the first one! The reservation sheet read 50 guests! On the day of the event the phone was ringing off the hook with people trying to get in last minute. Too bad we couldn’t seat 100 people, the reservation sheet was full a week after announcing the date!
The week prior to the dinner I drove up to McMinnville to pick up the wine from Dominio IV. 6 cases! hehehe. Let’s drink! We worked with Patrick Reuter whom I met from my first Carlton Winemakers Studio Dinner in April 2008. We will be using his Pinot Noir – Black and Red, Syrah – Old Man Looking East, and Viognier – Still Life. mmmm…
The day before the dinner we went to Ruby and Amber’s Organic Oasis to pick up the produce for the dinner. Kris and I had spoken the week prior to see what she would have available to us and that is when I wrote the menu. They had squash, potatoes, napa cabbage, garlic, cippoline onions (!), and many other items that I included in the dinner.
The days leading up to the dinner were frantic! Luckily I have a wonderful family and they helped tremendously!
The cooking was the easy part, that wasn’t stressing me out it was all the little stuff. Making sure the glasses were polished (all 150 of them!), the staff showed up, the apple cider was out for aperitif, the menus were out, the credit card machine was working, the directional signs to the farm were out…on and on. 
I had originally planned to make all the bread but while I was away checking on the barn I burned it! Woops! So, someone was able to run into town and buy me some bread from Hideaway, thank goodness for that. (We did give Hideaway Bakery credit for the bread on the menu!)
Everything seemed to flow just perfectly, the rain had stopped just for this day. Rained the day before the dinner and the day after. Our back up plan if it rained was to have the servers use umbrellas since the barn with the kitchen and the barn with the dinner was quite a distance apart, whew glad we dodged that bullet.
Here’s what we served for the dinner on that first
Barn Dinner – November 6, 2008:
Aperitif
Fresh Furrer Farms Apple Cider
First Course
Ruby and Amber’s Roasted Vegetable Salad
Squash, Beets, Carrots, Cippoline Onions, Apple Cider Vinaigrette
Blue Cheese, Arugula, Dandelion Greens
2007 Dominio IV “Still Life” Viognier
Main Course
Braised Beef Short Ribs
Ruby and Amber’s Yellow Finn Mashed Potatoes,
Honey-Bacon Braised Napa Cabbage, Vegetables, Beef Sauce
2005 Dominio IV “Old Man Looking East” Syrah
Dessert
Pumpkin Goat Cheesecake
Spiced Whipped Cream
2006 Dominio IV “Black and Red” Pinot Noir
If you’d like to join our mailing list and get emails about the upcoming dinners for this year go to the website:
http://www.barndinners.com/contact-us/ and fill in the mailing list form at the bottom of the page.
Cheers!
Heidi
2 Comments
February 17, 2009 at 2:55 am
I’m your Dad, but I can still testify that the barn dinner was an awesome experience!
March 2, 2009 at 2:54 pm
It was nice to see your blog.Just Keep Writing!
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