Picture yourself Living in Marthaland
If you crave a sunset meal in an idyllic country setting, here are some suggestions.
Ah, those photo spreads in Martha Stewart – a rustic wooden table set up under a tree; black-eyed Susans and Queen Anne’s lace in canning jars; an eclectic collection of wood and caned chairs dragged from somebody’s country house kitchen. Lots of stoppered wine and cans of beer peeking from ice in a galvanized steel washtub. Kinda dreamy. Yes, you too, can live in Marthaland.
Here are some upcoming offerings that up the ante with a skilled chef to prepare your meal, local beverages to wash it down, and good company to ensure lively conversation as the sun sets.
The conversation at Dodon Vineyards on Thursday, June 21, will be about keeping those wildflowers – and grapes – coming. Sam Droege, a biologist at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center will be on hand to talk about pollinators, those essential yet underappreciated agents of plant reproduction.
Chris Amendola, whose Baltimore restaurant Foraged, is named for the expertise he developed at such restaurants as Blue Hill at Stone Barns in upstate New York and Charleston’s McCrady’s, will reinforce your esteem for bees and butterflies with a menu of wild mushroom and leek terrine, pork coppa steak and local cheese – accompanied by Dodon’s wine – the bright Drum Point with its hints of wild flowers; Oronoco, the rich red cabernet-centric blend; and Dungannon, a spicy warm merlot and cabernet franc blend named after the prizewinning thoroughbred that won the first recorded horse race on American soil, in 1743.
Thursday, June 21, 2018 at 5:30 PM
$120 for Dodon Wine Club members; $135 for their guests
391 Dodon Road, Davidsonville
A farm at sunset is a feast for the eyes.
The Elephant is lumbering from its beautifully renovated Charles Street mansion to the McDonogh School’s Roots Farm on Sunday, June 24. Guests will pick their own produce to supplement the menu of garden gazpacho, rabbit ravioli and grilled lamb with young potatoes. All paired with local beer, wine and cider.
The chefs – Anthony Davis, Roddy Domacasse and Douglass Moon – visited the farm in early June for some due diligence with farm director Sharon Hood, who led them through the gardens’ bounty.
Hood will likewise be on hand at the farm dinner to provide tours.
Sunday, June 24, 2018 at 5 PM
$135
8600 McDonogh Road, Owings Mills
La Cuchara is launching its Evenings at the Farm series on June 24 at Zahradka Farm in Baltimore County. Chef Ben Lefenfeld’s open fire menu will incorporate fresh-picked farm produce and the Basque-inspired seafood and meat that La Cuchara is known for. Tickets include everything but booze, which will be available from a cash bar (wine and beer).
June 24th, July 22nd, August 26th, September 23rd, October 21st at 5 PM
$59 (wine and beer are extra)
2300 Golupski Road, Baltimore
For information, lacucharabaltimore.com
–– Martha Thomas (aka the other Martha)
