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‘Garden of Eating’ week spotlights local farm products, restaurants

Hudson-Catskill Newspapers

COLUMBIA COUNTY — Starting today and continuing through Sunday, local restaurants and farms will be opening their doors to participants in the first ever Garden of Eating Tour.

Information about the tour, also known as “A Trip to Bountiful,” can be found at its Web site, GardenOfEatingTour.com.

The theme is local food. According to the Web site, “This one-week, self-guided driving tour, running from Monday, Sept. 15 through Sunday, Sept. 21, 2008, will feature delicious, creative and sustainable local food and products, highlighting the best independent, local farms and restaurants that Albany, Columbia, and Rensselaer counties have to offer.”

Farms, vineyards and orchards offer “artisanal cheeses, vegetables and fruits, meats, breads, wines, beers and even local apple vodka,” says the Web site, including pick-your-own fruits and vegetables and a “vast array of honeys, maple syrups, baked goods and more.”

“From alpaca farms to distilleries, corncakes to apple cider donuts, this first-ever, cross-county collaboration will bring together the finest the Capital Region has to offer, providing a unique window into the heart of our local food and farming communities,” says the Web site.

Meanwhile, restaurants across the three counties will be offering dishes emphasizing locally grown and harvested ingredients.

At the Vico Restaurant, 136 Warren St., Hudson, local ingredients are normally a major part of the menu.

Currently, they have a Caprese salad made from heirloom tomatoes and basil from Elysian Farm in Stuyvesant Falls and mozzarella cheese from Gumaer Dairy in Stuyvesant. The same tomatoes are used in a pasta dish.

Sky Farm in Millerton supplies the greens for a mesclun salad and a pear salad with arugula.

An appetizer, torta di verdura, which resembles a quiche, is made with in-season vegetables such as rapini from the Farm at Miller’s Crossing in Claverack, as well as Gumaer’s dairy products.

Vico also serves chicken and beef from Grazin’ Angus Acres Farm in Ghent.

Destino, in Chatham, also uses mostly local ingredients, or else produce from the New York City farmer’s markets, said manager Kevin Rice.

Currently, a summer salad features local field greens, cucumbers, beets, carrots and radishes. A three-cheese spinach-and-mushroom quesadilla includes fresh mushrooms collected locally, cheeses from the Old Sheepherding Company in Chatham, and spinach from Little Seed Garden in Chatham.

Ca Mea, at 333 Warren St., makes special salads with local peaches as well as more traveled figs and gorgonzola. The restaurant grows its own basil in the backyard, uses fresh mint brought in by a customer and uses local mixed greens when available. Ca Mea also makes its own pasta, such as gnocchi, ravioli and popper dill pasta, and is known for its teramisu.

At Local 111, at 111 Main Street in Philmont, as the name would imply, all produce, including meat and vegetables, comes from local farms.

Mexican Radio, 537 Warren St., features local ingredients in the majority of its menu items.

“In our restaurant, servers will be recommending up to 10 appetizers, all made with local products,” said manager Matt Parker.

Chile rellenos is a dish that contains exclusively local products, such as peppers, tomatoes and tomatillos.

The tour is completely self-guided. Anyone interested in taking it should go to www.gardenofeatingtour.com. To the right is a column listing the three counties and under each county “Farms & markets,” “Map of farms,” “Restaurants,” “Map of Restaurants,” and “Lodging.”

The tourgoer may click under Columbia County on “Restaurants,” for example, to find out which restaurants in this county are participating, then click on “Farms and Markets,” and construct a tour featuring the restaurants and farms he or she wishes to visit.

The tour is sponsored by Albany, Columbia and Rensselaer counties, in collaboration with I Love NY, Hudson Valley Tourism, Cornell Cooperative Extension and Columbia County Bounty.

To reach reporter John Mason, call 518-828-1616, ext. 2272, or e-mail jmason@registerstar.com.

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