August 22nd, 2012
evaatprosserfarm
Zoom We are lucky ones.  This beautiful place and these fabulous people who make it all happen, this productive earth and these chefs who are so game to play with what we bring them.  We are so very lucky to have such very strong and hearty souls in our restaurants, ones who are willing to leave city life behind and come out and sweat with us in the fields.  Our team from Brave Horse Tavern came out to wrestle burlap over the cardoons, weed, weed, weed, weed, and clean up some rows for the next round of planting.  After making sure that they had earned their keep, they cleaned up for a little trip to see our friends at Kay and Clay at Chinook Winery and sample the new Lola wine straight from the tank. Upon return, pool toys were inflated and strawberry margaritas were consumed. Over dinner, we learned how many of us had come to this company through friends, family, past or present relationships.  It’s incredible to hear the stories of connections, the circular yet somehow direct and intentional pathways that bring us all together.  We learned stories of favorite meals and favorite customers. Here on this farm, in our restaurants, at our tables, and in our kitchens, this is a family, one we are lucky to be part of, and we are happy to share in it with you.

We are lucky ones.  This beautiful place and these fabulous people who make it all happen, this productive earth and these chefs who are so game to play with what we bring them.  We are so very lucky to have such very strong and hearty souls in our restaurants, ones who are willing to leave city life behind and come out and sweat with us in the fields.  Our team from Brave Horse Tavern came out to wrestle burlap over the cardoons, weed, weed, weed, weed, and clean up some rows for the next round of planting.  After making sure that they had earned their keep, they cleaned up for a little trip to see our friends at Kay and Clay at Chinook Winery and sample the new Lola wine straight from the tank. Upon return, pool toys were inflated and strawberry margaritas were consumed.

Over dinner, we learned how many of us had come to this company through friends, family, past or present relationships.  It’s incredible to hear the stories of connections, the circular yet somehow direct and intentional pathways that bring us all together.  We learned stories of favorite meals and favorite customers. Here on this farm, in our restaurants, at our tables, and in our kitchens, this is a family, one we are lucky to be part of, and we are happy to share in it with you.

ProsserDayintheLife ProsserFarmerDinner
Loading tweets...

@TomDouglasCo

About Prosser Farm
In 2006, Tom Douglas and his wife and business partner, Jackie Cross, bought a house with a little acreage in Prosser, Washington, in the lower Yakima Valley. The farm is 2½ hours east of Seattle, right smack in the middle of Washington wine country—and conveniently right next door to their pals and Chinook Winery winemakers, Kay and Clay.

At the time of the purchase, the chefs in Tom and Jackie’s joints were already using everything local they could get their hands on--whole pigs and lambs, handmade cheeses, foraged mushrooms, and Washington wines—but the new Prosser Farm would represent a commitment to narrowing the gap between the land, its producers, and the restaurants, all the while continuing to educate their chefs about the effort dedicated to creating the best, from seed to table.

Today, Jackie runs the roost as Farmer-in-Chief, with indispensable help from her Dad, Jim, who built all the raised beds, and her Dad’s wife, Sharon, who works the farm daily with a team of dedicated support staff, including a stellar team of women from the Prosser area who are now returning for their third season. The farm is managed by the ever-creative and zealous Dev Patel—a chef who continues to wow us with both his dedication to the careful selection of tomato varietals in the field and the clearest tomato water on the table.

After a few years struggling with the new farm’s learning curve, the first big year of production was in 2010. On average, 2,400 pounds of produce a week during growing season is trucked in from the farm for distribution to all the Tom Douglas Restaurants. Mellow green garlic, perfect beet greens, baby rainbow chard leaves, beautiful crisp heads of lolla rossa, and lush bunches of spicy red and white radishes are generally the first to show up in our restaurant kitchens. Later in the season, the Seattle-bound truck is filled with sweet apricots, ripe heirloom tomatoes, and a small mountain of spicy peppers and eggplants, irrigated by the Cascade Mountains’ snow-melt and ripened in the hot Eastern Washington sunshine.

Dev and Jackie work closely with the chefs when choosing which crops to plant each year, learning every season more and more about what produce works best for which menu. From the late spring until early fall, the fruits and vegetables from Prosser appear everywhere on our menus--from the tomatoes in Lola’s Greek salad to the roasted peppers on Serious Pie’s pizza to the chard in Dezi’s Meatless Monday creations at palace Kitchen. Many of our chefs have started canning and preserving in order to keep Prosser Farm produce on their winter menus.

It is our goal at Prosser Farm to continue to learn, to continue to grow, and to deliver deliciousness, served with graciousness, from our fields to your plate. Let’s eat!

Networks