Plate & Pitchfork contacted me in April 2012 to inquire if River Wave Foods had any interest in participating in their 2012 farm dinner series. River Wave Foods was indeed interested so we took out an ad as well as signed up to participate in a farm dinner at Viridian Farms along with Wildwood Restaurant and Van Duzer winery. The dinner was held this past Saturday and the weather could not have been nicer. Julie Z and I started the day early and drove the 2 hours to Dayton, OR where the dinner was to be held at the farm. After a bit of circling the tall rows of corn, bean poles and vast fields of veggies and flowers we came upon the site of the dinner. The guests were to dine at one end of the farm while the "reception area", where River Wave Foods was positioned, was quite a distance from the dining area, in a grove of trees next to a dirt lot that would serve for parking. Rustic was the word both Julie and I used numerous times to describe the scene. Once directed to the correct area Julie and I set up. While the weather was wonderful, our spot was in the direct path of the setting sun, our trusty rain or shine farmer's market tent was a life saver. Since we were early we set up and then went on a search for food. Dayton, Oregon is a small town home to a bank, a lovely park, an old gas station remodeled to house an espresso coffee house, Lupita's Tacos, Roman's Pizza and the Block House Cafe. Ferry Street is Dayton's main drag, which we cruised down 3 times passing a colorful Hispanic wedding, before deciding and finding the Block House Cafe. The cafe is housed in a historic building that was under renovation, but they were open for business. For 2 pm on a Saturday afternoon the cafe was quite busy. There was a family of about 8 whose food had just arrived as we sat down. A young, big guy in the family ordered the "Block House Burger" a monstrous burger that probably could have fed the entire table. It looked fantastic. I did order the mushroom and swiss cheese burger that was delicious while Julie had a chicken Caesar Salad that was also quite good. After our meal we headed back to the farm. Guests were scheduled to arrive around 4:45 we would have about 45 minutes to offer our samplings of River Wave Foods products and talk with the guests. By 4:30 we were all set, all that was missing were the dinner guests. Slowly they streamed in and pretty soon Julie and I were handing out the paper thin crackers topped with marscapone cheese and our lovely fig and olive tapenade. The guests were fantastic. Along with the tapenade we offered roasted carrots and cherry tomatoes both brushed with the Argentinean Chimichurri. Suffice to say the diners ate with relish, with a lot of oohing and ahhing. It was great fun and a good cause.
