Saturday night was the fourth annual Wheeling Symphony Auxiliary Farm to Fork event, and it may well have been the best one yet. The circa-1830 Table Rock Farm and some glorious weather provided the perfect setting for the locally sourced feast. Event co-chairs Beth Ann Dague, Laura Reed, and Lea Ridenhour masterfully executed the rest, starting on the back patio with the delicious signature grapefruit-vodka cocktail, which hostess Heather Slack warned, “will knock you on your ass.” Credit for that goes to bartenders Eriks Janelsins and George Couch.
Tasty hors d’oeuvres kept the 100 patrons’ appetites at bay before being led to the dinner tent tucked intimately near the woods. There, chef Charlie Schlegel personally introduced each of the five courses, which expert sommelier Dominick Cerrone matched with wines and wit. The crowd went wild for the entrée, a grilled sirloin with bone marrow butter, fingerling potatoes, and grilled ratatouille paired with Castelmaure Corbieres Rouge. By the time the army of young volunteer servers brought out the blueberry cobbler dessert, the party was in full swing.
Charismatic people are the life of any party, and this one shone with smart, interesting personalities, and many new acquaintances were made. Laughter abounded as the crowd moved back up to the patio. As the last bit of daylight faded, host Ryan Slack led some intrepid visitors up to the farm’s namesake rock for a geology lesson, followed by an impromptu heavy-equipment test drive. If it wasn’t already the best Farm To Fork ever, surely this last caper put it over the top.
[satellite gallery=14]Photos by Weelunk Photographer Wallis. Feel free to download and share them.