Forage to Table

Join us for an immersive forage-to-table workshop and dinner. This isn't your average supper club -- part guided nature walk, part collaborative cooking workshop, we'll spend a whole afternoon learning to identify edible plants & fungi and transform them into a fantastic meal. (All in a small group setting, facilitated by an experienced forager and chef.) By the end of the evening, we'll have prepared a three course pasta dinner.  You can expect to walk away from this with a full experience of identifying, harvesting,processing & cooking wild foods all the while exploring beautiful woodlands and open fields in late summer.

• Moderately-paced plant & fungi identification walk
• Learn to identify native and non-native plants in season
• Learn principles for harvesting with integrity and care
• Harvest and prepare wild foods
• Hands-on pasta making instruction
• Share in a three-course chef-led dinner (vegetarian and meat entrees available)

Menu

First Course:

• Local greens with cooked & marinated wild vegetables and homemade floral vinegar! We will see what is in peak season at the moment and build a dish around those flavor

Main:

• Homemade Pasta - We will learn to make pasta from local eggs and flour, then we will stuff it with a foraged filling and build a sauce to compliment it.

Dessert:

• Spicebush cheesecake with mayapple - This dessert will feature two incredibly special native plants harvested on site- mayapple and spicebush. If you love tropical fruit, the mayapple and spicebush will surprise you at the flavors these two native plants have to offer-- think pineapple, guava and lemongrass.

Instructor Bio: Renee is a Catskills-based chef and designer. She is a graduate of the French Culinary Institute and has over a decade of experience working in restaurants in New York City and the Catskills. Her recent work focuses on using plants and mushrooms growing in the Catskills to make food and art. She is certified in mushroom identification, and is the coauthor of "Befriending Fungi, a pocket guide" in collaboration with Catskill Fungi. She also weaves and teaches basket making utilizing local plants.