The phrase “farm to table” gets thrown around a lot in the restaurant world and it can mean different things to different people. At its purest, a farm-to-table restaurant is literally an eatery that is located on (or at least near) a farm and the ingredients—most, anyway—that go into the restaurant’s dishes come straight from that farm. 

A good example is Hell’s Backbone Grill and Farm in Boulder, which sources fresh ingredients from its own farm. Their chickens produce the eggs used at the restaurant and the Hell’s Backbone Grill menu is brimming with farm fresh fruits, herbs, organic vegetables, edible flowers, and more, ending up in dishes like Three Sisters Posole, Fried Green Tomatoes, Boulder Beef Braise, and Handmade Pappardelle with arugula and pepita pesto. Like Hell’s Backbone Grill, a true farm to table restaurant should also be a table to farm restaurant—where virtually every scrap of uneaten or unused food goes back into the earth as compost or to chickens and other animals as feed.

When Chef Dave Jones, Sous Chef Todd Hoffee, and Pastry Chef Steve Takahashi collaborate in the Log Haven kitchen, they do it often with the freshest locally sourced ingredients. To wit, Slide Ridge Honey, Certified Piedmontese Beef, Heirlooms and More, Worden Produce, Beehive Cheese,  Creminelli Fine Meats, Green River Produce, Mountain Land, Firebird Chilies, Mountain View Mushrooms, Oakdell Farms, Nature’s Indulgence, Pepperlane Products, Redmond Real Salt, Rimini Roasters, Uinta Brewing Co, Gold Creek Farms, and Rowley’s Red Barn Cider Mill is just a sampling of the local and regional purveyors supported by Log Haven. And so, a dish like Log Haven’s vegetarian stir-fry with pulled oats is absolutely brimming with local flavor. 

One of the first local restaurants to embrace the farm to table ethic was Scott Evans’ Pago. Whether you’re enjoying a hearty helping of Pago’s Roasted Local Mushrooms with crispy shallots—or Utah Beef & Pork Bolognese—you can bet the bank that most, if not all the food on your plate was locally sourced. The chefs at Pago and Pago on Main take pride in their seasonal menus, which highlight the freshest foods available, and their commitment to supporting local food artisans. It’s a lengthy list which includes Amour Spreads, Clifford Family Farm, Frog Bench Farms, Wasatch Meats, Beehive Cheese Co, Morgan Valley Lamb, Stone Ground Bakery, Parker Farms Produce, A Priori, Pierre Country Bakery, and Sweet Valley Organics, among others.

Another pioneer in the farm to table movement here locally was Ian Brandt, whose Sage’s Cafe and Vertical Diner have kept vegetarians and vegans healthy, well-fed, and happy since 1998. With an array of dishes that feature 40 percent organic ingredients, Vertical Diner sports a plant-based menu that is 90 percent gluten free and 100 percent delicious. Sourcing as many ingredients locally as he can, Brandt and his creative cooking team satisfy customers with foods ranging from comfort fare like chicken-style “Tigers” in spicy buffalo sauce and ranch dressing, to the tantalizing Tempeh Cubano with tempeh bacun, pickled jalapeno, olives, capers, artichoke hearts, tomato, brown mustard, and cheeze sauce.

In Park City at Tupelo restaurant, chef/owner Matt Harris insists on putting the very best ingredients into all of his delectable dishes, some of which come from his own farm nearby. He also says, “At Tupelo Park City, we are proud to support local and sustainable farmers, fishers, and other food producers.” These include Morgan Valley Lamb, Rockhill Creamery (for those outrageously tasty cheese fritters), locally made burrata and andouille sausage, locally foraged mushrooms, and so much more. Vegans will go gaga over the Tupelo Barley Bowl with butternut squash, black lentils, sauteed greens, and heirloom squash puree. 

At Table X, much of the produce used in dishes is grown right on site in the 13 raised beds that make up Table X Gardens. As an example, Table X grows some 300 pounds of tomatoes for use in the kitchen annually. The bread served at the restaurant is also baked in-house. And what they don’t grow or raise themselves, Table X sources from local food artisans and suppliers: Snuck Farms arugula and other greens, Clifford Family Farm soft cooked eggs, leg of lamb from Morgan Valley, bavette steaks from Jones Creek Beef in Springville, Utah, Christiansen Farm Berkshire pork, and much more.

Down in Provo, Block Restaurant is a great choice for fresh, fabulous farm to table fare. The owners are dedicated to supporting local food artisans and sourcing the very best products for their kitchen. They run the gamut from the arugula from Snuck Farm in Pleasant Grove that goes into the Beet Salad, to Clifford Family Farm Pork Belly kissed with local peach preserves, the Slide Ridge honey comb that adorns the Charcuterie Plate, Spring Lake Rainbow Trout, Heber Valley smoked cheddar for the bodacious Block burger, and an array of locally produced beers, spirits, ciders and such from the bar.

If you’re not sure that a restaurant selling itself as “farm to table” is the real McCoy, ask questions. If servers, managers, or kitchen staff can’t tell you in detail about the farms from which their ingredients are sourced, or can’t even name the producers, then you’re probably eating faux farm to table food.

There are too many to list completely here, but restaurants like HSL, Oquirrh, SLC Eatery, Caffe Molise, Oasis Cafe, Cafe Niche, Communal, The Lakehouse, From Scratch, Zest, Copper Onion, Cultivate Craft Kitchen and others are adding to the farm to table abundance that we can enjoy at our favorite local restaurants. Do you have a favorite farm to table eatery? Let us hear about it. 

Culinary quote of the week: “I’m a California girl, right? I grew up with farm-to-table dining before it was sweeping the nation.” – Meghan Markle

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Originally trained as an anthropologist, Ted Scheffler is a seasoned food, wine & travel writer based in Utah. He loves cooking, skiing, and spends an inordinate amount of time tending to his ever-growing herd of guitars and amplifiers.

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