An outdoor cocktail party is nothing new.
But consider the location: Tucked away amidst the industrial warehouses of the nearby West Side, near a railroad. It’s about Big Delicious Planet, a catering company that bought the land next door and then decided to build a garden. Well, several of them.
“So we started doing this series of urban farm dinners about seven years ago and it’s every Wednesday of the summer. Everyone is very surprised when they come here,” said owner Heidi Coudal.
That’s partly due to the environment, but also due to the mission: let the garden dictate the menu.
“Tonight’s menu includes 28 varieties of our edible vegetables, herbs and flowers,” he said.
That starts with past appetizers and cocktails.
“A bit of our oregano in our mixed cocktail.”
The Food Guy
At dinner, which looks like a cover story in a country life magazine, dinner usually starts with a salad. On the same subject : Saginaw Bay Trading Company brings outdoor lifestyle items to Downtown Bay City. On this night, beets and hearty greens take center stage.
“Three different varieties of beets, dinosaur kale, burrata and some of our herbs,” Coudal said.
The rest of the meal is served family style. Grouper on a bed of stewed vegetables; lamb using too large a herb.
“The lamb chops have our fresh mint, which we have plenty of. We’re making a rutabaga and carrot fritter. Roasted carrots on a bed of beluga lentils with yogurt sauce,” he said.
The plates are as colorful as a Monet painting. A wonderful reminder of the textures, colors and scents of summer, which are sadly fleeting in the Midwest.
“I mean we’re harvesting things like the morning of the event, so it’s a lot of fun. Here we have a full-time farm manager who has planted all of this and maintains it all by himself.”
Dinners are every Wednesday until the end of September. Reservations are required.
