Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/514590
88 | JULY 2015 nshoremag.com BY KILEY JACQUES Summer on the North Shore means farm-style alfresco dining is in full swing! For those who are under the impres- sion that Smolak Farms has fallen into the grip of commercialization, business and marketing manager Kelley Small has a ready answer: "Unfortunately, we are not liv- ing in a time when [local] farms can survive on what they produce alone," she explains. "The expecta- tions from customers have grown, so must the business. We try to keep all of our activities farm re- lated—sometimes that is not what the public demands, but we do our best to please everyone." Nowadays, a large operating farm like Smolak must diversify its work. Bad weather and its effect on a major revenue-generating crop like apples can result in unfore- seen financial setbacks. Losing out on a solid yield puts them far be- hind the eight ball, as half of their earnings are generated in the fall. If people aren't picking and buying apples and eating those famous ap- ple cider donuts, the farm suffers. So they have to get creative. Hence, the idea for their Whim dinner series, which will cel- ebrate its fifth anniversary this summer. Whim is the brainchild of JP Faiella, CEO of Image Un- limited Communications. Faiella and Small began brainstorming around the idea of what would it look like to have city chefs arrive on the farm to create a meal on a On a Whim photographs by Sarah Jordan McCaffery in-depth DINE whim. They developed the concept, smoothed out the details, and put the idea into action. Today, seven dinners are held throughout the months of July and August. Each Wednesday, chefs collaborate with students from Boston's Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts on a meal prepared with local seasonal ingredients and served alfresco. The farm setting, tastefully appointed tables, and inspired cuisine define the Whim experience. "The students come in having no idea what to expect, but they learn so much working under the guid- ance of so many chefs—each has a unique style and expectations," says Small. The original mission of Whim was to expose visitors to the farm's shady pine grove as an event venue. Today, however, Whim is about