Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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92 JUNE + JULY 2018 NORTHSHOREMAG.COM Smolak Farms' garden- to-gourmet 2018 Whim Dinner Series features both new chefs and returning favorites. By Carolina Worrell DINNERS IN THE ROUGH e days are longer, the weather is warmer, and the freshest produce of the region is available, which can only mean one thing: Smolak Farms' 10-week pop-up Whim Dinners are back. Now in their eighth season, these farm-to-table experiences feature multi-course dinners "in the rough" prepared by some of New England's finest chefs, with proceeds going to each chef 's charity of choice. From June 20 through August 29, guest chefs—two first-timers and eight returning chefs—will create menus on a whim based on seasonal fruit and vegetables for an unforget- table evening of dining set under a lit-up tent. "e success of these dinners is due to a combination of exceptional culinary talent on the part of the chefs, the freshest ingredients from our farm, the best entrées sourced by the chefs, and an incredible site for these nestled in a 125-year-old pine grove set on a 300-year- old farm. How can we miss?" asks Michael Smolak, owner of Smolak Farms and one of the masterminds behind the dinner series, who adds that the idea came to him from a dream he had—an idea or a whim to have something like this on the farm. "I cannot say / I N -D E P T H / PHOTOGRAPHS BY SARAH JORDAN MCCAFFERY for sure that it was divine intervention, but I am open to this," Smolak says. Divine intervention or not: one thing is for sure—the success of these whimsical and chari- table dinners, which are the brainchild of both Smolak and JP Faiella from Smolak Farms' PR firm, Image Unlimited Communications (IUC). What began as a three-session tasting back in 2010, grew to seven dinners, and then to ten, with some of Boston and the North Shore's top chefs in the lineup. is year's series features seven returning restaurants—Grill 23, Harvest, Post 390, Gaslight, Davio's, e Langham, and Turner's—with some having changed chefs along the way, Smolak says, and one newcomer, Bos- ton's French-inspired Bistro du Midi, led by chef Robert Sisca. "I am very excited I was chosen in this year's series," says Sisca, whose restaurant group, Himmel Hospitality has been a part of these dinners for years. "As a chef, this is what