(Sungrounded Farm, June 2021 | Photo by Amanda Photographic)
Central Oregon Locavore’s Meet Your Farmer Dinner returns Wednesday, July 16, from 6-8:30pm at FivePine Events’ Creekside Patio and Lawn at 1021 E Desperado Trail in Sisters, with a family-style menu built around two regional producers, Mahonia Gardens and Cascade Mountain Pastures. Seats are limited for this intimate experience.
“At a market stall, you get a minute. At this table, you get the whole evening with the farmer, the rancher, and the chef who built the menu around their harvest,” said Nicolle Timm-Branch, executive director of Central Oregon Locavore. “When people break bread together like that, the connection tends to outlast the meal. They go looking for that farm’s name the next time they shop, or they book the table again the next time it’s offered.”
Guests share a long table for an evening that starts with passed hors d’oeuvres and social time with the farmers themselves, before moving into a family-style dinner: a tomato and cucumber salad with whipped feta, citrus-brined lamb and herb garlic chicken served with mint pesto, romesco, and skordalia, summer vegetable farro, and za’atar-roasted potatoes, finished with a strawberry galette.
“We had a blast when we did this dinner in 2024,” said Benji Nagel, of Mahonia Gardens in Sisters. “I don’t get to meet a lot of the people who eat my vegetables. At this dinner, they sit across from me and we talk about all kinds of things – people ask me whatever they want.”
Tickets are $139 per person, inclusive of gratuity and available at square.link/u/cUDJBLBO. Proceeds benefit Central Oregon Locavore nonprofit. Guests who want to make a night out of it can book a suite or luxury cabin at FivePine for just $199 plus tax using promo code LOCAVORE at FivePine.com.
About Central Oregon Locavore:
Central Oregon Locavore is a Bend-based nonprofit marketplace connecting local farmers, ranchers, and producers directly with Central Oregon families. Founded 17 years ago on a farmer-first model, Locavore returns 65 cents of every marketplace dollar directly to regional producers. The organization supports more than 150 local farms and makers and is committed to building a resilient, accessible, and community-centered regional food economy.
