ASHLAND – Downtown Ashland will be the setting for a unique dining experience when Ashland Main Street hosts a Farm to Table dinner on Saturday, Aug. 6.
Main Street is scheduled to be closed from Claremont Avenue to Center Street to make way for dining tables and dinner guests. Music and cocktails begin at 6:30 p.m. with dinner following at 7:30 p.m.
“You will enjoy a wonderful dinner that has been prepared locally and you’re supporting local farmers,” said Sandra Tunnell, executive director of Ashland Main Street.
Local chefs will create a five-course meal using locally grown food. The menu is subject to change, but tentatively will include a fried squash blossom, gazpacho, local meats, watermelon salad and dessert. In addition, there will be a cash bar set up in PNC Park.
Businesses involved in donating or preparing food include Honey Haven Farm, Fergie’s, The Old Elevator, Pump House Ministries, Eva’s Treats, Local Roots, Bella Bleu’s and Mitchell’s Orchard. The Elks are helping with set-up and a team from Ashland University is helping with food service.
Tunnell said the idea to have a Farm to Table downtown started with a Facebook post, with a photo of another community having a similar event in their downtown. The post prompted a huge reaction, convincing Tunnell that it was time to try a similar event here.
“The whole concept, with Ashland as an agricultural community, it makes perfect sense. To have people eat local food prepared locally in downtown seemed to mesh with all our different ideas and it just seemed to kind of come together,” Tunnell said. “It should be really exciting.”
The cost of the event is $50 per person and tickets are available at the Ashland Main Street Office, 211 Claremont Ave. Tunnell emphasized that tickets must be purchased before the event, so organizers know how much food to prepare. Proceeds will benefit Ashland Main Street.
