To promote downtown Medina and local ag bounty, dinner will be served on Main Street

Staff Reports Posted 8 July 2016 at 12:00 am
Downtown Medina

Photo courtesy of Chris Busch – Medina’s historic Main Street and Downtown Historic District will be the site of the 2016 Farm-to-Table Community Dinner on Aug. 4.

Farm-to-table meal will be fund-raiser for farmers’ market

MEDINA – Farm-to-table community dinners are growing in popularity across the country. Soon, Medina will welcome one of its own.

The first farm-to-table community dinner will be held Aug. 4, with a rain date of Aug. 11. The event is sponsored by Zambistro along with Pride Pak, Inc., which is building a vegetable processing plant on Maple Ridge Road.

According to organizers, Medina’s event will deliver a locally-sourced meal in the middle of Medina’s Main Street Historic District. Proceeds will support the Canal Village Farmers’ Market.

The meal itself will be a full five-course dinner, prepared by chef Michael Zambito, owner of Zambistro. Each course will feature pairings from local Niagara Wine Trail wineries, 810 Meadworks and a WNY brewery.

Farm-to-table dinners often take place on the farm in an intimate field or orchard setting, but many have developed into larger community events.

One such gathering inspired a small group in Medina to formulate plans for their own dinner. Their inspiration came from a captivating photograph published in “Grit” magazine depicting a farm to table dinner in Jonesborough, Tennessee: a long table, white linens, fresh flowers, and soft summer evening light, right down the center of a 19th century historic Main Street with dozens of Jonesborough locals enjoying a fabulous chef prepared meal.

Farm to Table dinner in Jonesborough, Tennessee

Provided photo – This photograph in “Grit” magazine inspired Medina’s dinner event. It shows the farm-to-table dinner in Jonesborough, Tenn.

The Medina group formed with farm market manager Gail Miller, including Medina Business Association President Cindy Robinson, Orleans Renaissance Group President Chris Busch, and Zambito, who has become a well-known WNY chef.

“Medina has the setting, the chef and the farm-fresh ingredients to make such an event happen locally,” said Cindy Robinson. “Medina is the perfect place for a farm-to-table dinner and Chef Zambito is going to create an epic dinner.”

Additionally, organizers expressed their excitement to have Zambistro and Pride Pak, Inc. as corporate sponsors of the event.

“We are extremely pleased with Pride Pak’s comittment, not only to Medina but to this extraordinary community event.” said Chris Busch, ORG President. “And it goes without saying that we are thrilled that Chef Zambito is comitted as well. Pride Pak and Zambistro are perfect partners for Medina and this farm-to-table dinner.”

Pride Pak’s will soon open a state-of-the-art 64,000 square foot facility, across from the GCC campus in Medina. The company is spending about $15 million for the new fresh vegetable processing facility and expects to hire 85 to 100 people in 2016.

Zambistro has received numerous celebrated reviews from both Buffalo and Rochester publications and a devoted clientele from around the region.

Aside from providing a historic dining experience in the heart of WNY ag country, the farm-to- table dinner will raise operating capital for the Canal Village Farmers’ Market and showcase the markets’ location in the heart of Historic Downtown Medina.

Medina’s event will not only deliver a sensational meal in a historic and memorable setting, but also a chance to see and learn firsthand how farmers and local chefs capitalize on Orleans County’s number one industry: agriculture. Medina is literally surrounded by fields and orchards brimming with agricultural bounty.

The Orleans Renaissance Group operates the market under its auspices.

“We all felt a farm-to-table dinner in the heart of downtown would be a great way to showcase Medina, the market, and at the same time, raise funds for the market,” said Busch, the ORG president. “ORG would like to further develop both the market and the market site, with the end goal of having a more permanent and legitimate market presence year-round in downtown.”

The market is located at the corner of West Center Street and West Avenue. Throughout its first season in 2015, the market drew an average of 500 people every Saturday morning to downtown Medina.

The farm-to-table event will be located on the north end of Medina’s historic Main Street, between Pearl and West Center Streets. Guests will arrive at 6:30 with the first course scheduled to be served at 7 p.m.

Tickets are limited to 100 at $100 each. They are available online at bentshall.org/tickets, by calling 585-210-9674, or at the English Rose Tea Shoppe, 527 Main St., Medina and at Zambistro, 408 Main St., Medina.