As often as I come across a “perfect” piece of fruit, however, I rarely employ the philosophy of showcasing its perfection by serving it untouched; as Chef Paul Canales says, “the customer is not paying me to shop for them – I’m here to cook!” Only once or twice a year does a fruit come along that I feel is featured best by serving on its own, without setting it in a composed dessert context. That time has come…
For our first field trip of 2011 we visited two farms in Contra Costa County––both in Brentwood. First we stopped at Brookside Farm, owned and operated by the generous and kindly Tom family: Anne, Quong, and Welling. Welling showed us what’s in bloom and described to us a little of the journey from earth to table. The Toms grow some of our Early Girl tomatoes, greens,…
Last Saturday’s cold snap in the Bay Area affected Brookside Farm in a completely unexpected way. For the past couple of years, we’ve been ordering our tomato seedlings exclusively from Kassenhoff Growers, located in Oakland. The owner/operators have been our friends for many years, and…
The Knolls bought a small, weedy plot of land in 1979 in a move to get away from the suburbs and into a more biodynamic and rural life. The couple immediately planted fruit trees, but as they were new to farming and didn’t have anybody telling them what to do or how to do it, there was no income to get them from the…
Primarily raised on mother’s milk with some grass-feeding, the meat has been aging in our meat locker. Chef Canales has been tweaking the aging times, to find just the right balance between the delicate veal and the characteristic aged-meat flavors. Tonight we will be using the loins, and Friday we will be serving the rib eye. They will be on the menu as tagliata, served with braised Torpedo onions from Brookside Farms in Brentwood. These animals are fairly small, and there isn’t…
We received the following e-mail yesterday from Welling Tom of Brookside Farm in Brentwood: Yesterday (Sunday, July 12) we sold our first tomatoes of the year at the Montclair farmers’ market. It was only a couple weeks ago when we were still watering them, so these tomatoes (Early Girls) were still larger and more water-plumped than ideal, but they were not bad, and people at the farmers’ market have been…
Anne Tom and Welling Tom of Brookside Farm in Brentwood stopped by this morning with a tomato update and some pictures of their San Marzano and Early Girl plants. Due to the recent cool weather, Welling estimates the tomatoes will be ready to go to market by mid-July…
The Toms, owners of Brookside Farm came in for dinner yesterday after the Montclair farmers market. Ann Tom had taken pictures of their farm that she wanted to share but she wasn’t sure how to email them. So she brought along her camera & we uploaded them here….
Welling Tom of Brookside Farm in Brentwood reports the following:
1. What Are You Planting?
Welling Tom: We have been planting some new fruit trees: sour cherries, Blenheim apricots, Elberta peaches, “donut” peaches, Fuyu persimons, and apriums….
The farm was originally a nut tree orchard. The Toms sold almonds and walnuts to local bakeries (for 25 cents a pound!) Gradually the orchard gave way to…
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