Chatham Bars Inn’s Famed Farm Dinners Are Back

Courtesy Chatham Bars Inn

On the morning I pull up to Chatham Bars Inn Farm in Brewster for a tour, it’s not a day for an outdoor adventure: The weather on this Saturday in May is cold, gray, and misty. But the mood inside the farmstand is particularly sunny, as farm manager Josh Schiff greets me with a warm smile and some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Chef Michael Ceraldi, of Ceraldi restaurant in Wellfleet, is checking out at the register with a bundle of produce. “He comes here quite a bit,” Schiff tells me later.

Ceraldi isn’t the only one who frequents this farm, an offshoot of the regal Chatham Bars Inn resort. The property, which produces more than 100,000 pounds of fruits and veggies in its 3.5 acres of fields and 13 greenhouses, is beloved by chefs and locals alike for its selection of fresh, seasonal produce grown in the fertile Cape soil.

In 2017, the farm began inviting people not only to purchase produce, but to dine directly in the bucolic fields, with four-course tasting menus served family-style on long, flower-festooned tables that encourage camaraderie among friends and strangers alike. The events were so popular that the team decided to continue them the next year, and the year after that. “The dinners are an absolutely unique experience for Cape Cod and the Northeast,” Schiff says. “Because they are regular dinners, they’ve become a tradition for many families, visitors and locals. Although the food is elevated, they are also casual and informal in a way that matches the ethos of the Cape.

This year, the festivities kicked off today, June 19, with a feast of broccolini Caesar and roasted black bass with truffle potatoes, among other dishes. Though this event (and most of the July dinners) was sold out, the farm is hosting guests on Wednesdays into September, and will move the festivities into one of its greenhouses once the evenings get a bit chillier. The dishes change with what’s in season, which means you might see smoked beef brisket with snap-bean-and-sugar-pea slaw one week, and tomato and ricotta with pickled tropea onions and focaccia crumbs another.

As Schiff walks me through the greenhouses, breaking off bits of lettuce to sample along the way, and shows me the field where the dinners are held, I can envision what it would look like at golden hour in the peak of summer, with verdant green all around. He gestures toward the bed where the eggplant are currently growing. During one of the dinners, Schiff says, staffers might set up a station with an eggplant amuse-bouche right beside it. Talk about farm-to-table.

Of course, if you’re heading across the bridge for the dinner, you might as well take advantage of all the other summer fun that Chatham Bars Inn, situated just 20 minutes southeast of the farm, has to offer. This year, the resort is introducing a beachside beer bar with a custom food truck and pizza oven, as well as a new luxury pontoon boat offering two- and four-hour cruises with stops for swimming and sunbathing. That’s to say nothing of its existing boat service to North Beach Island (free for hotel guests), private beach with cabana service, and top-notch spa (complete with its own Zen pool). We can already hear the seagulls in your future.

Chatham Bars Inn Farm, 3034 Main St., Brewster, www.chathambarsinn.com/the-farm

Courtesy Chatham Bars Inn Farm