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It is common to see a chef in a
kitchen.
It is not common to see her
strolling through a vegetable
garden, her own garden right
outside her restaurant door.
And in this case, the garden
bounty always makes its way onto
the restaurant menu redefining
what it means to use fresh
ingredients.
Chef Katie Routh: The Gathering
Table Restaurant is a place
where people can come and enjoy
themselves eating local foods,
not only local Iowa products but
products and vegetables that are
grown right behind me.
Routh: Everything that we serve
on the menu is from our farm
here, all the vegetables.
We source out local beef and
pork and chicken as well as eggs
and honey and then we get
freshly milled flour and corn
grits for our like polenta and
corn products.
Shayan: Over here we have
several different varieties of
green beans.
Right now I'm picking Italian
flat giants.
Routh: Mosa Shayan is our farm
manager here and him and I get
together on Wednesday or
Thursday and talk about what is
available for the following
week.
Some green beans.
Yeah, thank you.
Routh: To cook seasonally and to
eat locally is really fun and
exciting and you can experiment
and you can try lots of
different things.
The Gathering Table Restaurant
is located at the Henry A.
Wallace Country Life Center in
Orient, a beautiful setting.
Chef Katie and her farm manager
have about four acres of gardens
in which to grow all sorts of
great Iowa food for the
restaurant's menu and they even
have a small orchard of their
own.
Routh: We have two acres of
apple orchards and 100 trees and
we just planted 100 more this
spring.
We have some peach trees out
there, some cherry trees, we've
got some blueberries.
Open for lunch and dinner on
Fridays starting in March and
ending in December the Gathering
Table also provides locally
sourced meals for educational
programs and catered events.
When the garden is at its peak,
evening dining is available on
the first Saturday night of
every month.
Because of the limited hours,
it's best to check ahead if
you're planning a visit.
Routh: Tonight's menu we have
the roasted vegetable tart.
It has got roasted baby red
beets, turnips, some shunkyo
radishes, butternut squash and
some goat cheese and then it's
got a drizzle of hazelnut
vinaigrette on the tart as well.
And then underneath it is going
to have a salad of mixed greens
which are new this week so it's
really exciting.
This Iowa born chef describes
her menu as having a French
flare but definitely seasonal
and local.
Dishes like roasted vegetable
tarts and early morning harvest
polenta with tomatoes.
And judging by the happy crowd
in this inviting setting, the
fresh menu is a hit.
Routh: People really say you can
really taste the freshness of
the vegetables and the
vegetables taste so good because
they are picked either that
morning or the day before.
Embracing the best Iowa's rich
soil has to offer, Chef Katie
Routh is taking local and fresh
to a whole new level and diners
are noticing.
Routh: The biggest reaction is
wow, you know, you can get this
in the middle of a corn field.
So I think people, it's
unexpected, especially, you
know, we are kind of far out
there so it is a destination, it
is, you know, kind of an
adventure coming out here.
So they're more apt to try new
things and realize that, you
know, the menu changes week to
week depending on what is in the