On Sunday night I went to photograph the supper club of LocalRootsNYC, the community shared agriculture program I belong to. The chefs from I8NY were serving a 5-course dinner in the beautiful upstairs room of 61 Local, a bar and neighborhood joint that celebrates locally crafted food. I8NY is a Brooklyn based sandwich stand run by Jonathan Meyer and William Griffin, former chefs at Fatty Crab and Lincoln.  The courses for the evening were all created from food provided by the LocalRootsNYC farms, all locally grown. According to Wen Jay Ying, founder of Local Roots, the goal of the evening was to show people what they can whip up with their vegetable shares, and recipes for each course were provided.

I’m not sure what I expected out of the evening, but once I saw the kitchen I knew this was going to be a behind-the-scenes story. I even got to try out being a waiter and they taught me how to balance a plate on my forearm.

Select artisanal toast, heirloom bean puree with rosemary and whipped ricotta with sea salt (Cayuga’s Pure Organics and Orwasher’s Bakery)

The scene upstairs

Fresh blueberries, recipes for all of the 5 courses, information about LocalRootsNYC

Salad of summer lettuces from Rogowski Farm

Preparing the fresh egg fettuccine

Will adds some salt

Things get pretty steamy between Will and the pasta

Jon starts plating the fettuccine

Fresh Egg Fettuccine: basil and chive pesto, roasted garlic, summer squash (Feather Ridge Farm, Rogowski Farm)

Preparing for the red-wine braised short ribs

Dressing the ribs

Red-wine braised short ribs: currants, turnips, carrots, radishes (Grazin Angus Acres, Fantasy Fruit Farm, Rogowski Farm)

The berries for the panna cotta dessert, including tristar strawberries

Panna Cotta with summer berries  (Fantasy Fruit Farm)

Celebrating

The bar at 61 Local. Also see our chat with the owner of 61 Local, Dave Liatti.