Harvest Week at Motor Supply: A Localvore’s Delight

By Jillian Owens

This spring I decided to take up container gardening.  I love the idea of growing my own food and living off the land (or out old storage bins filled with dirt, but whatever).  I planted squash, eggplant, tomatoes, and strawberries.  I nurtured my plants carefully, watering them daily.  I shared photos of my veggies as they grew with a frequency and smugness usually reserved for first-time parents, annoying friends and acquaintances alike.  #makingthingsgrow became my favorite hashtag.

Then the squash rotted and died for reasons I’ll never understand

The eggplant quickly followed.

The tomatoes and strawberries look like they might make it, and if I pair them with dandelion greens from my yard, at least I can have a summer of really gross salads.

My original ambition of “living off the land” has been thoroughly squashed (hehe…get it?), but my appreciation for local farmers has increased exponentially.

Motor Supply Company Bistro respects local farmers too.  That’s why they’ve taken a farm-to-table approach to fine southern cuisine.  With an ever-changing menu featuring seasonal produce and meats butchered in-house, you can feel good about yourself for supporting small, local, and sustainable farming, as well as for choosing to dine on some of the tastiest fare in the Vista.

June 10-15 is Summer Harvest Week, where Motor Supply is celebrating exciting new partnerships with fresh new farms, as well as their new chef Wesley Fulmer.  Each day will feature scrumptious and surprising specials, as well as a limited edition cocktail menu that their website describes as “bizarrely delicious”.  Fulmer says, “We definitely want to highlight and give homage to the private farms out there, because they mean so much to what we do at Motor Supply.”

Regular readers already know I have a high opinion of both Motor Supply and their “mad scientist” bar manager, Josh Streetman, so their Meet the Farmer (and the Chef) Happy Hour was a can’t-miss event for me.  I was pleased to find my admittedly high expectations were definitely met.

          

Welcome to his laboratory!

Streetman has created one of the most eclectic group of cocktails I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing.  With ingredients like pickled strawberries, quail eggs, fresh blueberries, peaches, and hot sauce, there’s something here for every palate.

My three favorites are the What the Fox Says, the Backyard BBQ, and the Smurfette (pictured in order below)

But who wants to play favorites?

-What the Fox Says is a fruit-forward delight that features mescal and pickled strawberries with a hint of grapefruit as well as a slight kick from pickled pepper.

-Backyard BBQ is an herbal and refreshing tequila cocktail with lots of cucumber, mint, and ginger.

-Smurfette is a luxuriously sippable vodka drink with blueberries and a sweet-but-not-too-sweet finish.

Does anyone else wonder why were there were only two lady smurfs?

A few nibbly things were left out for the Happy Hour revelers to munch on, and they were all delicious…especially the pimento cheese (which I’m extremely picky about).

I’m willing to do vile things for an amazing pimento cheese.

This is the sixth go-round of this annual event.  I hope you get a chance to come out and be a localvore for an evening or two.  Your taste buds and your community’s farmers will thank you.

They probably won’t literally thank you as they’ll be preoccupied with that whole non killing their squash thing.

 

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