Summer is a lovely season for dining, whether it's on a trendy downtown rooftop or al fresco on a patio or enjoying a picnic at a scenic park. But, for the ultimate in outdoor dining, you need to pay a visit to Locavore Farms in Grant Park, Illinois.There's so much to love about this place, including the backstory. A busy professional suburban couple, Chris and Rachael Jones, tired of their hectic life and grabbing easy, but not so healthy food made a conscious decision not only to make a move with their two children to live a quieter more rural lifestyle, but to grow their own food and focus on sharing that bounty with others while also bringing in other local farmers with a similar philosophy of wanting to provide good food for people and providing an opportunity for them to slow down and really appreciate where it comes from.
They open up their farm, which has just begun season two, several times a year for visitors to come enjoy life on their small family farm. The events include a tour, five-course dinner, craft beers and cocktails, hay rides, a fire-pit to relax by. Beautifully decorated with chic country touches, like painted mason jars filled with wildflowers, benches and seats adorned with colorful quilts and throw pillows, lighted jars hanging from trees that give a lovely glow as the sun sets, you almost feel like you've stepped onto the site of a photo shoot for a magazine. Everything looks perfect.
The food is always a spectacular feast of what's in season, with five courses prepared using fresh ingredients from their own garden and from local farms by creative chefs. For dinner, guests gather at a custom made table that seats 100. Tickets go quickly for these events, so don't wait. There are three remaining dine-on-the-land dinners scheduled this year (August's is already sold out) and there will be an Oktoberfest celebration there on October 8.
It's truly a lovely experience of arriving in late afternoon as the sun shines and the blue sky as a backdrop as frogs croak in the pond, stems of emerging crops blow in the wind and a perfectly situated hay bale sits covered in a floral quilt. Then listening to live music on a blanket as the sun sets caps off the diner perfectly.
