The farmers at 1000 Stone Farm in Brookfield launched an on-farm weekend restaurant and cider house called the Farmer’s Hand on November 15. Married co-owners Betsy Simpson, a Culinary Institute of America-trained chef, and Kyle Doda are showcasing their expertise in cooking, cidermaking and farming in the new venture at 1102 Stone Road.
They will offer a casual, mostly wood-fired and almost exclusively locally sourced menu Fridays and Saturdays, 1 to 8 p.m., through the end of the year. After a January break, the restaurant will reopen for February and March with future plans dependent on interest and staffing.
Doda, 39, said the 10-year-old, four-season farm produces the vast majority of ingredients for dishes such as wood-fired chicken wings, marinated oyster mushroom skewers, cream of cauliflower soup, and goat breast roulade stuffed with shiitake mushrooms and spinach.
Diners will sit down to eat their wood-fired, smoked-chicken pizza with tomatillo sauce about 200 yards away from the pasture where the birds were raised, Doda said.
1000 Stone Farm’s hard cider, which select local bars and restaurants have been selling since 2023, will be available by the glass.
“Where can you go where the person cooking the food and the person pouring the drinks are also the people who produced the food and made the cider?” Doda asked.
He said the couple hope to continue the restaurant year-round, but that will require additional staffing, given that 1000 Stone Farm is a summer fixture at the Burlington Farmers Market. “We know we can’t be in two places at one time,” Doda said. “We’re not that insane.”
Reservations are recommended for dinner. Learn more at thefarmershandvt.com.
This article appears in Nov 20-26, 2024.
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