The Best Dish in North Carolina Award 2012 Menu • On this page you will find the menu and the dates we serve for The Best Dish in North Carolina Award 2012. The Best Dish in North Carolina Award is the State of North Carolina’s Official Restaurant Award presented every year by The North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services and sponsored by Our State Magazine.

Our restaurant Simplicity at The Mast Farm Inn was selected from among hundreds of fine dining restaurants in North Carolina for "The Best Dish in North Carolina Award", placed in the top 10 in 2010, awarded 2nd place in 2011, and currently one of the top twenty five finalists for the 2012 Award.

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This year’s menu produced by Executive Chef Andrew Long, Danielle Deschamps Stabler, and Marie-Henriette Deschamps, features our local vendors, bakers, farmers and producers, and the three principal distillers of North Carolina Moonshine: Troy & Sons, Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon, and Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine. The five course fixed price menu is $42.50 per person all inclusive, excluding beer, wine, champagne or moonshine, taxes or gratuities. The Best Dish in North Carolina Award 2012 Menu is served every Saturday during the months of August and September. This year the dates are, in August, August 4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th, and in September, September 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, and 29th.

The Menu
The Bruce Paul Ezzell Owl Creek Breadworks Whole Shebang, Legal Herbs Butters & Dipping Sauces

The Little Chief’s Cream Of Valle Crucis Potato & Leek Soup, Feeling Home Sweet Home With Herbs De Provence, Heavy Cream, Thyme, Onion, Garlic, White Wine, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Butter, And Chicken Vegetable Broth with a Nod to The 1895 Grille & Elliott’s on Linden in Pinehurst

Casper Boone’s Hail Great Caesar’s Ghost Parmigianino Salad With Orange Julius Bon Jovi Anchovy, Homemade Croutons, Mustard, Lemon & Grated Parmigianino Admiring Crippen’s in Blowing Rock and Knife & Fork in Spruce Pine

Andrew Jefferson’s Immodest Moulin Rouge Poussin Rouge Stuffed Shamelessly With Bacon, Figs, Raisins, Milk-Brioche, Brown Sugar, Yellow Bell Peppers, Parsley, Basil, & Red Pepper, In Bed With Thyme For My Nap Sweet Mashed Potatoes, Butter, Crème Fraiche, Maple Nectar, Ginger & Cinnamon, Snuggling with Just Picked From The Bed For Eating Crackers Micro-Farm Organic Vegetables Seeded For Change

The Big Chief’s Apple Crisp with Homemade Granola, Oats, Honey, Almonds, Walnuts, Pecans, Sesame, Sunflower, Coconut, Cranberry, Cherry, Blueberry, Cinnamon, Butter, Apples, Lime, Brandy, Brown Sugar, Star Anise, Vanilla, Cream of Caramel Ice-Cream with a Tip of The Hat to The Gallery Restaurant in Charlotte and Marc’s on Market in Wilmington

And featuring "North Carolina Moonshine by North Carolina Moonlight"

North Carolina has a rich tradition of providing quality food products for the foodservice industry. The Goodness Grows in North Carolina membership program believes in supporting that tradition with our local farmers and processed food companies. We are committed to encouraging our restaurants and consumers to make purchasing local products a priority. We believe buying and promoting local helps us all. This annual statewide competition, open to any restaurant or restaurant group doing business in North Carolina, is the official restaurant contest of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and its Goodness Grows in North Carolina marketing program. It is our goal each year to determine who serves the best food in the state using ingredients that are grown or produced in North Carolina.

Our Vendors, Farmers, Producers & Suppliers for Best Dish in NC 2012
Our best dish menu for 2012 was composed using products from the following bakers, farmers, co-ops and specialty foods artisans.

Owl Creek Breadworks • Bruce Paul Ezzell, in little old Boone NC, is without a doubt one of the finest artisan bakers in America; We’re talking James Beard Award here folks. Owl Creek Breadworks is a family-owned and operated micro-bakery located in the heart of downtown Meat Camp. Bruce specializes in European style hearth breads, using fresh ground organic and certified chemical free grains. Owl Creek Breadworks’ goal is to serve real bread to real people. Mission accomplished, wait till you try these breads.

Velva Cook • If you have ever eaten at The Mast Farm Inn you know Velva Cook, or as we think of her… "The Legendary Velva Cook". Velva is responsible for the dining rooms, service, and the wait staff, and let’s be clear, is the finest waitress in the galaxy and that’s that. If there is an Oscar for service she wins, and Yoda comes in second. She and her family have been farming and raising livestock in the Matney-Rominger area, a few minutes from the Inn, for generations. While we use a lot of her different products, the core products supplied as relates to this menu are the potatoes and eggs.

 
The Mast Farm Inn Organic Micro-Farm & Associates • We produce a wide variety of greens, vegetables and herbs onsite in our own organic Micro-Farm. We plant in 84 raised beds on less than half an acre which produces prodigious amounts of food for such a modest plot. 100% chemical free since at least 18 years, our soil is rejuvenated each year with our own organic compost, organic peat moss and lime. We plant Winter Rye or Clover over winter to replenish. The soil is so good we sometimes skip a year of composting and stuff still flies out of the ground. We are rank amateurs so use the shotgun approach based on the principle that Darwin knew what he was talking about and some things will work except for the tomatoes who are sure to surprise. The folks at Seeds of Change often find our seed orders quite amusing. Because we plant over 160 varieties, including the flowers for the Inn, over the last few years the garden has become the grand central café for the wildlife and birds from our area as well as the bees from our hives. We are sure they speak of our garden in hushed reverential tones spiked with humorous guffaws much as visitors to New York speak of "The Statue". It’s the must visit destination for any local or visiting deer, rabbit, bird, insect and bee. The food’s good and the gardeners submissive. What rabbit or deer in his right mind could ask for more? It where the mommies of same bring the youngins for training in the finer arts of garden raiding. We sometimes think of them as our partners, because they get a significant cut of the harvest. Megan, Danielle and Andy are particularly fond of the deer, the blondes of our animal kingdom, also referred to at the Inn as "CBS Deer" for "Cute But Stupid Deer", muted echoes of which are often heard over the early morning mist by early risers at the Inn.

Watauga River Farms • 1 Mile from the Inn, Charles Church’s Watauga River Farms is located on Highway 194 in Valle Crucis. Charles has been producing organic vegetables at Watauga River Farms, located in Valle Crucis, North Carolina, since the year 2000. There are four acres of broccoli and four acres of red and green cabbage. Red Potatoes, Yukon Golds, two kinds of fingerlings and Kennebec potatoes fill an additional eight acres. Turnips, corn, beans, rhubarb, you name it, it’s all in there somewhere. Watauga River Farms also offers local pork. Pigs are fed naturally, given no medicine, no hormones, nothing you wouldn’t want in your own diet. Charles Church markets his produce through New River Organic Growers and at Watauga County Farmers’ Market.

Sunshine Cove • Sunshine Cove Farm is a small farm located in Boone, North Carolina, owned and operated by Jill and David Nicklaw, with some help from young Olivia and Jack. They provide organically grown vegetables, fresh eggs, local honey, and more through the Watauga County Farmers Market, High Country CSA, and directly to local individuals and restaurants. They also provide Micro Greens to restaurants and through distributors in the broader North Carolina market and beyond. Micro Greens have become the cornerstone of their business, and with good reason – their quality and service are second to none! Sunshine Cove Farm believes strongly in the socio-economic value of local and regional food production, and the importance of organic and sustainable farming practices to the health of our future generations. Sunshine Cove Farm is proud to be USDA Certified Organic for all of Micro Greens and garden vegetables.

Ashe County Cheese • Located forty-five minutes from the Inn, in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Ashe County Cheese is North Carolina’s oldest cheese plant. Established in 1930 in West Jefferson, North Carolina, Ashe County Cheese makes on average thirty thousand pounds of cheese per week and are now producing about twenty different varieties. You can visit year round from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Saturday, and the Ashe County Cheese viewing room is open year round at no charge. The cheese making schedule changes from week to week, so be sure to check the schedule or call ahead and they’ll tell you at what times they are making cheese.

Ashley Farms • For the past three years Ashley Farms & Joyce Foods has bred, hatched, grown, and processed a chicken that may be the best chicken in the world, the "Poulet Rouge Fermier Du Piedmont". It is a slow growing, rustic breed that has been preserved in France for use in their Label Rouge program, a program regarded throughout Europe as representing the best poultry. Although Label Rouge chickens command a price 2 to 3 times higher than commercial chickens in France, these birds make up over 30% of the chicken market. The Ashley Farms breed is an authentic Label Rouge breed, and they have duplicated most of the Label Rouge program from breeding, hatching, growing, and processing. Some very prominent French chefs in America have verified that the bird they are producing is equal to or better than the same bird in France.

New River Organic Growers & The NROG Farmers • Formed in 2000, the New River Organic Growers (NROG) are a group of dedicated family farmers in the Southern Appalachian High Country. NROG farmers employ organic farming methods which preserve farmland and cultivate healthy soils. For the past few years, NROG has shared knowledge and planned growing seasons; now they are able to offer many popular and heirloom vegetable varieties throughout the High Country season. Every farmer utilizes strict sustainable farming practices to bring you and your family a bounty of nutritious fruits and vegetables, fresh and fragrant cut flowers and herbs, natural meats, and free-range eggs. • NROG Farms: A Berry Patch Farm | Andy’s Trout Fishing | Against the Grain Farms | Bridle Creek Farm | Bishop Farms | Blue Ridge Organics | Creeksong Farm | Cross Creek Farm | E & E Organics | George & April Colvard | Heritage Homestead | Hidden Rock Farm | Honeysuckle Farm | Mountain Memories Farm | O’Henry Farms | Owl Feather Farm | Pasta Wench | Patriot Farm | Powers Farm | Raven Rocks Farm | Richard Boylan | Rocking S Farm | Shady Grove Gardens & Nursery | Sunshine Cove Farm | Tumbling Shoals Farm | Watauga River Farms | Weibe Farmin’ | Zydeco Moon |

Bald Guy Brew • Eco-Friendly •Committed to using organic, shade grown beans. By purchasing eco-friendly beans, we support farmers using sustainable practices which maintain an equitable partnership between birds, farmers, consumers, and the environment. • Socially Responsible • By offering certified fair trade coffees, we are making an ethical choice because every pound we sell will make a difference in coffee growing communities. • Artisanal Coffee • Call it what you will, but there is an art to roasting coffee. By cupping all of our coffees, we are able to determine the right time & temp profile for roasting our coffee… ensuring that our customers get what they pay for: the best stinking cup of fresh roasted coffee they ever tasted!

 
"North Carolina Moonshine by North Carolina Moonlight" • Simplicity Moonlights as a Moonshine Runner. The Mast Farm Inn is pleased to announce that we will be featuring all the finest North Carolina Moonshine spirits, as well as Chef Andrew’s Long Drinks designed using them as the base. These fine North Carolina spirits are suitable for cookin, drinkin, lickin, grinnin, ticklin & picklin. Bring Designated Driver!

Troy & Sons Distillers • Determined to find the perfect moonshine recipe, Troy Ball began testing recipes from the North Carolina State Archives and residents from Madison to McDowell counties. August 18, 2010, Troy distilled the perfect white liquor, using lost Crooked Creek Corn™, smooth as silk with vanilla oak undertones.
Mast Farm Inn MoonShoot Glass™ • $6.75

Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon • While your great granddaddy was firing up a pipe, Junior Johnson’s was firing up a copper still. Few family recipes carry a jail sentence, but to the Johnson family, it was a way of life. With whiskey in his trunk and the law on his heels, Junior ran the finest moonshine in Appalachia.
Mast Farm Inn MoonShoot Glass™ • $5.25

Catdaddy Carolina Moonshine • Every batch is born in a copper still and handcrafted in very small batches. Catdaddy is made from American corn and triple distilled to deliver a uniquely flavored, ultra-smooth spirit.
Mast Farm Inn MoonShoot Glass™ • $5.25

Junior Johnson’s Midnight Moon Natural Fruit • Midnight Moon Apple Pie, Cherry, Strawberry, Blueberry & Cranberry spirits each begin with the handcrafted, ultra-smooth Midnight Moon recipe. Real fruit and Midnight Moon are then placed in mason jars by hand, just like moonshiners have done for generations. Apple Pie, Cherry, Strawberry, Blueberry & Cranberry age in the jar for several weeks, to ensure each bottle reaches the peak of all-natural fruit flavor before it leaves the distillery.
JJ’s Blueberry, JJ’s Apple Pie, JJ’s Cherry, JJ’s Strawberry, JJ’s Cranberry
Mast Farm Inn MoonShoot Glass™ • $5.00

Chef Andrew’s Long Drinks • The Mast Farm Inn’s Executive Chef Andrew Long developed a collection of cocktails which use North Carolina Moonshine as the base, and range from the "Smooth & Silky as Lauren Bacall" to "Call Me a Medic Bogart My Friend". Bring Designated Pilot!

RJR Smokey & The Bandito’s Smoked Ice
Troy & The Shadow’s Tongue Twisting Super Secret Smoked Ice & Smoked Syrup Elixir

Carrie’s White Lightning Sour
White Whiskey Sour A-La-Troy & Scarier Than A Summer Thunderstorm on Rominger

RC’s Apple Moon Pie by Sheriff Andy Opie-Long Kenobi
JJ’s Apple Pie & Ginger’s Jolly Roger Beer By Fred Astaire, Dirty Dancing in The Moonlight

Jimi Gomer’s Purple Haze You’All
JJ’s Blueberry, Mountain Spray Cranberry, Cherry Bitter But Not Hopeless, Albert’s Seltzer

Barney & Thelma Lou’s Blueberry Basil Mojito Señor
Basil & Sugar, Sparkling Water from Pristine Mountain Streams, Wild & Crazy Blueberries, Lime Without The Coconut

Megan’s Honey Moon Shine & Cheerful Cherry
Midnight Moon Cherry, Crème de Cacao, Honey, Half & Half & Half

Danielle Gump’s Shine, Tea, Shine
Catdaddy, Aunt Be Velva Be Good’s Sweet Tea & Peach Schnapps, Stabilized After Being Shaken Not Stirred By The Bonded Pony Express at River Run Base Camp

Steven Cat’s Moonshadow Julep
Jack’s Grumpy Lemons & Friends, Rhubarb Bitters, Baker Ginger’s Syrup, Franklin’s Mint

Carolina in My Mind Manhattan
Sweet Baby James’ Appalachian Manhattan by Way of The Valle Crucis Abbey Road

BB’s Bleusberry Cream Soda
You, Lucille, Cousins Kyra & Lorraine Never Sing the Blues Again

Enzo Troy’s Corn Martini
Put This In Your Tank and Win All Your Formula One Races in Monaco With Elegance

Highland Moon Honey by Daphne & Niles
JJ’s M&M Strawberry, Drambuie, Ice by Martin, and Honey by The Mast Farm Bees
Chef Andrew’s Long Drinks • $9.00

Simplicity at The Mast Farm Inn is a member of Boone Independent Restaurants. Boone Independent Restaurants is a organization founded by local independent restaurants, to present and promote the outstanding independent restaurants that are an important part of the Boone area community, local history and culinary culture. It is the official organization of the independent restaurants of Boone, Blowing Rock, Valle Crucis, and the surrounding Western North Carolina towns & villages.

For More Information
Best Dish in North Carolina
WebSite • www.bestdishnc.com
North Carolina Department of Agriculture
FaceBook • www.facebook.com/NCAgriculture
WebSite • www.ncagr.gov
Twitter • www.twitter.com/ncagriculture
Our State Magazine
FaceBook • www.facebook.com/ourstatemagazine
WebSite • www.ourstate.com
Twitter • www.twitter.com/ourstatemag

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