(Photo courtesy of The Farm)
The Farm: A Gathering Place
Photos and Story by Sarah Jones Decker
The Farm, located in Candler, is an event center, a retreat location, a rustic wedding destination, a state-of- the-art experiential teaching kitchen and a gathering place.
Myron and Beverly Gottfried own the beautiful property just ten miles from downtown Asheville and have transformed it over the last 12 years. In addition to the stunning 360-degree mountain views, the 17-acre property boasts a wedding barn and event center, a gazebo, a working horse barn, a wood-fire outdoor oven, an herb garden and an organic garden that provides seasonal ingredients for the kitchen.
“We are committed to weddings,” says Myron, “but we want to do it like no one else does. We have something really special with our chef and his commitment to creating fine food.” The Farm can accommodate 38 people in seven custom cabins and seated receptions for 200—with 140 people inside the event barn and 60 outside under the covered porch.
“We cater to people who want an extraordinary culinary experience,” Chef Mike Ferrari says. “It is so much more than just a place to have a wedding or event. We are willing to work together to make clients’ dreams come true.”
Owners Myron and Beverly Gottfried
Ferrari had ten years’ experience and received an associate’s degree in Culinary Arts from A-B Tech before joining the team as executive chef. He embraces the farm-to-table philosophy for his ever-changing menu using vegetables, herbs and edible flowers from the farm’s one-acre garden and sourcing from local meat and cheese vendors. In addition to appetizers and main courses, he also creates homemade ice cream sorbet, pies, cupcakes and carrot cakes.
“I enjoy working with clients to design custom menus that reflect their own personalities,” he says. “We can do everything from tapas to Asian to traditional southern fare. We can accommodate multiple experiences and tastes and want to take care of all of our guests on a personal level.”
Fried chicken and waffles
During our visit with Ferrari, he prepared a custom tasting menu for an upcoming wedding. He created samples including mushroom encrusted ‘teres major,’ potato gnocchi with heirloom carrots and microgreens grown in the onsite greenhouse. He continued with seared diver scallops accompanied by ‘zavory’ habanero pepper, coulis, pickled mustard seeds, saffron couscous and tomato relish. Following this was house-smoked salmon on potato latkes, fried chicken and waffle bites with bacon onion jam and seared ahi tuna wontons topped with avocado and sesame seeds.
In addition to all the events The Farm has to offer, the new state-of-the-art kitchen transforms into a hands-on culinary classroom where Ferrari cooks for private events, teaches cooking classes and hosts culinary escapes. Fred Snyder, chef instructor at A-B Tech, consulted on the project and helped design the 2,300-square-foot experiential space that was completed last year. The chef’s table can accommodate 40 guests in the kitchen at one time.
Sous chef Daniel Coombs and executive chef Mike Ferrari
The Farm’s culinary escapes offer a two nights’ stay and include two breakfasts and a three-course meal with a cooking demonstration. Guests have the days free to explore Asheville. During the peak wedding season, The Farm books mid-week escapes; weekends are available during the off season.
“It really is an experience,” Beverly says. “Guests enjoy interacting with the chef as he cooks.” Ferrari says his favorite part of teaching classes is watching people experiment with new things. “I love seeing people try something that is unfamiliar to them,” he says. “At the end of the class they are always surprised and impressed by what they have created.”
The Farm is located at 215 Justice Ridge Road in Candler. For more information on The Farm and its upcoming cooking classes email info@thefarmevents.com, call 828.667.0666 or visit thefarmevents.com.
