Nosh Pit

Skillet Hosts Vashon Island Meat Feast to Benefit Artisanal Butchers

Farmstead Meatsmith breaks down the beasts, Joshua Henderson and friends cook them, you pay $75. Everybody wins. Except for one little lamb…and perhaps a pig.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Aug 01, 2011 at 09:02AM 0 Comments

Don’t you love old creepy paintings? Here’s one that features butchers.

Photo: ibiblio.com

When it comes to the Seattle food scene, everything seems to be happening on Vashon Island.

Including this: Skillet Street Food is hosting a benefit this Sunday, August 7 to help out Farmstead Meatsmith, a Vashon-based artisanal butchery that also offers classes on breaking down the beasts.

The meat-carving couple behind Farmstead is trying to raise $10,000 to produce a series of instructional webisodes. They’re currently at $8,787, and Skillet’s Joshua Henderson wants to push them over the edge with Sunday’s event on Vashon. It will go from noon to 8pm. Butchers Brandon and Lauren Sheard will demo butchering techniques, breaking down a couple of creatures—“most likely a lamb and perhaps a pig”—per Skillet’s press release. Then Henderson and friends will cook up something wonderful with the meat. Wine and lawn games are promised. The suggested donation is $75.

If you want to go or want more details (a location might help), email farmsteadmeatsmith@gmail.com. Update: Location is Island Meadow Farm:
10301 SW Cemetery Road, Vashon.

Speaking of Skillet, I jogged by the diner on Sunday and bumped right into a wall of sidewalk loiterers awaiting the opportunity to brunch there. The restaurant has a new make-your-own-mimosa deal where customers are tossed a bottle of prosecco and a quart of orange juice, charged $19, and invited to go to town. That place will be the death of all of us, I tell you.

Check out this Wes Anderson-ish film about the Sheards and Farmstead Meatsmith:

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Tags: Butchers, Vashon Island

Seattle Cheese on the Move: Dinah’s Headed for Portland

Vashon’s Kurtwood Farms expands its reach.

Posted by: Jessica Voelker on Jul 13, 2011 at 09:00AM 0 Comments

Dinah’s: Soon to be sold in Portland.

Photo: Kurtwood Farms

Seattle has already seen one of its cheesemakers go from local favorite to national phenomenon. Beecher’s—the brainchild of entrepreneur Kurt Dammeier—has become one of our most famous exports, following: 1. word from Oprah that its frozen mac and cheese was her favorite, and 2. the splashy opening of its second shop and cafe (the first is in Pike Place Market) in NYC’s Flatiron District.

And now, another local curd conjuror named Kurt is expanding his reach, starting with the notoriously cheese-loving Portland market. Kurt Timmermeister, owner of Kurtwood Farms on Vashon Island, will soon sell his camembert-style Dinah’s in Oregon, thanks to a deal he made with distributor Provvista.

Timmermeister says Dinah’s will show up in Portland shops beginning in August. And while Provvista will handle some local accounts as well, Timmermeister will continue to take his weekly journey to the mainland, bringing cheese to existing clients. “It is the best part of my week going into my favorite restaurants and stores delivering Dinah’s,” said Timmermeister.

To keep up with the new demand, Timmermeister has increased production on Dinah’s from 300 to 500 pieces per week. His second cheese, a Grana Padano-style called Francesca’s, is currently aging in a cave on the farm. Once it is ready to consume, Francesca’s too will likely travel to Oregon.

Timmermeister is currently writing a second book. (His first one, Growing a Farmer, was released last August.) So for now he’s maxed out on how much cheese he can make. Once that book is finished, however, we may see the Kurtwood Farms label in markets more far-flung.

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Tags: Cheese, Seattle Food Exports, Vashon Island