DINING DELICIOUS: FRESH, ORGANIC AND LOCAL FROM THE FARM
By Rafa Carvajal | Photos by Rafa Carvajal
There is nothing more delicious than a bountiful lunch prepared by the outstanding culinary team of Malibu Farm with fresh, organic ingredients during a visit to Swank Farm in Loxahatchee near Palm Beach. My culinary journey started by boarding a Brightline Virgin Trains USA train from Miami to Palm Beach relaxing in style while enjoying yummy bites and libations on board. I love taking Brightline because there is absolutely no stress from driving, and you get to your destination very quickly. Once in Palm Beach, we hopped into an Uber to the farm, where we were enthusiastically greeted by our hosts from both Malibu Farm and Swank Farm.
Malibu Farm Pier Café and Restaurant’s Founder and Chef Helene Henderson and her Malibu Farm Miami Beach team prepared a mouth-watering true farm-to-fork experience for lunch using delightful fresh ingredients from Swank Farm that were hand picked just a few yards from where we were sitting. Malibu Farm Miami Beach offers appetizing dishes prepared with fresh, organic and locally sourced ingredients in a beautiful true beachfront setting overlooking the Atlantic Ocean with great ocean views. As a Swedish native, Helene Henderson’s dishes are influenced by the fresh vegetables and seafood of her home country and her food philosophy of “fresh, organic, local.” The two delicious pizzas we enjoyed – prepared in a wood-burning pizza oven – reflected that philosophy: Cauliflower Crust Pizza with mozzarella, heirloom tomato, pesto, arugula and roasted cauliflower; and the Avocado Pizza with jalapeño ricotta, agave, cilantro and lime. Our two very fresh salads with burrata and grilled salmon were also masterfully prepared fresh, organic and local.
You can dine at Swank Farm with celebrated chefs, mixologists and brewers during any of their upcoming special culinary events, while supporting different local charities, and enjoying the fresh bounty from their harvest season. Check out the Swank Table schedule at swankspecialtyproduce.com. Swank Farm brings together over 70 celebrated chefs from South Florida, New Orleans, Raleigh/Durham, Nashville, Maine and Detroit to prepare outstanding culinary experiences where you can sit down to eat right where the food grows and help raise money for local charities. The Swank Table dining celebrations feature all-inclusive, all-local meals with products from partner farms, bread from Aioli, accompanied by craft brews, wine, cocktails, and plenty of delicious just-picked Swank Farm vegetables. On Sundays, you can also participate in a tour of this hydroponic and sustainable 20-acre farm led by Darrin Swank. I particularly enjoyed my tour of Swank Farm by owners Jodi and Darrin Swank and learning how they grow all their exquisite fresh vegetables, microgreens, micro herbs, fruits and edible flowers – from their 360 varieties of produce.
Malibu Farm Miami Beach. 4525 Collins Avenue. Miami Beach | Swank Farm. 14311 N. Rd. Loxahatchee.
This was originally published in Wire Magazine Issue 4.2020