Dining Out: Farm Dinner at The Cafe @ Books & Books

As you may recall, I went to two farm dinners last summer. One at the Herb Lyceum in Groton, MA and one at Smolak Farms in North Andover, MA. So when my mom asked if I'd like to go to a farm-to-table dinner during my Miami visit, I jumped at the chance. 

The dinner took place at The Cafe @ Books & Books at the Arsht Center (which is like the Wang Center of Miami). Books & Books is an independent bookstore that is beloved in Miami. We are frequent patrons of their Coral Gables location. In fact, we go there every Small Business Saturday for lunch and to stock up on new reads. 

The farm-to-table dinner was part of a series that takes place each Monday. Books & Books' executive chef, Allen Susser, creates a theme for each month and then a specific take on that theme every week. February's theme was "Romancing the vegetable." All of the February menus were completely vegetarian. The evening we went, the theme was flavors of Mexico. The following week would be a taste of Peru.

When asked why he chose to do a full month of vegetarian meals, chef Susser replied, "I love the challenge of cooking vegetarian. You have to ask yourself, how do I make these interesting? Then you start testing all kinds of techniques - roasting, smoking, charring, pickling - I love discovering how I can make exceptional veggie food." 

The event began at 6:30pm. At the entrance there was a chalkboard with the full menu. 

Outside the cafe there were two long, family-style tables set up for the big meal. I love the twinkle lights strung through the trees.

Each guest was greeted with a complimentary glass of Prosecco. 

You'll notice that fresh fruits and vegetables were used to created centerpieces for each table. 

Instead of Prosecco, my dad decided to order a beer. The Cafe has a selection of local brews and he chose La Rubia by Wynwood Brewing. 

Though I'm not normally a beer person, I took a small sip. It tasted like a Harpoon UFO or an Allagash White.

We settled in and as others started to arrive we began to introduce ourselves. We were seated next to a writer for the Miami Herald who was going to create a story for the food section about the farm dinner. Sitting next to a bona fide food writer is a blogger's dream! 

The first three dishes were served family style. We began with chile rellenos (stuffed peppers) which were charred poblano peppers stuffed with cilantro and mixed vegetables and topped with a cumin crema drizzle. 

The peppers had an excellent heat and kick to them. All of the ingredients sang beautifully together. If you order chile relleno as an entree, it can be extremely filling. It was nice to enjoy these bite size versions. 

Next up was the Puerto Vallarta ensalada (salad). It was a mix of farmer's greens, avocado, chickpeas, jicama and peppers, all tossed in a chili cumin vinaigrette. 

The salad was wonderfully fresh. The peppers and the jicama added a fantastic crunch and you can never go wrong with the buttery taste of avocado. We all really enjoyed the chili cumin dressing too. 

The final appetizer was tomatillo lime marinated veggies and pita chips served with a black bean hummus. 

For me, this presentation was super messy. Because the carrots and celery were marinated, they were slippery to pick up and hard to use as vessels for the hummus. 

The main course was vegetable enchiladas stuffed with yellow rice, black beans, market squash, golden beets, potatoes and rainbow cauliflower, topped with queso fresco and served over a mole sauce. 

The mole sauce added an interesting chocolate and almost nutty flavor to every bite. 

For the grand finale, we were treated to cardamon-laced bread pudding with spiced chocolate ganache.

I am not normally a bread pudding girl, but everything else had been so delicious that I decided to give it a try. I found the bread pudding itself to be dry (it needed a giant scoop of ice cream on top!) and the ganache was actually more like a Hershey's chocolate syrup. 

I snapped this photo toward the end of the dinner. How pretty is this? 

In addition to the gorgeous setting, we also enjoyed a musician playing Spanish guitar. I love the way he is perched in front of the wall of books. 

Just as people were finishing their dessert, chef Susser thanked everyone for coming and said these dinners are really about building a community. For him, it's about meeting new people and sharing a love of great, locally sourced food. To help us all get to know each other, he asked each person to stand up, say their name and their favorite vegetable. He started with my dad (who picked eggplant) and I went next, announcing myself as "Molly who loves mushrooms." You know I can't resist an alliteration. 

The best part of this farm-to-table dinner experience was definitely getting to know the other diners and enjoying a meal outdoors in such a beautiful setting. These weekly dinners are just $25 dollars per person, which is an incredible steal. If you live in Miami, March's theme is "Gardens of Asia."

Thank you to chef Susser for a magical evening in Mexico!