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The People Behind the Passion for the Preservation Dinner at Aqueous

Preservation Dinner, pear, figs

UPDATE: The article below is about an event from years’ past. For the most up-to-date happenings around Nemacolin, please visit the What’s Happening page of the website.

A scroll through the Churchview Farm Instagram page reveals a rainbow of color and foods which jump off the screen. Bright tomatoes, a red currant puree, and fermented radishes are some of what you’ll see. In November, a cornucopia of flavors is coming from the farm to Nemacolin for the Preservation Dinner at Aqueous.

Churchview Farm is a small, sustainable family farmette located in the South Hills area of Pittsburgh. The farm’s history harkens back to the 1930s, when Emil and Hilda Rockacy purchased 13 acres of land, built a farmhouse, and fed their family with the fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy products they naturally grew and raised.

Tara Rockacy of Churchview Farm
Churchview Farm

The heritage continues today with granddaughter and Queen Bee Tara Rockacy, who moved to the family land in 2007, to restore the farm, respect her grandparents’ traditions, and grow a legacy by continuing to raise food without the use of chemicals, pesticides, or herbicides. Tara and her Churchview Farm team employ sustainable agricultural practices, they treat the animals humanely, they nurture the soil, they work together to engage the community, and they find complementary harmony with the surrounding ecosystems.

Churchview Farm’s executive chef is Csilla Thackray. She’s the expert behind immersive dining experiences, esteemed tastings, and a series of dinners that elevate the farm’s food and produce to artistic plates for magical palate experiences.

Chef Csilla Thackray of Churchview Farm
Chef Tyler Hutchison of Aqueous & Chef Kristin Butterworth of Nemacolin

Farmer Tara and Chef Csilla are bringing the best of what’s been grown, preserved, fermented, and aged to Nemacolin for a collaborative menu with Aqueous’ Chef de Cuisine Tyler Hutchison and Nemacolin’s Executive Chef of Restaurants Kristin Butterworth. Held at Aqueous on Friday, November 11, this limited-seating Preservation Dinner will be a unique gourmet experience.

The dishes will be a bounty of flavors: peppers — sweet, hot, and mild; honey — sweet and fermented (oh, what a surprising delight); tomatoes, figs, yams, mustard greens, cabbage, sage, tatsoi, with unique cocktails and suggested pairings … the possibilities are peculiar and particular … made to be remarkable and worth remembering. Between the hors d’oeuvres and the coursed selections, guests will sample a wide range of delicious and fascinating flavors based on nature’s bounty and abundance.

"It’s something we’ll look at and say, ‘It’s beautiful,’ or we’ll add one thing, and then BOOM! it’ll be perfect."
Chef Tyler Hutchison
Preservation Dinner plated bounty

The plating will be beyond magnificent; it will be breathtakingly beautiful. Chef Tyler Hutchison is excited to see the artistic foodie renderings plated. “We’ll come up with an idea in our head about what the recipe will look like on a plate. It’ll look like how we dreamed it up, or we may have to make a tweak here or there. It’s something we’ll look at and say, ‘It’s beautiful,’ or we’ll add one thing, and then BOOM! it’ll be perfect. This is what I love about plating,” he says.

Chef Kristin Butterworth smiles at the idea of working with other chefs to collaborate on creativity and concoctions that will surprise, delight, and excite. She says, “Not only do we get to showcase a local and beautiful farm, but we also get to showcase the amazing possibilities of preserved foods and fresh products. Doing these sorts of dinners brings a team together for a night we’ll all remember.”

Chef Hutchison agrees. “This is also a special evening for the front- and back-of-house teams at Aqueous, too. They had a lot of fun with last year’s [sold-out] event, and they’re excited to do it together in a bigger and better way this year.”

Overnight rooming packages for the Preservation Dinner are available for guests and members. A resort reservations specialist can assist in curating your stay and making plans for your weekend getaway at 866.344.6957.

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