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Berryville’s Homespun Is All About “Down on the Farm”
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By Linda Roberts
mother and two boys were enjoying chocolate shakes at Homespun at 20 West Main Street in downtown Berryville on a recent chilly day. Behind the counter, Manny De La Rosa was generous with the spirals of whipped cream that topped off the shakes.
“How’s that?” he said, flashing a broad smile.
The newly opened Homespun is a farm-to-table spin off of Berryville’s Smith Meadows Farm. It’s been in the Pritchard family for more than 200 years, and is considered one of the country’s oldest 100 percent grass-finished livestock farms. Smith Meadows’ Forrest Pritchard and De La Rosa opened the deli, ice cream and farm store late last year and have been welcoming hungry guests every since. Paneled with barn boards and wood-topped tables, Homespun offers diners a “down on the farm” feel when they come in to try the Main Street Hot Dog, Double Dog Dare, Smith Meadows’ chili or bacon, organic coffee, craft beers or a seasonal Kombucha.
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“Transparency, wholesomeness, passion and community —that’s what people are investing in,” said De La Rosa, adding that there’s no substitute for experience and that sometimes it (experience) can’t be explained. The meat is sourced from Smith Meadows’ grass-fed beef, lamb, and pastured pork and the eggs from free-range hens quartered at the farm. If you’re interested in an ice cream sandwich or brownie sundae, the ice cream comes from a local creamery and the delectable desserts from the Sweet Elephant bakery across the street. The cuts of meat in orderly rows in the freezer cases are a direct result of Smith Meadows Farm’s sustainable farming practices. “Everything we do is with a passion, if you do that you can’t lose,” said De La Rosa. A longtime chef, De La Rosa had a hankering to join in the sustainable agriculture movement and was looking for a way to make that happen. Simultaneously he answered an ad that Pritchard published seeking someone for the Smith Meadows farm team that operates a booth at six farmers’ markets on Saturdays and Sundays in the Washington area.
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MIDDLEBURG SUSTAINABLE COMMITTEE| Spring 2022
