‘It’s about the food and the farm’ C U LT I V A T I N G A D I F F E R E N T K I N D O F W I N E C O U N T R Y C U I S I N E A T B A C K YA R D F A R M
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Joanne Sasvari
At Backyard Farm, chef Chris Van Hooydonk is connecting food with land, family and community. Joanne Sasvari photos
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n a two-acre plot of land with more than 80 heritage fruit trees, a flock of chickens and raised beds filled with herbs and vegetables, Chris Van Hooydonk is living his dream life. “I want to grow food and farm and be a chef,” says the chef and proprietor of Backyard Farm. “I just want to do it in a different way and on a much smaller scale.” Backyard Farm is unlike anything else in wine country. Located just north of Osoyoos, it’s not a restaurant, but a farm that holds private dinners, cooking classes and offsite catering events. As Van Hooydonk says, “We’re basically an educational centre that promotes agritourism.” But if you think that means rustic home cooking, think again. This is beautiful, imaginative, elevated cuisine that passionately supports the region’s growers and wineries, when the chef isn’t plucking ingredients from outside his own front door. “I really do feel that I connect with people on a different level than you can in a restaurant. It’s about the
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food and the farm,” he says. “What do you really need? I already have everything I need.”
Arrival: Artisan charcuterie and cheese selection with accompaniments. Recommended wine: bubbles or rosé. When you arrive at Backyard Farm for one of the Chef’s Table dinners, you might be confused at first. It’s just an old house surrounded by old trees, after all, with maybe a chicken or two meandering about. But step inside and it’s a different world. To the left is the immaculate commercial kitchen; to the right, the airy dining room with its long table and big windows that look across to the Black Sage Bench. And then comes the reveal. Suddenly, everyone starts pulling bottles of wine out of boxes and bags. Van Hooydonk doesn’t sell wine, so he assigns guests to bring their
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