Thanks to the joint efforts of Slow Food USA and Chefs Collaborative, sixteen of New England’s heirloom vegetables have been plucked from obscurity (and possible extinction) and thrust into the spotlight on menus at top restaurants. As part of this year’s RAFT Grow-Out, twenty-eight farmers and thirty-five chefs in Boston, Portsmouth and Providence will be working with the regionally significant veggies – the True Red Cranberry Bean, the Long Pie Pumpkin and the Gilfeather turnip, for example. You can enjoy the fruits of all that collective labor during Heirloom Harvest Week, which runs from Monday, October 12th through Sunday, October 18th. You’ll find this year’s honored vegetables on the menus at area restaurants including 51 Lincoln, Beacon Hill Bistro, Craigie on Main, EVOO, Garden at the Cellar, Henrietta’s Table, Hungry Mother, Lumière, Rialto, Tastings Wine Bar & Bistro, Tomasso Trattoria, T.W. Food and Portsmouth’s Black Trumpet Bistro. For more information about RAFT (which stands for Renewing America’s Food Traditions), the Grow-Out or Heirloom Harvest Week check out this section of the Chefs Collaborative website.
