The Sampler
Farmhouse Cafe
The Sampler
The faint-of-heart diner never escapes the gravity of Nashville’ s galaxy of eateries.
But for those of a slightly more adventurous nature, willing to strike out across the countryside seeking new vistas of gustatory delights, a pleasant drive through the countryside yields a pleasant place to stroll, sightsee, and enjoy one of Brown County’ s best dining experiences.
If you haven’ t made the journey to The Farmhouse Café and Tea Room, you’ re in for a treat. If you’ ve already found out about it, I don’ t have to convince you that it is worth a second seating.
Just three miles east of Bean Blossom, a short, scenic drive from downtown Nashville through those storied hills of Brown County, you’ ll discover a charming place of flowers, trees, shrubs, and herbs( the herb barn) next to an 19th century red brick farmhouse.
I recently re-visited the Farmhouse Café with my beautiful kitchen companion for dinner and a look-see. It was all as I had remembered— pleasantly appealing, almost enchanting.
There’ s something about the dining room— the brick walls,
the jumble of mis-matched antique furnishings, the deft decorations— that seems genuine. Authentic. Real. It is a masterpiece of Brown County folk meets French country farmhouse. And the food is good, too! I had already tried the summer chicken breast with spinach stuffing( recommend) and shared a taste of the Brown County grilled pork chop( yummy). This time, I wanted to sample one of the great Farmhouse salads— unusual, delectable and ohso good for you.
There’ s an asparagus and orange salad, with heirloom tomato slices, crispy green lettuce and spinach tossed in a light herbal vinaigrette dressing; an avocado and smoked fish salad with cucumbers, cilantro, mustard seed and other spices; and a chicken papaya salad with avocado and honey-lemon balm dressing.
There’ s also a curried chicken salad served over a bed of colored penne pasta and a summer greens and herb-seasoned shrimp salad with fresh tomato slices, artichoke
hearts, red bell pepper, red onion, avocado, and egg slices.
Feeling fruitarian? There’ s a fresh fruit salad with strawberries, raspberries, orange slices, bananas, grapes, kiwis, blueberries, and pineapple drizzled with a delicious light and creamy yogurt topping. Also a mixed fresh melon salad with honeydew, watermelon, and cantaloupe balls served with raspberries or strawberries, and a mint garnish.
I had my sights set on the chef salad. Something about spring and all the plants and greenery, I guess. You can tell a lot about a restaurant, and about a chef, by simply ordering the chef salad.
Mrs. Sampler opted for the Farmhouse pasta special— sautéed shrimp over herb and vegetableaccented angel-hair pasta.
From what I hear, the steak is a great option for hungry meat-lovers and there’ s also a grilled Atlantic salmon.
While awaiting our meals, we
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26 Our Brown County • May / June 2014