Update: The Iowa City Downtown District provided Little Village with a copy of the planned menu, which has been added to the story.
Tickets for Iowa City’s third annual Farm to Street Dinner will go on sale at 7 a.m. on Sunday, July 1. The six-course meal served in the middle of downtown N Linn Street, featuring dishes created by local chefs working with locally-sourced ingredients, will be held on Thursday, August 16. There will be 200 tickets available.
“It will probably sell out within an hour,” said Betsy Potter, director of operations for the Iowa City Downtown District (ICDD). The Farm to Street Dinner is hosted by ICDD, along with the City of Iowa City and Johnson County.
The dinner is designed to increase awareness of local restaurants and locally produced food. Each April, chefs from downtown restaurants and the Iowa City Farmers Market submit proposals for individual courses.
“There are some specific requirements,” Potter explained. “If the dish has meat in it, they also have to provide a vegetarian option. This year there will also be a gluten-free option.”
“They also have to list all of the ingredients, and where they are sourcing those ingredients,” she added. “They have to say which local farmers they are working with.”
“The menus are always really unique,” said Iowa City Farmers Market Coordinator Tammy Neumann. “The chefs are really creative.”
Four well known Iowa City restaurants were selected this year — Brix Cheese Shop and Wine Bar, Devotay, Clinton Street Social Club, Pullman Bar & Diner — along with recent additions to the downtown food scene, Goosetown Cafe and Saint Burch Tavern.
This year’s menu is:
Appetizer — Goosetown Cafe
Savory Mushroom Pop Tart with Goat CheeseSecond Course — Clinton Street Social Club
Heirloom Tomato and Corn Salad with Goat CheeseThird Course — Pullman
Barley Salad with Summer Squash, Pickled Cauliflower and MintEntree Course — Saint Burch Tavern
Lacquered Pork Belly and Tenderloin Pate de Campagne or Mushroom & Old Capitol Tofu
with Charred Eggplant Puree, Blistered Sun Gold Tomatoes, and Rebal’s Sweet CornFifth Course — Devotay
Paella Stuffed Peppers
Chicken or VegetableDessert — Brix Cheese Shop & Wine Bar
Maytag Blue Panna Cotta with Local Honey and Wilson’s Orchard Apples
Event planner Jessica Pease explained in an email that because the dinner “requires the majority of ingredients to be from local sources” the menu “may change closer to event as influenced by weather and harvests.”
Proceeds from the annual dinner always go to local nonprofits that work on food-related issues. This year’s dinner will benefit Table to Table. Since 1996, the nonprofit has collected unused food from restaurants and grocery stores and distributed it to community food banks in Iowa City, Coralville, North Liberty, Tiffin and Solon.
“Every year parts of the proceeds are also donated to the Iowa City Parks and Recreation Foundation,” Neumann said. “That money is used for local food projects.”
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Neumann said the money has been used to expand the city’s community garden program.
Tickets are $100, and will be available online through Little Village Tickets.
