Burnt Hill Farm is just outside of Washington, DC, but it feels like a different country. Flaxen hillsides, roaming woodland hogs and endless rows of native American wine grapes create a landscape of otherworldly beauty. Our hosts Andrew Baker, Lisa Hinton, and Ashli Johnson make some famously beautiful wines with biodynamic farming techniques and a mix of old world and American grapes. You can taste the love and heart they put into their work in every sip and we can’t wait to taste their newest vintages alongside our three feasts in their fields. To kick things off, we’ll have David and Tonya Thomas of H3irloom Foods back in the field kitchen, where they knocked it out of the park last year. Once again, they’ll create an African-inspired feast designed to honor the environment, history, and community of the region.
This will be our second night on this 117 acre biodynamic farm, vineyard and winery. In addition to their ambitious natural wines, the passionate team at Burnt Hill raises woodland hogs, honey bees and heritage grains on rolling golden hillsides ringed with dense woods. Andrew Baker, Lisa Hinton and Ashli Johnson farm with grit and tenacity and they have an incredibly passionate community behind them. We will celebrate their hard work on this abundant land with an early Autumn feast from guest chef Rob Rubba. As a special treat, he’s bringing us a sampling of his Michelin-starred vegetarian cuisine from Oyster Oyster. We can promise you won’t miss the meat with this unapologetically plant-focused, deeply sustainably minded dinner. The perfect pairing for Burnt Hill’s deeply flavorful, sustainably minded wines.
We finish off our mini-residency on the wild hillside farmed by Andrew Baker, Lisa Hinton and Ashli Johnson. Once again we’ll enjoy a range of their uniquely American wines while gazing out at the spectacular views of the Appalachian Mountains and feasting on the fruits of the surrounding land. Chef Eric Adjepong will be joining us in the field kitchen for a meal featuring enticing flavors from the West African diaspora. He’s lived on three continents, traveled extensively, and even completed a stint on Top Chef—but we’re sure he’ll be happy to be cooking close to his home in Washington DC while taking us on a culinary trip across the world.
It’s a rare opportunity to dine between the vines in the Piedmont Plateau — which is why we’re staying three nights. We’re thrilled to have another opportunity to stroll through their 117 acres of golden grape vines, vegetable beds, fruit trees and free-grazing farm animals. And to taste through many delicious varieties of their thoughtfully made wines, of course. Host vintner Andrew Baker is a conscientious farmer and winemaker who maintains a regenerative system meant to mimic nature in the vineyard and makes wine using zero additives in order to best reflect this historic property’s terroir. Guest chef Bryan Voltaggio will helm the field kitchen on our final night. He was mentored by Chef Charlie Palmer and has gone on to accrue quite a few culinary accolades, including an appearance on Top Chef and two James Beard nominations. He’s also opened several popular restaurants in Maryland including his newest venture, Thacher and Rye, where he cooks up locally sourced Mid-Atlantic cuisine.
We first visited Ayrshire Farm in 2009 and we’ve been back many times since. Our friends at Ayrshire raise many rare breeds of livestock including White Park cattle and Gloucester Old Spot pigs, plus heirloom fruits and vegetables — all on acres and acres of lush green rolling hills. From the table, it’s not unusual to catch a few shire horses galloping past or wild turkeys rummaging through the brush. Guest chef Tarver King is an old friend of ours, too — he first helmed the field kitchen in 2012. During the course of his culinary career, he’s earned attention from Bon Appetit, James Beard and Esquire. He also makes Norse mythology-inspired charcoal drawings with homemade charcoal. We’re excited to catch up and see what he’s been up to.