STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
An alien dropping in on Hailey Saturday night might have wondered about what he was seeing:
Earthlings strolling up and down Main Street, with orange and green sporks sticking out of the front pockets of their shirts and the back pockets of their jeans.
The improvement in the evolutionary process—that of combining fork prongs and spoon shovels on one instrument—was the Wood River HarvestFest’s most recent attempt to be sustainable. And adults and children alike happily moved from restaurant to restaurant brandishing their sporks, rather than avail themselves of new utensils at every stop.
The annual restaurant walk was founded by the Local Food Alliance to pair local chefs with local producers and foodies with the finished product to showcase the richness of the local food scene.
The menu included the Wood River Sustainability Center’s Tropical Coconut Slaw with Smoked Chicken topped with coconut sauce. Chris Kastner of CK’s stuffed Pride of Bristol Bay salmon with a little sushi rice before wrapping and grilling it and serving it with a tasty salad flavored with mango, chilies and tamarind seed.
Sawtooth Brewery trotted out a rather smoky, flavorful succotash made of squash, corn and pinto beans, which it served with braised beef short ribs. And Craig Aberbach and the Hailey Fire Department served up tantalizingly smoky giant chicken legs.
“I told my wife it was an intense eating event,” said John Klimes, as he noshed on diVine’s popular pulled pork and coleslaw sandwich.
“It’s like going trick or treating—only most everybody is adults,” added Becky Klimes.
The Klimes raise beef, pork and chicken, duck and chicken eggs and 48 different kinds of produce including potatoes and onions at their 17-acre Agrarian Harvest ranch near Buhl. They supplied much of the meat and produce for the event.
“It’s humbling to know we’re on so many menus in town. And it’s great to feel the appreciation of the community, too,” said John Klimes.
Rodolfo Serva of KB’s trotted out a new dish—a deliciously flavorful leg of lamb spiced with Peruvian chilies and served with rice, pinto beans and onions.
“I very much enjoy cooking for this event,” said Serva. “I cook always with passion. Everything we do, everything we cook we cook with passion.”
Many of the foodies walked around with badges of food spills on their shirts but contented looks on their faces.
“This is my third HarvestFest. I like to try things I’ve never had before seeing people I haven’t seen in a long time. It’s fun to walk and talk,” said Teresa Laird who strolled from restaurant to restaurant with Charlotta Harris.
“I just like the whole atmosphere,” said Jim Rineholt, who was on his first restaurant walk. “Seeing friends. Lots of good food. Just being Hailey.”
Back at the Sustainbility Center, Black Owl Coffee gave away caramel cookies and gluten-free matcha ones while Hailey Coffee Company handed out Paleo Raspberry Bliss Bars, along with slices of pumpkin, zucchini and Paleo Blueberry bread.
Christina Giordani mixed plum cardamom-vodka cocktails, spicy red pepper and tequila drinks and peach-oregano-bourbon concoctions out of her Roadbars mobile bar, while Syringa Mountain School supporters Nolina Burge and Tenaya Kolar showed youngsters how to create veggie paintings with cauliflowers, which look like trees when sliced in half.
Ilana Becker and Chris and Brooke Carwithen had escorted a visitor from a Philadelphia visitor, who had come to the Wood River Valley just for the event. And, though vegetarians, they found plenty to fill their tummies, including an eggplant curry and a roasted cilantro potato salad.
“It was cool to come and see the community just hanging out,” said Brooke Carwithen. “We will be coming back next year.”
“I’m so full I don’t know what to do,” added Jim Perkins, who had just wrapped up his first HarvestWalk. “I was surprised at the amount of food. God willing, I’ll be back next year.”