The Amiable Traveler - Guide to a Farm to Table Dinner in Oak Glen, California
The Amiable Traveler Guides - Follow along with the Amiable Traveler Guides, if you, like me, enjoy pleasant travel with companionable people, prefer the comfort of distinctive lodgings with thoughtful touches, seek out good baked goods and restaurants with quiet views, enjoy spending the day in nature but want a good meal and a comfortable bed at the end of it, welcome unique experiences, like carefully curated shops run by cheerful shopkeepers, and appreciate knowing the inside tips before you travel. Based in New England. Explore my day trip and getaway guides to the New England states. Exploring farther whenever possible!
For many years, I had wanted to attend a farm to table dinner. The long tables set with white linen and china placed in a field or a barn and surrounded by convivial people meeting and eating is just the perfect recipe for a truly lovely evening. Supporting local farmers, a topic always near and dear to my heart, makes it all the better! So, I was thrilled when a recent vacation to Southern California coincided with a Farm to Table Dinner hosted by our friends, Rileys at Los Rios Rancho.
Overview:
Location: Rileys at Los Rios Rancho in Oak Glen, CA
Setting: apple orchards in the mountains
Meal: four course farm to table dinner
Rileys at Los Rios Rancho, a multi-generational, family-run business, operates the largest and oldest apple orchard in Southern California. For the last several years, they have hosted farm to table dinners in their orchards. They partner with local farms, groves, and bakeries to supply produce, meat, and bread, pairing it with their own apples, hard and sweet ciders, and honey.
Our family joined others beneath the dappled sunshine of the apple trees for appetizers of: apple and tomato bruschetta on French baguette, arugula and prosciutto flatbread with balsamic drizzle, and apple cocktails.
One by one, we climbed aboard a wagon, pulled by Belgian draft horses. They conveyed us, through towering alder trees and along a farm road, from the lower orchard to the upper orchard, where dinner was to take place. We had an opportunity to chat with the team drivers, pet the horses, sample hard cider, and taste honey as we awaited dinner.
The dinner was served in courses, family style. As we enjoyed each course, a guitarist played from his position between two, old apple trees strung with lights. Farm manager, Devon Riley, spoke about the history of their family in Oak Glen, as well as answering questions about apples and apple trees.
As the sun dropped behind the mountains and the evening came on, the lights swagging through the trees and the kerosene lanterns on the table cast a beautiful glow over the guests. We adjourned from our tables to enjoy dessert: strawberry sorbet and honey-lavender cookies.
It was definitely an experience our family would love to repeat…a magical moment dining beneath the apple orchards of Southern California.
Below is an image to pin to your Pinterest travel boards, so it’s easy to find next time you want to enjoy a farm to table dinner in Southern California.
