Utopian Seed Project Trial to Table Dinner Fall 2024

Sharing a few highlights from a recent experimental farm dinner near Asheville, North Carolina.

Please see my former post for ways to help Hurricane Helene survivors in Western North Carolina.

The Utopian Seed Project is a nonprofit that helps preserve and grow indigenous and emerging crops adapted to the Southeast. Their Crop Stories magazine dives deep into the culture and history of different plants, and they hold complementing events and podcasts. They also have an arm connecting people with seeds: the Appalachian Seed Growers Collective. (I acquired my coral sorghum and white sesame seeds from them.) For outreach and community building, the USP hosts a few Trial to Table dinners throughout the year on farms and other venues around North Carolina. Featuring chefs from around the region, these dinners showcase a particular seasonal ingredient grown on experimental farms.

I purchased tickets to one of these dinners a year or so ago, but we had something come up at the last minute and we weren’t able to attend. Fortunately, I noticed that an upcoming dinner was near Asheville on the first night of my time off before the fall equinox and I had already planned to be in the mountains. My husband was planning to head to the mountains the same day, so it worked out perfectly that I met him at the dinner before he continued driving out the rest of the way. The other thing that worked out perfectly was the weather. The forecast pointed to all signs of rain, but the al fresco dinner was spared.

The Trial to Table dinners are set up station-style by chef and your entry ticket affords you 2 dishes from each station. With a handful of spots, I was skeptical that 10 small dishes would be filling, but they were. (My husband snuck back to a few for seconds, but he generally needs more to eat than me anyway!) However, I didn’t buy tickets to have a filling meal. I chose to attend because I wanted to experience foods and flavor combinations that you may not (ever) see on a restaurant menu.

The Trial to Table dinner we attended was held at event venue Ivory Road in Arden, North Carolina. Here’s the full menu including the chefs before we hit the highlights:

Jill Wasilewski, Pastry

Candied Roselle with Corn Silk Tea Cake, Sesame Seed Wafer (Vg)
Corn Silk Milk Mousse, Spiced Winter Squash Puree Cremeux, Espresso Cake (GF, Vg)

Yunanda Wilson, Savory

B.B.B: Burmese Bitter Melon Compound Butter and Tomato Jelly served with Naan (contains Shellfish)
Htamin Thoke: Roselle Leaf and Bamboo Shoot Rice Salad with Southern Pea Fritter and Golden Sesame Garlic Oil (V, GF)

Awo Amenumey, Savory

Fetri Detsi & Abolo: Seafood Okra Soup, Steamed Corn & Rice Cakes, Crispy Okra Salad (GF)
Koliko: Taro & Sweet Potato Fritters, Taro leaves & Tomato Sauce with Agushi (GF, V)

Terri Terrell, Savory

Cullen Skink + Smoked Sunburst Trout  + Turmeric + African Rose Mallow
Bitter Melon + Dry Ridge Farm Eggs + Okra Seed Chili Crisp

Chue and Tou Lee, Demo

Bitter melon demonstration and salad

Utopian Seed Project, Demo

Okra seed oil demonstration and cracker

Absolutely everything was a pleasure. The chefs constantly prepared each dish fresh, cooking and plating while chatting with folks. It was like watching someone spin plates in the air but instead we had an array of plate spinners and each plate was full of unique, fresh food. The dishes that stood out to me:

Burmese bitter melon compound butter with tomato jelly on naan.

One thing this dish taught me was to enjoy the food without reading the menu. For many of the other dishes, I read what was on each plate and then enjoyed the dish. My husband had grabbed these plates and I enjoyed them without context to their ingredients. I ate the decadent compound butter in one bite of the naan without knowing what it was. I’m sure if I had known it was butter I would have attempted to spread it across the naan, which would have made me miss out on the great one-bite combination of it with the tomato jelly.

Okra seed chili crisp on the bitter melon and farm eggs.

Taro and sweet potato fritters.

I had taro for the first time last year after USP sent me a box of taro with recipes. It’s very similar to potatoes, but with a starchier and heavier mouthfeel. I would love to grow my own.

Candied roselle and corn silk tea cake with sesame seed wafer (Husband went back for seconds.)

If you’re interested in attending a Trial to Table dinner. subscribe to USP for 2025 updates. These dinners are ecologically-minded and the hosts encourage guests to bring their own utensils and drinking vessel, although bamboo utensils and a cup are available to everyone on entry.