Heirloom tomatoes from Village Garden. The Summer Supper Somm series featuring the farm's produce kicks off June 28 and continues through Aug. 18. (Photo by Eileen Mellon)
Hanover County is renowned for its tomatoes, and when the topic of heirlooms comes up, the plump orbs ranging from Cherokee Purple to Brandywine are discussed with a deep sense of reverence, the longing for their annual appearance rooted in the simple pleasures they spark, the first bite into their flesh marking the return of summer.
Home to a tomato-friendly terroir — a trifecta of clay, dirt and sand — Hanover is also where Village Garden owners David Hunsaker and Barbara Hollingsworth practice a labor of love on their tried-and-true grounds. Having earned a reputation as the tomato purveyors, the duo behind the decade-old venture possess maternal instincts for ’maters, growing a beautiful bounty of everything from meaty Oxhearts to ribbed Tlacolula Pinks — all picked at the pinnacle of ripeness and delivered to area chefs and farmers markets.
From June 28 through Aug. 18, Village Garden and Barboursville Vineyards, with the support of Duke’s mayonnaise, will offer a chance to experience the magic of heirloom tomatoes during the second annual Summer Supper Somm series. The seven-week tour through tomato season features events at over 22 restaurants where the summer fruit and selections from Virginia vintners will be the stars.
“We just want to tap into people’s joy,” Hunsaker says. “The idea ... behind the dinner is not just to understand how it ends up on the plate, but let’s go back and connect the dots. I do believe the best chefs are ones that respect that responsibility of educating diners, and seasonality and regionality is built into their philosophy.”
During the series, guests can choose their own juicy destinies: Whether seeking a multicourse evening or a more casual affair, there is a boon of options, and tomatoes are bound to make their way into everything from entrees to desserts and cocktails. The laid-back structure also grants chefs the culinary freedom to craft the layout of the dinners however they desire, each curating their own menu, pricing and supper style.
“The first thing we learned last year is that people love tomatoes differently, and so we’re leaving it [wide] open for the chefs about how do you want to interpret it — not just what to do with tomatoes, but the format,” says Jason Tesauro of Barboursville Vineyards. “It was really fun to see how people interpreted the assignment.”
While this year presents more than double the number of participants than the previous event, it also introduces a familiar, tangy ingredient — known to be an essential accompaniment for tomato sandwiches — into the mix: Duke’s mayo, the South’s unofficial condiment of choice.
“We wanted to forge a relationship with Duke’s and thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be amazing if we could spread the good word of heirloom tomatoes and Virginia vinos by forging some kind of collaboration with them?’ ” says Tesauro, a certified sommelier, of the partnership.
Recognizing a natural fit when they see it, Duke’s — which also hosts its own Hot Tomato Summer Tour — was on board.
On July 9, the Village Garden owners plan to host a soiree at their farm, where over 300 different varieties of tomatoes flourish. The backyard party kicks off at 6 p.m. and will include live music and tomato-inspired bites and tastings from Detroit-style pizza pop-up Secret Squares, Food Network "Spring Baking Championship" winner Keya Wingfield of Keya & Co., and Fat Tyler's Meat Cart, operated by Tyler Trainum of Autumn Olive Farms. Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches will also be there offering limited-edition banana-mayo sandwiches made with Duke's, which will only be available in July. This year on April Fool's Day, the ice cream purveyor teased an ice cream sandwich made with Duke's, and the joke led to the company reaching out to them for a cool collaboration.
The bill for the nearly summerlong showcase includes Richmond-area restaurants Cocodrilo, East Coast Provisions, River City Roll, Lillie Pearl, Heritage, The Roosevelt, Southbound, Saison, Lemaire, Red Salt Chophouse & Sushi, JewFro, Shagbark, and The Lobby Bar at Quirk Hotel, in addition to a dinner at Kitchen Classroom and one hosted by personal chef Emmanuel Baiden of Manny Eats. Out-of-town events include dinners at Barboursville’s Palladio Restaurant; No Goodbyes and L’Auberge Chez Francois in Washington, D.C.; The Shack in Staunton; and Zoe’s in Virginia Beach.
“There’s no reason why we can’t be sitting here years from now thinking, ‘What are we going to do for 2029?’ ” says Tesauro, noting that the restaurants will feature a Barboursville vintage by the glass for a month to highlight the Orange County vineyard.
Spread across the summer, the dinners also aim to create a fellowship around the fruits, and an opportunity to forge a deeper connection to the natural resources that thrive in the commonwealth, from the tomato vine to the grapevine. Taking something familiar and ordinary and allowing its potential to be exposed and reimagined, the series also showcases the importance of what grows right in our backyard.
“An often repeated little phrase [is] that what grows together, goes together, but we only seem to apply that to other countries — French cheese and French wine, Italian preparations with Italian wine,” Tesauro says. “That’s the piece we’re really going to stress this year — whether it’s your mayo, your bread, your tomatoes, your wine, look at your food shed holistically, and draw from it, and relish it.”
To learn more about each dinner, visit the participating restaurants’ websites.
