Step onto the farm and get ready to get your hands dirty—cooking! Cowabunga’s Farm Out is an afternoon crafted for the home cook enthusiast. On Saturday, July 14, the city’s top chefs will come together to give hands-on demonstrations covering everything from luxury chocolates to handmade dough to butchering. Watch and learn while you taste, sip, and participate!

Farm Out is taking local to the next level. Here in Portland, we embrace our international reputation as the foodie city. We are known for our vibrant restaurant scene, award-winning chefs, and artisanal, locally sourced ingredients. And it’s true: We care about what we eat, where it comes from, what it pairs with, what imprint it leaves behind, and of course, an Instagram-worthy plate. In Portland, farm-to-table isn’t just a restaurant concept—it’s a way of life.

At Saturday’s Farm Out, guests will tie on their aprons and join butchers, bakers, chefs, and farmers to experience farm-to-table firsthand. With three major demo tents, there is plenty to learn about the bounties of Oregon. 

In the first corner, weighing about 2,400 lbs, is America’s favorite livestock, the cow! At the Full Moo demo table, guests will learn how to milk it, butcher it, cook it, and eat it. This tent will have guests saying, “holy cow!” as they experience the many ways we incorporate the entire animal into our cuisine and lifestyle. Take part in a butchering demo with Zeph Shepard of Proletariat Butchery. Learn about raising cattle from local ranchers and the history of Portland food from food historian Heather Arndt Anderson, and then taste glorious samples from chef Emily Olsen of RingSide Steakhouse and Nate Tilden of Bar Casa Vale. Chef Rodrigo Huerta of Taqueria Nueve will be serving up slow-roasted lengua tacos, and Strother Hill from Carman Ranch will be grilling his own Oregon-raised beef bites! This event emphasizes Portland’s DIY culture, including learning new cooking techniques from SilverFire Stoves and Big Green Eggs. If you love to cook—or just enjoy farm-fresh eating—Farm Out is the day for you! 

Demo table no. 2, Good to the Grain, will focus on Oregon’s bounty of soft white winter wheat, the state’s most prominent variety, which makes for the best pastries, cakes, pretzels, cookies, and ramen! At the Good to the Grain tent, Cowabunga’s carb lovin’ hot spot, attendees will see the crop go from grain to cake, pasta, scone, or cereal. Guests will roll up their sleeves and work alongside Pizzeria Otto’s Sam Reed and learn how to make the perfect pizza dough, and sit down with Umi Organic’s Lola Milholland who will be serving up Umi noodles in miso sesame sauce. Good to the Grain will also feature dozens of craft brews from local favorites, like Pelican Brewing. Plus, while you are sipping, learn about how grains, hops, yeast, and water come together to make Oregon’s favorite libation.

And finally, to round out the trio, Cowabunga brings to you the Veg Out demo table. Portland has long been considered an herbivore haven. Vegans, vegetarians, and the veg-curious flock from near and far to give thanks for the city’s tremendous plant-based offerings. And with more than 220 specialty state crops, the plants are plenty. Oregon is the nation’s no. 1 producer of hazelnuts, black raspberries, ryegrass seed, blackberries, boysenberries, and peppermint. We take the Silver for hops, blueberries, and pears.

These vegetables and fruits fill our farmers markets and our plates with vibrant colors and flavors and give us reason to Veg Out, which is exactly what we will be doing at this event. The Veg Out component of the Whole Farm celebrates all things plant-based. Taste the fruits of our labors with samples from Wild Roots Vodka, and enjoy bites from PDX top chefs like, Matthew Howard of Raven and Rose, who will be serving stuffed Yorkshire pudding with grilled Carman Ranch rib eye, caramelized onions, and horseradish cream; and Patrick McKee of Perlot, who will be offering up a tomato and melon gazpacho with grilled peach and Benton bacon bits … are you hungry yet?

Go to cowabunga.pdxmonthly.com for the full chef lineup and to get your tickets today! 

Cowabunga’s Farm Out is benefiting Oregon Food Bank and is made possible by support from our sponsors, Toyota, Rossi Farms, Fournier Group, Cambia Health Solutions, and the beautiful Parkrose Community.

Farm Out

Saturday, July 14, 2018

11 a.m.–3 p.m.

Rossi Farms