The term “farm-to-table” is used quite often these days. It’s a common catchphrase for a particular style of meal preparation. But what does it actually mean? As venues across Michigan provide private group farm-to-table dining opportunities in increasing numbers, Michigan Meetings + Events checked in with a culinary education program that offers a comprehensive course on the subject for a deeper dive.
“It’s about understanding where your food comes from and the work it takes to produce [food] products,” says Michael Peterson, adjunct culinary instructor at Northwestern Michigan College’s Great Lakes Culinary Institute in Traverse City. His students visit farms and meet with growers as they learn about the process that takes crops and animals from farm to table. “We can’t get it all in with an eight-week class, but we try to expose them to it. … [Students gain] a lot more respect for the food and the animals, and I think that carries through when they’re cooking,” adds Peterson.
There are many group-dining spots in Michigan that source fresh ingredients from regional producers. In the Traverse City area, Farm Club—a farm market, restaurant, and brewery—is supported by its own farms and offers private dining space for up to 60 attendees on Mondays from November through March. “It’s all our own food and all our own vegetables,” explains Gary Jonas, one of Farm Club’s owners, adding that its menus only contain ingredients in season.
Not far away, Gilchrist Farm Winery hosts private events at its Suttons Bay tasting room. “We call it our tasting room, winery, and farm-to-table kitchen,” says co-owner Marc Huntoon. It holds up to 50 attendees inside, plus 50 more on the patio. Huntoon says the goal is to expand and put on more events at the vineyard that include winery tours and dinners among the grapevines. “We’re a regenerative farm, and all our produce is organic,” he says. “We source our proteins from area producers.”
At Sylvan Table in Sylvan Lake, it’s “all farm-to-table all of the time,” says General Manager Sadie Simon. Sylvan Table employs a farm manager who has a part-time helper. Together, they grow crops on the restaurant’s 3 acres of farmland. “And if there’s anything we don’t grow, we use local Michigan farm vendors,” Simon says. “Everything on our menu is seasonal and only found in Michigan. I think a lot of people come because the dishes are simple, but delicious. You can taste the difference.” Private events range from groups of 30 to as many as 180 attendees, which represents a full buyout of the property.
In Grand Rapids, Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park found great success when it presented a farm-to-table dinner experience at its Michigan’s Farm Garden in September 2024. Culinary Arts & Event Sales Manager Jessica Haisma says demand for the garden venue continues to increase for planners wanting a farm experience. “Really the whole area is designed for more of that farmhouse and garden feel,” she says. “Besides the farmhouse, there’s a barn, front and back lawn on either side of the house, windmill, and small heirloom vegetable patch.” At the same time, Meijer Gardens offers multiple other dining spaces, including its newly renovated Loeschner-Peterson Event Room accommodating up to 150 attendees and the Huizenga Grand Room for as many as 1,800, with many other options in between.
Stephanie Timmerman is vice president of group sales for Under Canvas, which operates The Fields of Michigan in South Haven. Set on a blueberry farm, The Fields of Michigan offers cottages, tents, and farm-to-table meals cooked with ingredients from its land, including for private group-dining experiences, Timmerman explains. Multiple eclectic spaces can be configured for various group sizes, including The Willow that seats up to 40 and The Event Pad, which offers a blueberry field backdrop that can be tented for larger groups. Meals are accompanied by hard cider that is crafted and bottled by an area cidery using The Fields of Michigan’s blueberries, with custom pairings of wines from regional wineries also available. “Attendees are invited to walk through the fields, connect with the landscape, and enjoy a meal that celebrates the area’s agricultural bounty,” Timmerman says.
About an hour away in Three Oaks, Granor Farm relies on its greenhouse for farm-to-table vegetables and grains, as well as Traverse City area and Midwest farms for meat and dairy when crafting menus for attendees, says General Manager Anna Rafalski. Groups of up to 54 can reserve the entire greenhouse dining room, with a smaller private space available for up to 14. Granor Farm often hosts corporate groups that are meeting in the area’s hotels—several in New Buffalo have meeting spaces, she says—or staying at bed-and-breakfasts. “Usually, the groups have a day of meetings and come to dinner here,” she says. “Or, sometimes, they’re in the area for an entire week, and this is one of the dinners they plan.”
