Black Dirt Feast Reveals Chefs and Their Menu

By Peter Lyons Hall

The 2024 Pine Island Chamber’s Black Dirt Feast, scheduled for Tuesday, August 6, 2024, will celebrate an extraordinary outdoor farm-to-table banquet that features award-winning chefs who have established long-term relationships with farmers throughout the region known for the diversity in their crops and their use of restorative techniques that protect the soil while generating unique and flavorful fruits and vegetables.

 The Black Dirt Region encompasses about 26,000 acres of some of the most nutrient-rich soil in the world. It is only found in a few regions including the Pine Island-Goshen-Florida region in Orange County, Poland, Ukraine, parts of Canada, and a few other patches throughout the United States. This soil is rich in carbon-based earthworms, biota, decaying organic materials, and other microbes which enrich the soil and provide amazing results for the food grown there.

 This year’s menu for the upcoming Feast includes the following chefs:

1. Greg Rhein: As the owner of the popular, award-winning Roam Food Truck, he will feature an assortment of hors d’oeuvres for starters at the beginning of the event.
2. Cheryl Rogowksi: In 2004 Cheryl became the first farmer recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship in its 23 history. As the Warwick Farmers Market Manager, she maintains an intimate knowledge of Certified Naturally Grown and other farming practices throughout the Hudson Valley. She will be preparing the salad course, containing baby salad greens picked from local farms that morning tossed with fresh herbs, sprinkled with local dried strawberries and edible flowers, lightly tossed with a vinaigrette dressing.  
3. Amanda Langlitz: Chef and proprietor of Table 21 in Pine Island, she has over 20 years of experience in the industry and a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. She has been a part of catering some magical recent events including the Country Music Awards and Presidential Debates.  Amanda will be preparing the soup course, featuring local sweet corn soup with cilantro and chili oil.
4. Ciarian McGoldrick: Ciarian became the Chopped Champion on the popular Food Network program in December 2023. His Glenmere farm is a 30-acre culinary sanctuary in the Village of Florida NY. Chef McGoldrick will be serving pan seared steelhead from Hudson Valley Fisheries with pearled cous-cous, ratatouille, herb pesto.
5. Edison Narkaj and Christian Dushaj: Having built an excellent reputation for their Pasta D’Oro restaurant in Sullivan County in the Village of Wurtsboro, Edison and Christian decided to invest in and reimagine the iconic Pine Island Restaurant, The Jolly Onion. They are preparing Amish chicken breast with prosciutto di Parma, whipped purple potatoes finished with a natural herb au jus.
6. Eddie Cullari: The family-owned restaurant, Eddie’s roadhouse in the village of Warwick, features a unique blend of new tastes, as well as old-favorites. Sauces and marinades used are house-made, and the meat is fresh, never frozen. Eddie will be preparing a specialty beef dish that features marinated hanger steak with roasted Black Dirt zucchini in a fig balsamic glaze.
7. Heather Bradford: The original “Laker Baker” began as a single mom who was trying to pay the bills. She started at the popular Greenwood Lake Bagels and Bakery shop with a tasty blueberry-avocado-muffin, and the rest is history. Heather’s specialty dessert will include custom tarts with local fruit and cream sauce.

What distinguishes the produce and fruits served at the Feast is the time between harvest and preparation. Cheryl’s salad may be still warm from the garden and packed with their original antioxidants, vitamins and nutrients. You can tell the difference by just tasting the lettuce leaves. By protecting the integrity of the soil the farmers can grow extraordinary (and diverse) varieties of flavorful items like string beans, flat Italian Romano beans, purple string beans, green string beans, and the purple potatoes used by the chefs at Pasta D’Oro. There is also a growing number of farms that grow heirloom tomatoes whose appearance may look unusual but whose taste is magnificent!

 Live music is another important ingredient to the event. Local musicians, many of whom are nationally renowned recording artists, together with chamber ensembles, jazz quartets, and choruses, have performed during the event. This year’s Feast will be held on Tuesday, August 8, 2024 from 6 to 9 pm at Social Island, 939 Pulaski Highway in the Town of Goshen. To learn more about the Black Dirt Region and to purchase tickets for the Feast ($150.00 per person) click on the Pine Island Chamber website, https://www.pineislandny.com/black-dirt-feast-tickets/. Seating is limited.