Set on a bucolic 6-acre piece of farmland on Bainbridge Island with a striking farmhouse as its centerpiece, Heyday Farm House literally defines “farm to table” as the distance ingredients travel measured in feet rather than miles. The farm’s Thursday and Friday night “community dinners” are just that, as the seating is communal, encouraging diners to interact and make new friends while breaking bread together. Heyday is also a destination for weddings, event dinners and much more.
Tell us about Heyday Farm.
We are a 6-acre farm growing what we need for our community dinners, functions and events. The Thursday and Friday community dinners offer a nice à la carte menu where people can order as little as they want or go extravagant. And that menu changes every week. We do weddings, business retreats, cooking experiences and weekly “ticketed events” where we create a menu or theme for a dinner that’s more of a set menu. (February and March events included Valentine’s and Mardi Gras dinners, for example.)
How many do you seat at the Thursday and Friday night dinners?
We can seat 30 twice a night, and in the summertime, we have more seating outdoors. There’s a perception that we’re always full but we’re definitely available for people to walk in and have a full meal or just a glass of wine and a salad.
What would you call your cuisine?
The simplest thing is, since we’re on a farm, that we’re farm-to-table. But I really think it’s just well-executed food that’s not fussy, where we try to highlight the ingredients that we grow and what’s in season.
Are you the proprietor?
I’m the executive chef and proprietor. I went to the cooking school at Seattle Central University, which is the oldest cooking school west of the Mississippi. You wouldn’t think that with a small community college. I went back to school to get an accounting degree to help me run the businesses, the numbers part of things. We have a really good group of people who work here. Everybody’s professional and they all work really hard.
Tell us a bit more about your background.
I grew up on Bainbridge Island and worked at popular places here like Ruby’s and the Streamliner Diner. I did the dinner menu there. I then worked for Tom Douglas (Seattle restaurant group) for quite a while at three of his restaurants, Etta’s Seafood, Dalia Lounge and the Palace Kitchen.
As a chef owner, what are your greatest challenges?
Inflation really hit restaurants hard because even in the best of times, we all are running razor-thin margins; most are lucky to break even. We’re not in this for profit; we’re in this to make people happy and provide a service to the community. There’s a lot that goes into preparing the food that customers don’t see. We have farmers working in the rain or in the sun gathering the ingredients; our kitchen is taking multiple days to prep things so when it’s time to serve them it takes 10 minutes instead of two and a half hours.
How many hours did you work last week?
I typically work 60 or 70 hours a week, six days a week. In the summer, it’s more.
You are a bit remote here. What percentage of your guests are regulars versus first timers?
We have a lot of first-timers so I would say it’s 50/50. We need to get the word out that we’re here. We still find people who have lived here their entire life and have not heard of us — and we’ve been here nine years.
And you just get one chance with new customers, right?
We work hard to make sure that this one chance brings them back.
Who develops the weekly menu?
My kitchen and I work together to create the menus each week. The Thursday and Friday dinners offer four to five appetizers and then a “grain, air, land, sea and garden” choice for entrée choices.
Are you baking in-house?
Oh yes; we do all of our own baking.
Who cooks in your home?
We share, but most of the time my wife cooks because I’m not always home early enough to start cooking dinner. We have four kids, so we try to have dinner done by 6:30.
Do you have a comfort food?
Probably pasta. I made a lot of pasta at the Tom Douglas restaurants, and I make all the pasta here, so that might be the one.
What does your mother say about where you’re at now?
Oh, she’s proud of me. She gets to come in and eat and she enjoys seeing me do something that I enjoy.
What restaurants around the country would you like to experience?
Nationally, Blue Hill Farm in New York or Blackberry Farm in Tennessee because they’re similar to us.
If you could sit down with any chef, past or present, with a glass of wine, who would that be?
Probably Julia Child. Growing up, my mom always had her show on and we would watch it together. Julia kept things lighthearted while she was cooking. That’s one thing we always do. Everybody has enough stress in their own lives and the restaurant business is very stressful on its own, so we try to keep things fun.
Would you say that social media today is beneficial or detrimental to your industry?
I would say it’s both. The Yelp stuff is hard because people could have a bad experience and put something on there that’s true, but they could also have ulterior motives. Then I would say with other social media, I think it’s great, like being able to get pictures and content of your place out there.
Your favorite seasonal ingredients?
I really love the fall with all the squashes and root veg and the stewed or braised meats.
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