HARVEST HOME – Ressen, Gelderland

Bringing people and food together.

I bet it isn’t always a picnic running a Michelin-starred restaurant. Ron Blaauw’s Ron’s Gastrobar is just down the road from our place in Amsterdam, though we’ve never eaten there, assuming it was out of our league and beyond our budget.

So it was an unexpected bonus when our friend Carla suggested we visit Mr Blaauw’s Oogstfeest (Harvest Festival) at providore/farmer Edwin Flores’ farm in the village of Ressen, an hour’s drive east of the capital. For a knockdown EUR12.50 all-inclusive entry fee, Ron Blaauw generously turned on a super picnic.

150 lucky visitors were invited to join celebrity chefs and their students to share a ‘lazy Sunday’.

The big pumpkins were promising, and the welcome was warm.

A light sangria to kick things off.

Then a glass of the real stuff from Theo Kalkdijk’s deliwijn.nl.

The boys from 48 Special set a gentle (and classy) tone. My kind of music!

Everything was soon going swimmingly.

We were able to check out Ron’s veggie patch…

…by which time the smoked eels were ready.

That buzzing sound overhead turned out to be a drone-mounted camera. It was my first encounter with the beast. A potentially dangerous one in the wrong hands. Stay tuned.

We were as happy as pigs in mud.

Thanks again to the organisers, the hosts, the cooking team and Carla, who knows where to find the best food and the best food events!