In-Season: Fennel
If you’ve ever walked by fennel at the market and wondered how anyone could enjoy the licorice-flavored vegetable, you are not alone. It may be one of the most misunderstood perennial herbs (that’s ri...
Land of Plenty
Granor Farm’s Dutch-designed greenhouse with its floor-to-ceiling sheets of glass places diners just yards from fields filled with ripening grains, herbs, fruits and vegetables—the ingredients for the seven-course dinners, typically served family style. What isn’t available in the fields can be sourced from the greenhouse’s production wings flanking the dining area or from farm neighbors as well as area and regional food producers. Each course is accompanied by a curated wine selection. Menu offerings are creative and dependent upon the season. Think carrots with beet cream, pickled cherries, microgreens and coco nibs, pea pecorino risotto and poached apples in amaro sabayon topped with a granola crumble.
It’s all a celebration of the food culture of Southwest Michigan, says Granor’s culinary manager Abra Berens, a James Beard–nominated chef, noting that Granor, located in Three Oaks, is not a restaurant (reservations must be made and sell out sometimes a month or so in advance), but a certified organic farm.
Granor has grown since its founding almost 20 years ago by Rob Buono and Liz Cicchelli as an educational farm on 36 acres of land; now there are an additional 400 acres in production. But their initial philosophy remains the same. They still offer summer camps for kids and now have farm tours, classes and workshops on such subjects as cooking with beans, pie making and paella. Prior to the Taste of Granor dinners, guests can gather in a Brock grain bin reimagined as the Schoolhouse for a glass of wine made from the farm’s grapes and a discussion.
The topics vary and can include chats with award-winning chefs such as Lisa Ludwinski, owner of Sister Pie in Detroit and author of Sister Pie: The Recipes & Stories of A Big-Hearted Bakery in Detroit and James Beard–nominated Best Chef and restaurateur Ouita Michel, who has several restaurants in and around Lexington, Kentucky. Atlanta-based Steven Satterfield, a James Beard Award–winning chef and restaurateur, inspired a vegetable-forward dinner which included such dishes as beet carpaccio with a rhubarb vinaigrette, and asparagus with crispy mushrooms and a lemony basil aioli.
Granor—and Berens—have a national presence. Last year, Granor hosted four Michigan chefs, including Cheyenne Galbraith of Houndstooth in Benton Harbor, to collaborate on a dinner. Each was interviewed by New Yorker magazine’s Helen Rosner, who praised “Abra’s tender carrot rosette with beet tahini” on her Instagram account. Berens’s three cookbooks have all been bestsellers, and her first, Ruffage: A Practical Guide to Vegetables was named a Best Cookbook by the New York Times and Bon Appétit (Spring 2019).
Raised on a large pickle farm in Bentheim, a small town in West Michigan, Berens planned on joining the Peace Corps. But after taking a job at Zingerman’s Deli in Ann Arbor to earn extra money while attending the University of Michigan and working her way up from taking orders to cooking, she decided to pursue a culinary career. Her next step was to head to Europe, where she apprenticed at the 100-acre organic Ballymaloe Cookery School and Farm in Shanagarry, County Cork, Ireland. Then it was on to Neal’s Yard Dairy in London, a famous cheeserie, before returning to the states. She co-founded Bare Knuckle Farm in Northport, a quaint and trendy food-centric village on the water where Mario Batali has a summer home, and then opened and ran the café at Local Foods in Chicago.
But she yearned to return to her roots.
“I knew that I wanted to be back in Michigan,” she says. “I met Rob and saw the farm back in 2016 and I was immediately struck by how Granor was set up differently from any other farm I had ever seen. It was organized and yet not for show. The perfect balance of aesthetic and utility. Similarly, I was struck by how unique the vision for the farm is and knew that I wanted to be a part of it in some small way.”
When Berens came aboard in 2017, Granor had two full-time employees. Now there are 24 people working year-round. There are other changes, too. “The farm used to open to the public on Memorial Day weekend and close around Thanksgiving,” says Berens. “We now offer 12 months of programing. We have also diversified our programing including our store offerings, events, the start of the distillery and the expansion of our grain production.”
Open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, the corrugated metal farm store is filled with baskets of veggies and fruit, refrigeration cases containing eggs, artisan cheeses and charcuterie, European butters, local meats and products made at the farm, including kimchi, frozen pizza and soups. Shelves are lined with sweet and savory baked goods, including freshly made organic-grain breads, pies and Japanese milk bread rolls. On Fridays there are cocktails made with Granor’s Blue Corn Amaro and grab-and-go foods. And because Granor is always moving forward , later this year they plan to release their first whiskey distilled from their wheat and rye harvests, now aging in American white oak barrels.
When the greenhouse was being built, Buono told Berens to design the kitchen she wanted. She did, making it highly functional and aesthetically pleasing, perfect for turning out large-scale, leisurely paced dinners that are conducive to conversation and appreciation of local produce.
“I was searching for a way to further my interest in cooking directly from a farm,” she says. “Granor has given me that home in my home state.”
Granor Farm
3480 Warren Woods Rd.
Three Oaks, MI
granorfarm.com
Jane Simon Ammeson lives in Southwest Michigan. She writes about food, travel and personalities. Follow Jane at janeammeson.com/.
Related Stories & Recipes
Raw Fennel and Citrus Salad with Black Olive and Caper Vinaigrette
Serves 6
Inspired by a traditional Sicilian citrus salad, this dish masters the art of balance. It’s savory, bright, briny and herbaceous and proves that fennel, with its unique anise flavor, is fo...
