'It' Event to Attend in April: A Spirited Evening at Nectar Restaurant

Start planting Thursday, April 16, 6:30 p.m., on your April agenda. Berwyn’s Nectar Restaurant will host a not-to-miss evening featuring a fine collection of the East Coast’s top cheesemakers, distillers and brewers.

The small-batch celebration is the result of executive chef Patrick Feury’s travels to Vermont, in search of new producers and purveyors to bring to his Main Line table. “A Spirited Evening is our chance for tastes of Vermont to intermingle with those we value and respect in Pennsylvania,” says Feury.

The event is organized as a collaboration with Kim Werner of FarmPlate, an online sustainable foods community. Together, Werner and Feury rallied an impressive roster of Vermont’s food and drink innovators who will travel to Berwyn to personally showcase their products. The night’s roster includes the following New England artisans:

• Mateo Kehler, cheesemaker of Cellars at Jasper Hill Farm
• Todd Hardie, distiller of Caledonia Spirits
• Allen Van Anda & James Griffith, brewers of Lost Nation Brewing Company. 

FOREST & Main Beer//Photo by Nina Lea Photography

Manatawny Still Works

To elevate the experience and to allow guests to compare and contrast what Vermont does best with prized Philadelphia-area creations, the following local producers will be represented at the event:

• Cheesemakers from Birchrun Hills Farm, Yellow Springs Farm and The Farm at Doe Run
• Distillers from Philadelphia Distilling and Manatawny Still Works
• Brewers from Forest & Main Brewing Company.

Best of all, the participating producers will offer samples of similar products (i.e. distillers will all serve gin), so attendees can discover the regional nuances that come into play with each handcrafted creation.

Passed hors d’oeuvres utilizing regionally-sourced ingredients will be an extra delicious perk of the affair. Expect the small bite compositions to be crafted with produce from the following farms:

• Sawmill Brook Farm of Greensboro, Vermont
• True Leaf Farm of Kimberton
• Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative
• Green Meadows Farm in Gap
• Nectar’s own on-site garden.

To top off the evening, West Chester’s Eclat Chocolate will be on site to offer a sweet finale—some of its internationally-awarded chocolate.

A portion of the night’s proceeds will benefit Greener Partners of Collegeville. Cost is $125 per person. Reservations can be made by calling (610) 725-9000.

Nectar Restaurant, 1091 Lancaster Ave., Berwyn, www.tastenectar.com