Week 4: The Soop and U-Pick Strawberries

The final week! It's definitely a bittersweet ending, but I'm glad this project has introduced new ways of cooking and dining, and it's a style I plan on continuing as much as I can post-graduation. Week 4 started off strong with a new restaurant on W Burnside called "The Soop", a farm-to-table restaurant that houses an indoor hydroponic and microgreen farm that grows greens and uses them in their dishes. This means that this restaurant always has fresh greens on hand!

The Soop

 

Besides this high-tech in-house greenhouse feature, The Soop stood out to us because it was a Korean restaurant. "Soop" means "forest" in Korean, and this was the first Korean restaurant that we've been to that markets a farm-to-table technique. Usually, when I think of "organic" or "farm-to-table" restaurants, I think of New American, classy, hipster restaurants that people go to after a grocery run at Trader Joe's (no hate to TJ's, it's my favorite grocery store). That's why seeing this Korean restaurant in the middle of Burnside was a surprise, and the food did not disappoint. 

Bibimbap

Japchae

The food was delicious and it was fun to see the greens in the dishes being grown in the restaurant. We also saw that they were selling jars of Kimchi that's handmade. I'd highly reccommend trying this place out!

Our next adventure for the week was heading to Columbia Farms U-Pick to pick strawberries, which we couldn't do 2 weeks ago because they weren't in season yet. 

Columbia Farms

We were finally able to pick some fresh strawberries! The process was a bit tedious but the work paid off, and we left the farm feeling satisfied with our many pints of fruit. We wanted to share this with some of our classmates, so we made strawberry jam for our C&Cs. We hope you enjoy!!

Strawberry Jam

My time working with Eva on our Garden to Garnish senior project has taught me how to garden plants successfully, prepare fresh produce in creative dishes, and I've learned about local restaurants and businesses that follow a farm-to-table model. Looking back at my goals to: make new and creative meals, maintain flourishing gardens, and support local farms and businesses, I would say Eva and I achieved our goals. Each week we focused on a different ingredient and when we couldn't use ingredients from our own gardens, we turned to local farms and restaurants for farm-to-table produce and meals. 

I would recommend this project to another student if they are interested in learning more about gardening as well as the farm-to-table scene in their community. I live in North Plains and am surrounded by farms, so it was nice to finally interact firsthand with them and grow my own food as well. When I went into Portland, I tried a new restaurant I've never tried before, The Soop, and had an amazing experience. I was surprised by how much fresher the meals I made tasted when I used ingredients from my garden or from farms, especially in the Basil Mint Pesto Pasta. I will definitely be continuing to add new plants into my garden and try and make as many meals as I can using the fruits and vegetables that it produces. 

Thanks to everyone who kept up with my blog and our Instagram!

Garden to Garnish 4ever <3