Despite having a full plate already stacked high with commitments this fall, Michael Solomonov, chef and co-owner of Zahav, Xochitl and Percy Street Barbecue, plans to prepare a Sukkot Harvest Supper at Branch Creek Farms on Sunday, September 26. Coming just a few days after Restaurant Week wraps and a little more than a week following Feastival, the benefit for Philadelphia’s Live Arts and Fringe that he’s co-hosting with Stephen Starr and Audrey Taichman, the farm-to-table feast — in the truest sense of the words — will benefit Hazon, America’s largest Jewish environmental organization. “It’s going to be a challenge,” Solomonov told Grub Street. “The challenges will be getting 150 people to Branch Creek Farm in Perkasie, PA, building a sukkah large enough to seat them and preparing a five course supper in the fields for them.”
“Transporting all that food out there and executing it well is going to be a little tricky,” Solomonov said. “But we have dozens of volunteers pitching in. In the end, it should be a lot of fun.”
Branch Creek was a natural choice for Solomonov. The Bucks County-based farm, which is immensely popular with many of the region’s notable restaurateurs, has been one of his favorite suppliers since he was first introduced to them while working under Terence Feury at Striped Bass. The farm now supplies his restaurant Zahav.
The dinner, which will feature primarily ingredients harvested from the farm — whatever can’t be gleaned from its fields will be supplied by farms affiliated with Hazon’s CSAs — will emphasize Shiv’at HaMinim, the traditional Seven Species of fruits and grains that the Hebrew Bible designates as special products of the Land of Israel and are typically served with a Sukkot supper.
“I try to help out where I can,” Solomonov said of his support for charities and non-profit organizations. “Hazon is especially important to me. They’ve done great work promoting sustainable agriculture in Jewish communities.”
The Sukkot Harvest Supper tickets will cost $125 per person and are available through Hazon.
