At last! A restaurant devoted completely to flavorful, health-promoting ingredients — taking every single cue from only those foodstuffs that are grown or raised locally, organic, and non-GMO. Plus, nearly every item offered is gluten-free. Wow.
Martie Samuel is the owner of an extraordinary organic brunch restaurant/café, and good luck seems to follow her now that she’s established her mission to honor all good things that the earth can offer up as a meal, while — at the same time — serving diners who care a lot about deliciously clean eating and sustainable food.
Add an absurdly talented chef who has worked in Michelin-starred environments, Chef Jonathan, and the result is a masterful, creative, never-boring menu loaded with herbs, vegetables, grains and proteins carefully crafted to sate the most discerning palate. This gourmet chef knows exactly what to do with ramps, fennel, chicken, cheese and every spice and herb that ever existed. His joy, obviously contagious, seems to exist in putting entrees, sides and drinks together with every sense lit up, including that elusive sixth sense of intuition. Put simply, the food is scrumptious — a marvel to see, taste and enjoy.
Since The Farmhouse Kitchen is open only from 8am to 3pm, you’ve got four wide-open choices to make regarding a meal: breakfast, brunch, lunch, and late lunch. With easy parking, a rustic-rural interior, and an extremely comfortable vibe (outdoors and indoors), this restaurant is a fantastic addition to the West Reading scene.
Start off with an amazing drink. There are many choices, including draft kombucha and unusual smoothies, like the Blueberry Sunrise. For a hot summer day, a simple iced black tea with maple sugar sweetener is a cool and easy bet. A more daring option gets into the garden via The Greenhouse, a colorful juice comprised of apple, cucumber, lime, mint and cilantro (all fresh, naturally), served in a Mason jar. This cold drink delivers a full rush of refreshment and staggers the mind a bit with its magic trick: How is it possible for each of the flavors to come through 110 percent?
An ingenious salad that dances straight into the senses is Chef Jonathan’s Strawberry-Rhubarb-Fennel delicacy. Made on the spot, it is so savory and memorable, with its combination of feathery veggies and herbs supporting the star strawberries, which are first cut, crushed a bit, then sprinkled with a dash of salt and sugar to draw out the water. Drizzled lightly atop are lemon juice and olive oil, and below are fennel strands and shavings mingling with soft rhubarb pieces that were pre-roasted with anise hops and honey. Tossed in: just enough mini-chunks of feta. The salad’s dressing unleashes a house-made Aromatic Pepper Blend from equal parts black, white, green, pink and Indonesian Long peppercorns, plus Aleppo and Urfa pepper, nigella seeds, and fennel seeds. The delicate balance, the combination of all these ingredients — in just the right quantities — is a sweet-tart complexity that seems oddly simple and totally balanced in its final effect on the tongue. You can literally taste every single flavor.
Asparagus and Sweet Pea Omelette
The Farmhouse Kitchen always has a great omelette on tap. When asparagus is in season, roasted spears are folded expertly into farm-fresh eggs along with garden peas, fine herbs (parsley, tarragon, and chervil flavors delicately blended), and a velvety-green peapod and smoked Cheddar pistou (cold sauce) adorning the edge. It’s delicate, yet substantial; consistently prepared, its textures of soft egg and inner, bite-sized veggies waltz back and forth. Omelettes will always reflect the season, rightfully varying depending on what local growers have in ripe abundance.
FHK Omelette Sandwich takes a pesto turn, served with your choice of toast — all locally sourced, high-quality breads, including sourdough.
Flaxseed toast always partners well with eggs, but you might as well go for a side of potatoes, too, since they’re a hot favorite amongst patrons, according to Samuel. These spuds receive a loving but subtle cooking treatment which includes a dusting of exotic spices like sumac and urfa (Turkish pepper), as well as cumin and fennel. Just one more forkful…!
A Tender Chicken Caesar Wrap
Wingswept Acres is The Farmhouse Kitchen’s source for non-GMO, antibiotic-free chicken. “The breed is probably the best I’ve ever seen,” says Chef Jonathan. “It’s so, so tender.” Indeed, it’s truly the chicken tenderloins that shine forth in a standard item on the menu — the Chicken Caesar Wrap — which comes all cuddled with Goose Lane Farm greens, garlic croutons, aged sharp Cheddar, and house-made buttermilk Caesar dressing. Tangy, meaty, aromatic and texturally sound, this sandwich is a winner.
A Wild Rice and Black Bean Burger is jazzed up by miso mayo and veggies (greens and cukes), ensconced in a vegan, gluten-free roll, while FHK Pancakes are a sweet old-fashioned delight, served with pure maple syrup, yet novel with an apple-butter, candy-cashews approach.
The Farmhouse Kitchen
426 Penn Avenue, West Reading
484.869.5193
Facebook: @farmhousekitchenorganics
Hours:
Mon-Fri: 7am-3pm
Sat & Sun: 8am-3pm
More than just a meal.
The Farmhouse Kitchen is also a place for learning. Visit online, click the “Education” tab and see what healthy lifestyle classes are coming up at the West Reading location.
