Lost Creek Farm is a purveyor of story-rich, heritage-inspired mountain cuisine. You may have seen them on Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown or nominated for a James Beard Award.



At the most fundamental level, Lost Creek Farm is a property that is being restored to its former glory.



Owners Mike Costello & Amy Dawson look to expand their offerings, though, beyond revitalizing the historic farmstead by creating a culinary destination - full of incredible food rooted in place and story.



Moreover, they hope to ultimately offer an educational facility focused on preserving the region's foodways and a heritage foods incubator program creating economic opportunities for Appalachians in the region's re-emerging food and farm economy.



"Once a high-yielding vegetable and livestock farm in the early 1900s, the property now known as Lost Creek Farm went unoccupied for the last several decades of the 20th century ... Having both grown up on rural West Virginia farms, Mike and Amy longed to return to their roots. In 2013 the couple began deconstructing the farm's dilapidated structures, clearing usable crop land, and renovating the 1880s-era farmhouse constructed by Amy's great-great grandfather. Before long, meat rabbits and a flock of chickens returned to the property, along with an orchard of heritage mountain apples, honeybees, and an heirloom garden of regional varieties like Bloody Butcher corn, Fat Horse beans, and Candy Roaster squash," according to their website.



While the duo completes all this work, Mike & Amy offer their "Farm and Forage Supper Club" dinners throughout the summer as both a fundraiser for their efforts and to share their view of Appalachia's rich cultural heritage through cuisine.



These dinners are a hot commodity. Without even knowing a menu or who your dining companions are, people made a mad dash for the tickets and sold out the entire season's dinner in a matter of minutes. Yours truly was lucky enough to snag two tickets for myself and friend Elizabeth. 



On the day of the dinner, I set out on my two-hour drive to Lost Creek, which if you've driven along I-79, you've likely passed the exit but maybe not have turned off on it. The trek to the farm isn't too long, but it does turn from pavement to gravel and becomes a winding, uphill driveway that, if you have a car like me, you might kick up rocks quite a few times but make it with no trouble.



It's truly something special to have a chef invite you to their home to cook for you. While I'm excited to see them expand, it was really a nice memory to be able to join them where they break bread and share stories and be involved in that experience. Elizabeth and I happened to sit next to a relative of Amy's and her friend. They were hilarious and ornery and I couldn't have asked for better dining companions.



We began the evening with a welcome drink featuring knotwood. It was beautiful. mild. sweet. A lovely first sip.



Then we moved onto some passed appetizers featuring communion wafers, which Mike related to his childhood growing up making these at church and sneaking a few every so often. He inherited the recipe and put a beautiful spin on it - like communion wafer, whipped black walnut farmer's cheese, bourbon-sage apple butter and fried sage. I never knew cheese and apple butter would go so well together!



The next communion wafer featured a wild mushroom & chicken bologna, green garlic aioli and garden asparagus. Fanciest bologna I've ever had - and I had quite a few of them!



Next up was a bonus communion wafer! If memory serves me correctly, it was roasted carrot, horseradish, rhubarb pickle and baby dill. And maybe my favorite of the trio - maybe because it was a surprise or maybe because it was larger - but it was all yummy. And, my lighting was the best for this one. 



Moving onto our fourth bite of the evening: heirloom white bean soup, smoked ham and preserved wild ramps. This was such a fun take on a ramp dinner that was creamy and flavorful and well-rounded. Not heavy and dense.



Next was a salad course: killed garden greens, pickled onion, toasted squash seeds, cured duck egg, maple dandelion vinaigrette - a beautiful, bright salad with a punch of acid that cleaned the palate.



Plus then we got some homemade pickles! Another fun treat! Spicy dill and bread & butter. Both fab. 



Next: Milk-poached salt trout, Hickory Cane grits, blistered radish, sour corn and shredded spruce. This was one of my favorite dishes of the night. While they were all delicious, this one was just so well executed. It melted in my mouth. I learned some of the history, and I had no idea I could even eat spruce.



Aunt Floda's dumplings were next, with braised beef, charred broccolini and sumac-sorghum onion. Ohh my goddd. I like drank every drop of this dish. And, my heart was so warmed hearing Mike's mom talk about what this dish meant to the family.



ANOTHER SURPRISE: Vinegar Pie. I feel #blessed that we were able to try this. It was a delicious lemon pie that you would never know otherwise. But deep down, it's resurrecting this depression-era pie history that is really cool.



Finally, an interactive dessert: Peggy's black pepper shortcake with fresh Sickler Farm strawberries and basil cream "Peggy’s shortcake was a hand-written recipe collected in our farmhouse in the early 1900s. We’ve adapted it with some of our own twists, but it sure is special to share this dish in the same house where it was made and enjoyed by Amy’s family almost a century ago." We don't know Peggy, but we really enjoyed her recipe. Plus a cup of coffee.



If you haven't had a chance to enjoy one of their dinners, my best advice is to subscribe on Patreon, so you can get a first chance at purchasing tickets. But if you just want to support their efforts, there are more ways to do that, too!