a few weeks back, meg and i had the pleasure of visiting the new pasture-to-plate concept restaurant, 12 Acres, in st.albert days before they opened to the public. and let me tell you, we were absolutley blown away!
having this intimate setting for media, family and friends allowed each of us to experience the real concept and feel of 12 Acres. it allowed us to hear the passion of the owners chef nathan and courtney henry and staff, taste the delicious food prepared from scratch, and experience an atmosphere that was like having dinner around my grandmothers farm table back on range road 262 [only more modern and without the napping uncles on the couch].
the concept is relatively simple. meat, poultry and vegetables fresh from a local farm straight to your table. that's it. but in a competitive market where food is frozen and bought at the cheapest dollar, this concept if both refreshing, needed, and worth every penny. it's truly a far cry from the frozen stuff and you can really taste the difference. 12 Acres farms, located just outside of st. albert breeds hormone and antibiotic free animals who are all free range, pasture raised. Their laying hens and chickens are not kept locked up only to mass produce eggs, but are allowed to roam freely and are fed top quality all vegetable feed. i simply cannot tell you the quality and love that is poured into this beautiful farm run by the lovely Mendieta family, Jen and Brian.
aside from the freshest ingredients available, the restaurant itself is comfortable, inviting, far from stuffy, and even kid-friendly. they want to serve you and your family. which is an idea, with my own three kids in mind, very welcoming! we were served a 6 course drool-worthy meal over the course of the night, all of which was made from scratch. things such as homemade pasta, mustard, pickles and even meat smoked that very week. 12 Acres farms will only be producing enough meat to serve the restaurants needs, meaning if they run out of a certain cut, they'll be cooking up something different for that night! even the menus are sustainable by using iPads rather than forgoing the printing costs required to update the menus with this ever changing lifestyle of cooking.
having a sustainable restaurant with this concept in a city growing with chain restaurants is absolutely refreshing. needless to say, i am smitten. i have boughten the juice [freshly squeezed of course!] and want to help spread the word of this amazing new spot in my hometown. you seriously need to check this place out.
|| Thank you to my old friend Brian and his beautiful wife Jen for the invite. We had a blast and will be back to 12 Acres very shortly! cheers to many years of success!
|| all photos via meg / els photography , with hair and makeup [we just came from a shoot for the shop!] by senstudios.
