Mr. Goodyear's Neighborhood - North Fork Table & Tavern

We teed the night off with Jeffrey Sanich, a self-proclaimed ‘white kid from Utah,’ and the executive chef at the North Fork Table & Tavern. As you would expect in a mountain community, Jeff’s customers are active-outdoorsy types who want in-season and healthy food. Jeff’s menu obliges with Utah sourced ingredients that changes with the seasons. We killed a few slices of pizza from Jeff’s wood fire pizza oven. The pizza was covered with arugula picked earlier that same day. Yeah, it was pretty awesome! We think you’re going to like Jeff a lot! We’ll be back for the vermicelli bowl, Jeff’s crown jewel on the menu.

Jeffrey Sanich - Chef, North Fork Table & Tavern

Pete Rasmussen runs a small 2-acre farm, Sandhill Farms, specializing in greens and roots: spinach, kale, arugula, garlic carrots and beets for example. It’s located on Gersten Bay in Ogden Valley. Pete farms by hand and provides fresh produce to markets, restaurants and also offers community supported agriculture (CSA) to locals. Pete’s garlic and arugula crops are highlights on the Table & Tavern menu. We drank some beer and ate some raw purple garlic Pete gave us, the best we’ve ever had! Did you know garlic is planted in October and harvested the next July? It grows in the ground for 9 months then hung and cured for 2 more months. Planting and harvesting garlic is a party…Garlictica! Water is gold in Ogden Valley; Pete’s farm and the Summit Group have been able to work together and have an open discussion about water and Summit’s plans to develop land in the valley. We had a great chat with Pete and certainly loved the great treats he shared with us.

Andrea Westerlind has a handle on the outdoor gear retail market in New York with a couple of shops in downtown Manhattan called ‘Westerlind.’ She owns and operates the stores in addition to providing marketing help for small outdoor companies trying to introduce their products to the world. Fate brought her to Ogden Valley where she’s opened her latest Westerlind shop next to the Table & Tavern. It’s a shop with a vintage European flavor, Andrea is Sweedish, but she’s also sourced products locally. Her shop is like a crosshatch of Ogden Valley, Birkenstocks and all. Adrea is bringing her brand of tech and fashion to Utah.

Andrea Westerlind - Westerlind Outdoor Stores

Bryan J. Smith is a favorite friend of The Banyan Collective. We dug deep into his past on a previous Mr. Goodyear’s Neighborhood episode, and we’ve had him in the hot seat several times on location with the Ogden Outdoor Adventure show. Over the past 10 years, Bryan has evolved into the unofficial ambassador for Ogden Valley. Lately he’s been spending a lot of time at the Summit Group’s North Fork Table & Tavern next to the Wolf Creek Golf Course for his daily ‘lunch & put.’ Bryan has built a relationship with the Summit Group, he’s organizing and booking some live music in the restaurant and helping the Summit Group tell their story to the community. Bryan reached out and invited us up for a little garlic and beer pairing at the Table & Tavern and to introduce us to some key players up there. We decided if there’s going to be beer and garlic involved, we should pack the studio and get the evening on record.

Bryan J. Smith - North Fork Table & Tavern

We made it home safe and sound after our adventure in Ogden Valley but can’t wait to get back up to North Fork for a little ‘lunch & put’ with Bryan. On our way out we can pick up a new trucker hat at Westerlinds then off to pick some fresh carrots and beets at Sandhill Farms. There’s some great things happening in Ogden Valley, and all of us at The Banyan Collective are committed to bring you the good news, even if it means drinking some beer and eating pizza. It’s a tough gig but somebody has to do it.