Lost Creek Farm

"Every dish and detail Mike Costello and Amy Dawson put together at this pop-up dinner series tells a story about the region’s heritage, from Amy’s handmade linen napkins to the Fat Horse heirloom beans or sweet vinegar pie. Seeing Appalachian food valued and respected like that makes me proud. Also, when the weather is mild, you get to dine outside hearing cows moo; all the quiet sounds of country life provide a different experience than the clutter of a restaurant." - ByCrystal Good, as told to Jen Choi

Bourdain ate: vinegar pie (known as “desperation pie”), pawpaw ice cream with candied wildflowers, buttermilk-poached trout with fresh-picked rhubarb, sweet-corn chowder, buttermilk-fried rabbit with fresh maple syrup, venison with a chicory-root rub and chanterelle mushrooms. Lunch dates: Mike Costello and Amy Dawson, chefs and owners of Lost Creek Farm.

"During a meal at Lost Creek Farm, where Bourdain tried pawpaw ice cream, buttermilk-poached trout with rhubarb, and chicory root-rubbed venison with chanterelle mushrooms, the discussion shifted toward how food West Virginians have been eating for centuries—often out of necessity—is now 'trendy.' Mike Costello, co-owner at Lost Creek, remarked, 'We see that ramps [wild onion] harvested in West Virginia are selling for $30 a pound in New York?! What’s West Virginia seeing from that? Probably a guy who got about $2 a pound.'"