Hunter’s Head Tavern, Upperville, Virginia - A great stop for a casual dinner in horse country just outside of Middleburg.

We are from the D.C. area, so driving to Middleburg is an easy 50 mile trip to the most beautiful country nearby. We strolled along Washington Street, Middleburg’s main street, and stopped at Cuppa Giddyup for an excellent cup of organic, fair trade coffee. We had come to check out the organic food store named the Home Farm Store. The store features many cuts of organic meats raised on the owners’ 800 acre farm, Ayrshire Farm in Upperville, plus organic produce, homemade sausage, (which is out of this world), cheeses, and herbs. The friendly clerk at the Home Farm Store told us that the owner Sandy Lerner had also opened a restaurant, the Hunter’s Head Tavern, in Upperville. The restaurant featured all the produce and meats from her farm, so we made a plan to have dinner there. It was early afternoon and a sparkling cool July day, so we sat at an outside pub, the Red Fox Inn, for a cold beer and to ponder our next activity in the country before leaving the beautiful town of Middleburg. We drove down the road a few miles through Upperville, past the Hunter’s Head Tavern, and spent the afternoon hiking on the horse paths in Sky Meadows State Park. Sky Meadows State Park is a 1,600 acre park with beautiful views of the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains and 12 miles of hiking trails, including a link to the Appalachian Trail.

After a couple of hours of hiking, we drove back to Hunter’s Head Tavern to sit outside on the large blue slate patio outside the historic tavern. Our dinner was fabulous. We walked inside to an old wooden bar and ordered from a chalkboard that has the daily organic, sustainable choices which are fresh from Ayrshire Farm. Ours included some fabulous meats from her farm and a delicious salad of fresh greens and of course some great Virginia wine. We would highly recommend both a trip to Middleburg for a gorgeous day in the country and a picnic bought from the Home Farm Store or a delicious dinner at the Hunter’s Head Tavern for some delectable meats raised organically. There is no denying the taste of grass fed beef is the tastiest.

Ayrshire Farm is open to the public twice a year, the third weekend in May for the Loudoun Valley’s Spring Farm Tour and 1st weekend in November for the Annual Beastie Bazaar animal fundraiser.

The Home Farm Store
1E. Washington Street
Middleburg, Virginia

Hunter’s Head Tavern
9048 John Mosby Hwy
Upperville, Virginia

Ayrshire Farm
Upperville, Virginia

Claire’s Corner Copia and Basta Trattoria - Two Excellent Restaurants in New Haven, Connecticut

Claire’s Corner Copia and Basta Trattoria are two restaurants you do not want to miss if visiting Yale or just passing through New Haven. They sit side by side on the lively Chapel Street, right outside of Yale, where the sidewalk is extra wide with huge shade trees surrounded by boutique shops. If you are just passing through New Haven on I-95, just take exit 47, and you will quickly find yourself sitting just off the New Haven green, enjoying a delicious, healthy, organic, sustainable meal.

Claire and her husband, Frank Criscuolo own and operate both restaurants. The food at Claire’s is renown and and a winner of consistent awards. In 2009 it was voted the Best Vegetarian Restaurant in the State, by the readers of Connecticut Magazine, and Best Vegetarian Restaurant, and Best Desserts in a Restaurant, by the readers of the New Haven Advocate, 2009. As for Claire’s desserts, the May issue of the Connecticut Magazine wrote that "Lithuanian Coffee Cake at Claire's Corner Copia is one of the 50 foods you need to eat before you die."

While Claire’s is a casual vegan, organic, and kosher eatery that is open all day, Basta Trattoria, is a cozy dinner restaurant serving southern Italian dishes full of organic meats and organic Italian wines. Basta Trattoria was started by Frank five years ago, and it is a homey brick restaurant serving sustainable, organic vegetables, wild line-caught fish and seafood, organic and free-range chicken, prime grass-fed beef, hand made Italian cheeses, and Italian wines from small family owned vineyards throughout Italy. If you want to sit down in a relaxed setting with a glass of wine, and the most delicious food from the same fabulous owners, this is the place to eat in New Haven. Both restaurants are very reasonably priced and an unforgettable experience.

Claire’s Corner Copia has been a landmark in New Haven for 35 years and is always busy, often with a line of Yale students ordering at the counter. When you enter Claire’s, you need to stand back for awhile to gaze at the extensive chalkboard that lists coffees, teas, yogurt parfaits, breakfast omelets, sandwiches, soups, and salads, all homemade, organic and casually priced. Under your nose is an incredible array of home-baked chocolate dense cakes, coffee cakes, cupcakes that are mouth watering – all made with organic ingredients and no trans fats. It is a smart crowd who know that the food Chef Claire serves is good for you, but it is the taste that wins her all the awards and keeps the restaurant packed.

Most passersby stopped to say hello to Claire and Frank while we sat at an outside cafe table in front of the two restaurants chatting over a great glass of red wine. I was thrilled to get the chance to talk with both of them about the challenges of serving organic, sustainable food. Most of the food in both restaurants is from nearby farms and much is from their own organic garden. To me, the biggest issue is: “Why aren’t Americans eating almost totally organic, and why don’t people seem to connect illness and cancer rates with the food we are eating?”

One big reason is it is more expensive to buy organic because we don’t have enough farmers willing to farm organically. Secondly, people don’t seem to correlate pesticide use with cancer. We have a huge health crisis which is costing all of us. If we can prevent even some cancer cases by eliminating the pesticides from the food we eat, we could be preventing many of the health issues we are trying to solve.

Our children are worth the extra money organic foods cost. It is much more important than many other things we are paying for. The difference in the cost of feeding a family on organic foods over conventional foods may be less than the amount that families pay for cell phones, cable TV, video games, etc. Claire suggested a great book on this issue titled, “The History of the Secret War on Cancer” by Deborah Davis.

A great idea Claire mentioned, and one she is a big participator in, is to get your child’s elementary school to start a garden. It teaches our children at a young age how to grow their own organic garden and how to make money from it. Other great suggestions from Claire and Frank are to be careful about where your organic food comes from. Recently, some food from China was labeled and sold as organic, but was found to be tainted with pesticides. Also, if you live in New England look up the New England Organic Farmers Association (NOFA)if you want to purchase healthy, organic produce.

Below is the link to Claire’s and Basta Trattoria’s websites with menus.

Claire's Corner Copia
1000 Chapel Street
New Haven, CT
(203) 562-3888

Basta Trattoria
1006 Chapel Street
New Haven, CT
(203) 772-1715