Volunteer Park Cafe: Four Nights of Food and Fun with Ericka Burke and Amy Pennington

Photo credit to Volunteer Park Cafe

This summer chef Ericka Burke and gardener and cookbook author Amy Pennington are partnering up to host a series of intimate seasonal dinners inspired by Volunteer Park Cafe’s garden. The first Chef + Gardener dinner is slated for June 11.

Pennington and her company, GoGo Green Garden, began tending VPC’s garden last spring. She and Burke have developed a great chef-gardener relationship, and are super excited about their plans for a fruitful garden. As a cook herself, Pennington guides the garden towards delicious meals, and the cafe staff has had a blast learning about growing and harvesting food.

Each dinner will begin at 6pm in VPC’s backyard with a garden tour/chat with Pennington and a seasonal non-alcoholic drink. At 6:30pm, guests will move into the cafe to enjoy a multi-course family style meal at the communal table. Burke’s menu will showcase the bounty from the garden and other locally sourced organic ingredients— really, whatever catches her eye.

The cost is $45/person, and includes a little takeaway gift—plus garden pointers and maybe even a recipe. Wine and beer will be available for purchase. Copies of Pennington’s books Apartment Gardening and Urban Pantry will be available for purchase.

Seating is limited, and reservations are required. Please call the cafe at 206.328.3155 or book online at www.alwaysfreshgoodness.com.

Save the Date:
Tuesday, July 23
Tuesday, September 10
Tuesday, October 22

Amy Pennington is a gardener, chef, and writer. Pennington is the creator/owner of GoGo Green Garden, an eco friendly gardening business in Seattle that creates and maintains edible gardens for both residential and restaurant clients. She also founded urbangardenshare.org, a website that matches gardeners with unused garden space. She is a contributing writer to Edible Seattle and launched her monthly e-book series, Fresh Pantry, in January of this year. She is also the host of KCTS’s Check, Please! Northwest and has been featured in multiple national and international publications. Pennington’s cookbooks, Urban Pantry: Tips and Recipes for a Thrifty, Sustainable and Seasonal Kitchen and Apartment Gardening, have earned her national acclaim. Her freelance work can currently be read in Edible Seattle, SIP Northwest, Food52.com, and Crosscut.com. To learn more, visit www.amy-pennington.com

Located among the elegant homes of Seattle’s North Capitol Hill, Volunteer Park Cafe (VPC) is the quintessential neighborhood-meeting place. With mismatched vintage chairs, throw pillows tossed along banquets, and a communal table running the length of the inviting sunlit room – it’s the perfect place to spend time. The food is delicious home-style goodness, house made pastries, savory and sweet, and a selection of fresh salads, soups, and sandwiches provide daytime provisions ordered from friendly faces behind the counter. As the light dims and the candles are lit, table service begins and guests cozy in for rustic pizzas and ever-changing seasonal offerings like Braised Beef Brisket with Creamy Polenta and Greens, Pan Seared Halibut, or the heavenly Pot Pie. VPC offers a generous selection of boutique wines by the glass and bottles of wine can be enjoyed at the cafe or taken to go. VPC is open Tuesday – Friday from 7am – 4:30pm, weekends from 8am – 4:30pm, and dinner is served Tuesday – Saturday from 5:30pm – 9pm. For more information, call 206.328.3155 or visit www.alwaysfreshgoodness.com.

Volunteer Park Cafe is located at 1501 17th Avenue East (at Galer) in Seattle, Washington.