Through a forest past Haile Plantation on Saturday night, Gainesville community members were transported along a winding road to the rural countryside.
Laughter and friendly conversation filled Stoke Barn and Kitchen as live music floated through the air. The evening sun cast a golden reflection on wine glasses and an oven smoked with fire and blackened wood.
This was the first dinner for Stoke, which intends to connect the community, educate on sustainable agriculture and combat hunger through the series of seasonal meals. The 6,000-square-foot space rests in the middle of 80 acres of pasture and forest. It can seat up to 180 guests.
“Gainesville really, really needs something like this,” said Jacqueline Thomas, a 58-year-old hairdresser and one of the evening’s attendees. “I’m such a foodie. … I’m telling my clients about it, and I think everybody’s super excited.”
The atmosphere combines the old world and contemporary in an endearing way, Thomas said.
Stoke will hold seven more monthly dinners at $200 per ticket. After that, the farm will expand to weekends as a fast-casual and family-friendly dining experience.
The farm opened at 4 p.m. Saturday for farm tours, followed by cocktails, kombucha and hor d'oeuvres. Topping off the night was a four-course farm-to-table dinner. The Old Dusty Boys played country and bluegrass songs like “All Your’n” by Tyler Childers.
All proceeds went to nonprofit Buccan Provisions to open school teaching gardens and fight against food insecurity.
Clay Conley, Stoke’s 51-year-old chef, is the owner and executive chef of four restaurants in West Palm Beach. He moved to Gainesville alongside his wife, Averill, and their family in 2022. There, they met Vanessa and Hutson Rapier, who own the farmland.
After visiting farmers markets in Gainesville, the Conleys and Rapiers decided the city needed a space that encouraged people to think about where their food comes from. Conley, who grew up on a farm in Maine, envisioned a fresh dining experience showcasing hyper-local ingredients. That’s when the vision for Stoke was born.
Stoke uses vegetables harvested on property and meat butchered on the farm. Conley, whose culinary accolades include a Michelin recommendation and seven James Beard Award nominations, said cooking with live fire fits into the natural form of cooking.
“Cooking out here is all about the land,” Conley said.
Any ingredients Stoke does not have are sourced from local farms. Leftover produce from the dining experiences will be distributed to local families in need, and food waste from Conley’s restaurants in South Florida will be used for compost at the farm.
Two UF graduates, 25-year-old Connor Seymour and 22-year-old Ruby Noland, specialize in managing the farm’s no-till sustainable agricultural practices. The two started gardening together while they were involved in the Horticultural Sciences Club and Organic and Sustainable Agriculture Club, respectively.
“We’re hoping to really establish a very rich microbial community in our soil,” Noland said, “and really help with our ecosystem restoration.”
About a week and a half before the monthly dinner, Conley walked around the farm to choose vegetables and meat for the 14-item prix fixe menu.
Guests eagerly awaited the first course when the dinner bell rang. As the sun went down, the glow of candlelight complemented the wood-fired flavors of the meal. Vibrant centerpiece wildflowers contrasted with the white tablecloths.
Attendees passed around platters of wood-fired dishes. The courses included gemelli pasta with meat sugo and herbed ricotta and tender grilled angus beef with a barrel-aged soy glaze.
Native North Florida ingredients were incorporated through a dish, like an umami take on Tokyo turnips topped with mushrooms, miso and black truffle. To finish with a fall flair, the guests were served individual plates of pumpkin cheesecake with fluffy whipped cream.
Briton Dumas, the 41-year-old chef and co-owner of Ember’s Wood Grill, said the farm-to-table atmosphere creates a sense of family and showcases incredible culinary creativity.
“They had great texture, they had great flavor, they had good, bright acidity,” Dumas said, “just all the components that make a great dish.”
Averill Conley said it’s important to connect people to where their food comes from. Her and her husband’s friends and their children served guests at the dinner.
“To be able to literally eat as local as the land you are on is pretty special,” Averill Conley said. “It’s really the most sustainable thing you can do. That’s the way it’s supposed to be for the world, and it’s the healthiest for your bodies.”
Events like the Stoke series can elevate the Gainesville food scene and draw more people to local cuisine, said volunteer waiter Christian Charapata. After seeing a Facebook post about the event, the 44-year-old jumped at the opportunity to participate. He’s produced events for chefs all over the world.
“I’ve never seen it run so flawlessly,” Charapata said. “This area doesn’t have a lot of unique places like this.”
One of Stoke’s co-founders, 43-year-old Vanessa Rapier, said the business’s expansion plan includes getting more animals, implementing more teaching gardens and setting up designated volunteer days for community members to help in the garden.
Contact Summer Johnston at sjohnston@alligator.org. Follow her on X @summerajohnston.
