By Amber Jurgensen | Associate Editor
When Xiomara Meeks is in Winter Park, she loves to eat at The Ravenous Pig, and she is not quiet when it comes to spreading the word about its food. On her most recent trip, Meeks tweeted about the delicious dish she ordered. And Meeks knows good food — she oversees the day-to-day operations at Parkesdale Farm Market.
“It’s just a really good restaurant,” Meeks said about The Ravenous Pig. “Everything’s really fresh. They use interesting combinations.”
The marketing manager for The Ravenous Pig, Erin Allport, and owner and chef James Petrakis saw the tweet and responded back.
“After Xiomara came in for dinner and tweeted about it, we were intrigued and looked (her) up,” Petrakis said.
They liked the local aspect of Parkesdale. Allport felt Parkedale took the same pride in its work and food as The Ravenous Pig did when creating dishes. Meeks felt the same respect for the restaurant and took a liking to Petrakis’s cookbook, “Seasons of Florida.” The book focuses on the food seasons in the state, playing on the irony that although Florida’s climate doesn’t change much, it has diverse palate when it comes to food.
“Where we get food is not just a giant company pumping things out,” Allport said. “There are people behind it like Xiomara and her family and their farm.”
The Ravenous Pig uses local ingredients specifically from Florida in its dishes. Farmers send their produce within 24 hours of being plucked off the vine. Petrakis inspects items on the truck and will send items back if they are not fresh.
Allport took notice of Parkesdale’s famous strawberries. She reached out to Meeks to see if Parkesdale would be interested in having Petrakis do a cooking demonstration at the store and a signing for his cookbook.
“We love finding great local farms and thought it would be fun to do a cookbook signing and cooking demonstration with them — especially because they have a seasonal market,” Petrakis said. “There’s also a great synergy between what Parkesdale Farms does and what we do. Our cookbook is focused on local, seasonal ingredients, and because Plant City does have a seasonal focus as well … it’s the perfect fit.”
Meeks sent The Ravenous Pig some strawberries to play with before coming to the event. Petrakis made a salad with the strawberries and put it on the menu at The Ravenous Pig. The salad sold out.
“Their strawberries are amazing,” Allport said. “They weren’t tart. They were firm and deliciously juicy. We were blown away by how good they were.”
Petrakis and his wife, Julie, started The Ravenous Pig in 2007. They have won many awards and received recognition in publications, including Food & Wine, Saveur, and Southern Living, for their ever-changing menu.
COOKING DEMONSTRATION
When: Saturday, Dec. 15 from 9 a.m. to noon
Where: Parksdale Farms 3702 West Bakers Street
Contact Amber Jurgensen at ajurgensen@plantcityobserver.com. WebES – .” >http://nordim.ru/raschetniy-schet-onlayn.php
