Fresh + Local Farmstead Dining—Any Night of the Week. And a Hardworking Kitten, too.
LT Organic Farm Restaurant offers gratifying food in a lovely setting—plus a kitten who's learning to guard the chickens.
Review of LT Organic Farm Restaurant
32513 Ute Ave, Waukee
(515) 987-3561
Open daily from mid-May to mid-October, 11:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m.
I love table-to-farm dining—places where you can enjoy a meal of locally raised food at its source. Some events, however, are pop-ups that require some major advance footwork. First, you have to find out about the event, then buy your tickets ASAP (they often sell out fast). And frankly, some are pretty pricey.
At LT Organic Farm Restaurant, you can enjoy a meal of fresh, locally raised food any night of the week throughout the growing season. The entire experience is easygoing, accessible, and affordable, and the food is gratifyingly good.
Here are six things you should know to get the most out of your experience at this lovely spot. But first, a request:
1. You’ll Have What They’re Serving
Anyone who was lucky enough—as I was—to spend time on a small family farm in their youth likely grew up eating whatever was put on the table. In true farm fashion, LT’s operates in the same way.
The menu is a blend of Indian, Caribbean, and Mediterranean cuisine, and it changes according to what’s being harvested that day. Most ingredients are either grown on the farm or sourced locally.
2. Enjoy Joyfully Healthful Food
LT’s is run by the Bhramdat family. Husband-and-wife team LT and Ahilia, who originally hail from Guyana, once worked in traditional, hospital-based medicine (he as a cardio-pulmonary practitioner, she as a nurse). They left their posts to focus on preventive medicine, starting with fresh, organic food as a source of healing and well-being. A cornerstone of their ethos appears on their website:
“Vegetables must be locally grown, fresh harvested, and vine ripened directly from the farm to the kitchen table in order to get the optimal nutrients to build our immune systems and keep us disease free.”
Ahilia Bhramdat cooks for the restaurant, which opened in the mid-2000s. The couple’s 22-year-old son, Neel, was our server.
But while “food as healing” anchors LT’s approach, what comes to the table doesn’t taste like the drab health food of yore (if you’re under 45, you probably don’t remember all the waxy-tasting carob-tofu ice cream and brick-heavy breads we all endured in order to eat more healthfully).
The handsome plate ($17.95 at both lunch and dinner) brought a great mix of flavors ranging from fresh and bright to long-braised and warmly spiced. Small servings of this-and-that (see menu, above), was crowned by fragrant jasmine rice, fall-off-the-bone slow-cooked chicken, sparkling spinach, and a drizzle of cucumber yogurt.
Oh, and have you ever had a split-pea falafel? This new-to-me treat was tender and savory, and next time I’ll be tempted to order one or two extra. But then again—that might be missing the point. I noted that the serving size here is likely just what you need—satisfying and not gut-busting. This is a meal you’ll feel better for having eaten, not worse.
3. Consider Making a Reservation!
You don’t have to make a reservation to dine here, but do note: When I write about a place, sometimes they get a sudden spurt of business that takes them by surprise. That could be a challenge for a two-person operation that harvests food daily. You might want to let them know you’re coming!
4. Seating Can Be … Interesting
LT’s is housed in an early 20th-century corncrib that brims with charm. However, the seating is a bit odd: The tables face each other across a long, narrow trough running down the center of the floor, with chairs on only one side of each long row.
Neel Bhramdat mentioned that this configuration works well when his father holds nutrition classes in the building. However, while two of us at lunch enjoyed the side-by-side seating just fine, I would imagine it would be an awkward place for a larger party to gather.
A much better option is to sit outside at a picnic table under the shade—so try to visit in the best weather. Back indoors, there’s also one table that seats about eight in the gift shop. (I’ll be requesting this when I go with a group.)
5. BYOB
A lovely and cooling lemon-herb drink was very pleasing at lunch, and could be equally pleasing at dinner. However, you can also bring your own beer and wine if you’d like. No wine mark-up, no corkage fee. Yay.
6. “Please don’t pet the kitten.”
“You’re welcome to walk around the farm,” Neel Bhramdat told us after lunch. “But please don’t pet the kitten.”
Say what? You’re asking a crazy cat lady not to pet the kitten? (I’ve been a cat lady since long before the term became contentious!). Hard as it was, I restrained myself.
Bhramdat explained that the kitten was being trained to guard the henhouse against aggressors. (I know, it sounds untenable, but he assured me that they’d had success with a previous guard-cat). To become a good guard-cat, the kitten needs to remain feral.
So yes, go check out the farm (there are sheep, too). The kitten is pretty cute, by the way. But stand back and let him do his job!
Really this is what I want everywhere --> "the serving size here is likely just what you need—satisfying" Well pointed out, too much, is, well, too much. Love the charm and idiosyncratic atmosphere you describe, thanks for sharing.
I would have a hard time not petting that bad-a$$ in training kitten!