On August 22, Tamara Murphy of the late Brasa Restaurant and Terra Plata in Seattle held her annual Incredible Feast charity event. For this event, area chefs are paired with local farmers. Chefs donate their time, skills, manpower and supporting ingredients, while the farmers provide the star ingredient. Chefs prepare 500+ portions, tickets are sold, and ticket holders come to an afternoon of sampling.

This year there were 26 chefs/restaurants participating. The proceeds of this event go to an emergency fund for farmers.

Ms. Murphy was kind enough to ask me to participate for a third year, and with me being on Orcas, we decided to pair me up with farmers with commodities that would ship well.

When I told John Steward of Maple Rock Farms and Ian Harlow of Black Dog Farms about this event, their response was incredible.

They graciously DONATED produce to me for the Incredible Feast, and donated well beyond my expectations! And the kicker is, they are not even a part of the farmers’ organization that reaps the benefits of this yearly gala, at least not to my knowledge.

Michael Yeaman and Debra Nichols of Thurston Wolfe Wineries also donated a bottle of wine for the lottery/game part of this event, without being asked.

I would like to publicly acknowledge these folks’ generosity and giving-spirit, and to thank them for being such great neighbors and friends. If they are a sampling of the kind of people who inhabit Orcas, then Orcas is indeed a wonderful and lucky island.

Thank you.

Lisa Nakamura

Allium Restaurant