Farm-to-table restaurants crop up along Route 6

HAWLEY — The abundant farms and forests along Pennsylvania's northern tier are the perfect backdrop for a growing trend in culinary travel.
The PA Route 6 corridor is blessed with many cafés and restaurants that specialize in locally grown food, known “farm-to-table” cuisine. The chefs at these places are creating meals with produce, poultry, and meats produced close to home. Farm-to-table is considered to be more nutritional because goods do not need to be transported long distances, better for the earth, and a boost to the local economy.
This is not a new concept for places like the Settler’s Inn in Hawley (Mile Marker 368). Their menu has featured locally grown meals for years, and even lists the source of the produce or meat. Now a traveler across Route 6 can have a different dining experience at variety of places. Some other farm to table restaurants along Route 6 include: Tioga Bistro in Tunkhannock (Mile Marker 311) and both the Patisserie and the Delmonico Room at the Hotel Fauchere in Milford (Mile Marker 394).
One trend emerging in the farm-to-table movement is the pairing of foods with beverage and spirits. A good example is Voodoo Brewery (Mile Marker 23) in Meadville. Known for their award-winning brews, Voodoo also serves organic local meat, poultry and produce. Try the Margarita pizza made from the “spent grain” they use for the brewing process, and topped with fresh mozzarella and basil.
Another trend along Route 6 is the appearance of food trucks specializing in sandwiches made with locally grown produce, such as the Farm on Pine Creek food truck, which can be seen along Route 6 just west of Galeton (Mile Marker 195).
This trend of farm-to table dining has a great impact on the future of the Route 6 corridor. The restaurants obtain the items needed for their recipes at farmer’s market like the Four Season Farm Market in Meshoppen (Mile Marker 302), Mansfield Grower’s Market (Mile Marker 234) and Goodell Gardens Farmer’s Market in Edinboro (Mile Marker 21N) and dairy farms like Milky Way Farm (Mile Marker 251) in Troy.
By buying local, the restaurants are supporting the working farmer and helping sustain the economy of the northern tier.