Planners Dining Club: The Rooftop Farm Dinner

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by The Venue Report

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Time flies when hosting one-of-a-kind, boundary pushing and beautiful dinner parties. The 5th installment of Jove Meyer’s Planners Dining Club is here and we can confirm, inspired. While previous dinners imagined by Jove and NYC’s finest creatives have all been original masterpieces, this installment of the PDC is unique for a few reasons: it was the first outdoor dinner, it was on a rooftop farm and it was perhaps the most globally inspired. Brooklyn Grange, a fully functional and sustainable urban rooftop farm overlooking the Manhattan skyline, hosted the planners that created this magical evening lending its vegetable beds and towering sunflowers to the occasion.

Fig & Pig created a menu that transported guests to Italy while Jove drew design inspiration from the documentary Wild Wild Country, a story about an Indian guru’s new life in the United States. Warm tones of yellows, oranges and reds were woven throughout the floral designs of East Olivia and rich materials were brought in by Fourteen-Forty, Patina Rentals and Broadway Party Rentals. The jovial tone of the evening also carried over to the band who dressed accordingly.

Taking place as spring transitioned to summer, the genuine warmth of this dinner, captured by Isabelle Selby, is once again proving the importance of coming together to create, enjoy and connect.

We spoke with Jove about creating this experience in Brooklyn, his inspiration and all who contributed their time and talents.

"Having an Italian dinner from Fig & Pig al fresco atop a rooftop farm in New York City was a super amazing and magical experience! Unlike the other indoor dinners, we were fortunate to be surrounded by a farm growing fresh veggies, herbs and flowers with a stunning view of the river and skyline. Welcome cocktails were served between rows of vegetables and dinner took place next to a living flower wall – it could not have been more perfect for this dinner and an amazing dream team made it happen!"

"Brooklyn Grange reached out to host our dinner and we could not say no, the space is simply incredible and unlike any other space in New York City! I have had my eye on Brooklyn Grange for years and was super excited to collaborate with them to bring the dinner to life!"

"Brooklyn Grange is a 65,000 square foot farm atop Building No. 3 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard with sweeping views of the dock, East River and downtown Manhattan. With a 2,000 sq foot paved deck and wide walkways, the farm can be set up in a variety of configurations for various events and was perfect for our planners dinner!

Brooklyn Grange is the leading rooftop farming and intensive green roofing business in the US. In addition to growing and distributing fresh local vegetables and herbs, some of which we used in dinner, decor and the cocktails, Brooklyn Grange also hosts events and educational programming, provides urban farming and green roof consulting and installation services to clients worldwide, and partners with numerous non-profit organizations throughout New York to promote healthy and strong local communities."

"I was inspired by the Netflix hit documentary Wild Wild Country about the controversial Indian guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh (Osho), his one-time personal assistant Ma Anand Sheela, and their community of followers in the Rajneeshpuram community located in Wasco County, Oregon."

"I was super into their wardrobes – they all wore solid colorful outfits and I was obsessed. They also lived and worked on a farm so I could not help myself but to use their style as inspiration for our dinner, that was also on a farm. I sent out an inspiration deck for the dress code to bring the complete experience to life!"

"Since the documentary was about an Indian Guru, I pulled my inspiration from Indian designs, shapes, patterns and colors. We planned a dinner on the floor, seated on cushions and poufs with amazing wooden tables made by Patina Rentals. The florist, East Olivia, knocked it out of the park with custom made wood cutouts covered with flowers and hung overhead. She also handmade some stunning leis that really set the tone for the night. Down the center of the table she created a lovely design of colorful taper candles, floating flowers and fun blooms! Our stationery partner Fourteen-Forty brought the day of stationery to the next level with leather bound hand drawn menus that sat a top our colorful plates from Broadway Party Rentals.

Everything was bright, eclectic and laid back!"

From Holly, the chef and owner of Fig & Pig Catering:

"I recently returned from Italy and wanted to do something based around my time there. The Bagna Cauda was a dish we had often over there and I knew I could elevate this traditional antipasti and add my own twist. I used tons of herbs from the farm and we baked our own bread for it. The final product was one of the best Bagna Caudas I've ever had."

"I also had a lot of squid over there and it was on my mind. I used as many ingredients from the farm as possible and topped the salad with a beautiful Long Island grilled squid. The entire salad was composed of things found less than 50 miles away. This was something I was trying to do across the menu to reflect the beauty of the rooftop farm and their philosophy of eating locally and sustainably."

"It was ramp season so we decided to make a house-made ramp pappardelle. Fresh peas have a short season and are one of the most beautiful vegetables to serve. We served the ramp pasta with pickled ramps, fresh peas, New Jersey asparagus and lemon. A simple but lovely pasta."

"The main course was a play on our meatball. It's braised in a smoked chicken stock giving it a hint of smoke. We stuffed it with a beautiful fontina cheese and served it over potato puree. The cheese oozing from the meatball and onto the potato would have your Italian grandma asking for seconds.

Lastly we finished the dessert with a lovely tiramisu because it's so damn good and should be the national dish of Italy."

The Entire Planners Dining Club Series:

The Colorful Winter Dinner
The Pink Party
The Spring Equinox Party
The Illuminated Party

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