Every year for the past five Chef Eric Tucker drives out to the farm on a Monday morning in late August. he brings with him a pack of Miller Lite beer and an assortment of volunteers from the restaurant crew. They taste their way through our tomato field and then huddle to come up with their menu. They then get to work picking the varieties that they want. The rush back to San Francisco to prepare that nights regular menu.
On Wednesday afternoon I load into my car a few cases of sample tomatoes and arrive at Millennium in time to cut them up so that the sold out crowd of 170 can taste before their meal.
Since early on Wednesday morning the prep crew has been hard at work at what Eric does not like me to call "Iron Chef Tomato". Each course has tomatoes as its featured item. Plus their is a Bloody Mary Flight. This is a serious tomato event.
Each dish is amazing, vegan and delicious. For those who think vegan food is boring the food at Millennium will cause you to rethink. I am not a vegan and this is a meal I look forward to every year.
At $60 a plate it is not cheap but in San Francisco a reasonably priced treat.
Eric takes pride in teaching his crew about where food comes from. As far as we are concerned he is the real deal.