The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
‘Pasture to plate’
Getting to know dinner takes on new meaning at Osso on Flying W Farm in Hambden
Scott and Tara Webster have established a restaurant — Osso — in the middle of their 40-acre Hambden Township farm, where the animals destined for the menu can be seen while dining.
The couple’s “pasture-toplate” food operation takes fresh “farm to table” a step further.
Scott and his chef, Maggie Demko, slaughter and butcher the animals to be prepared in a space adjacent to the kitchen. A small greenhouse is used to grow microgreens. There’s a small bar and a shop that eventually will offer the meats for purchase. Tara operates the store, which sells Demko’s handmade cheeses and TayTay’s Soap. Eventually, it will sell the farm’s honey and dry-cured meats.
“Our animals live good lives with plenty of room to graze and roam. And our beef is dry-aged 45 days,” Scott said.
The animals — Japanese Wagyu cattle, Mangalitsa hogs and Aylesbury ducks — are all rare heritage breeds, not meat most people have eaten. The hogs and steers are free-ranging and live outdoors through the winter. A barn houses the poultry, which include turkeys, both meat and laying chickens, as well as rabbits. Goats are raised for their milk, from which Demko makes both cheeses and soaps.
“The taste of the food is like nothing else I’ve ever had,” said Jessica Quirke, who has become a regular diner in the month Osso has been serving meals. “It’s really, really wonderful.”
Rabbit Hasenpfeffer was one of the dishes served at a five-course dinner last weekend.
“We’re aiming for a highquality, low-volume dining experience,” Scott said.
“We couldn’t have done any of this without the great encouragement and cooperation from the township and the county, especially the health department,” Scott said.
The Websters’ Flying W Farm, where the restaurant is sited, takes its name from him.
“I can never sit still,” Scott said. “I fly around to do everything.”
Although as a boy Scott never had animals, except for a dog, he now raises 50 cattle and 400 hogs on the farm.
“I’ve been a farmer for 10 years now,” he said.
The couple also has several dogs.
He served as general contractor for the building, which was put up by professionals mixed with friends.
“A couple of Amish girls who work for me even poured the concrete,” he said. “It was quite the experience.”
Saturday evenings typically are multi-course meals served at a fixed price that’s set to reflect the cost to raise the food. Last week, it was $100 per person, and there were a few complaints about the price, but all 60 seats were filled.
“Wednesdays will be local night, with live entertainment and a variety of hamburgers,” he said. “The price point will be $20 or less.”
An ala carte menu also will be available each Friday evening, and a St. Patrick’s Day brunch will be served from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 17. Reservations are needed most evenings, although when walkins can be accommodated, it’s posted on Facebook.
A recent poster on Osso’s Facebook page detailed this dining experience: “Our dinner menu included a Cream Potato and Fennel Soup Duet with charred tomato, black pepper bacon, and creme fraiche; Pea Tendril Salad with warm local maple vinaigrette, goat cheese, and spiced pecans; Cajun and Brown Sugar Wagyu Short Ribs with slowroasted asparagus, lardfried tarragon arancini, and buttermilk biscuits; and Farmhouse Bread Pudding with candied almonds.”
As a boy growing up in Leroy Township, Scott remembers thinking he’d one day have a taco stand, but that was his only real foodie dream. He recently hosted a taco night at Osso.
He and Tara met when both were students at Riverside High School in Painesville Township and have been married 24 years. Entrepreneurial is his mindset, and Scott also has owned a bike shop and a graphicdesign printing company, which have been sold. Tara is an accountant for Cres Cor in Mentor.
“Her job provides insurance for our health care,” Scott said.
Although the word is getting out, staff has been hired and a number of dinners have been served, Osso has not had its grand opening yet. There’s still some tweaking to be done, Webster said.
“Signage is something we need to do,” he said. “There’s just a little sign at the end of our driveway, and people tell us we’re hard to find.”