Eating locally is a trend that’s quickly swept through the restaurant scene of Bryan College Station, and as a part of that trend, Ronin Farm & Restaurant has started to bring people right to the source of the fresh food served at their restaurant. Every month, Ronin hosts a nine-course Full Moon Dinner in the welcoming, lush green forest at Ronin Farm to showcase the fresh ingredients used in their food and to bring people together in the most unsuspecting way.
Back in 2013 when Ronin was a simple catering company, owners Brian and Amanda Light had 18 people at their first Full Moon Dinner, and since then the event has grown and expanded into an event where strangers become friends and bond over great food and wine.
“Guests show up about an hour before sunset, so the start-times typically change as the seasons do,” says Amanda. “About thirty minutes later, everyone is taken on a tour of the farm where they’ll see all the animals and the gardens. Our farmer usually comes with us to talk about the farm and answer people’s questions.”
After the tour, guests sit down at long communal tables — hence, how strangers become friends — and have seven or eight savory dinner courses in the forested area of the farm, Amanda continues. The communal, farm-style seating gives everyone a chance to socialize and get comfortable at their table, making the dinner a casual social gathering that’s enjoyable for everyone.
“There have been multiple times where people have met for the first time there and then come back together,” Amanda says. “There have been a handful of first dates, too. We had a couple that got married at the farm because it’s where they’d had their first date, which is very sweet and special.”
Choosing the courses usually happens the week of the dinner, and what’s being grown at the farm will determine the menu, says Brian. Proteins are usually consistent, but the fresh, seasonal produce and vegetables are constantly changing at the farm.
“Depending on what produce shows up or is at the farm, I write down what’s new and interesting, and pick and choose what would work best together,” says Brian. “I’ve trained myself to use what’s available and work with what we’ve got, and it’s been really great for us so far.”
As if a moonlit dinner among old friends and new couldn’t get any more special, the night concludes with a candle-lit walk down a pathway leading to the open sky. Here, the full moon is perfectly seen through the trees in the Ronin Farm courtyard. Coffee, tea, and fresh desserts in the garden wrap up the evening while guests continue to mingle and enjoy themselves in the outdoor setting.
“To be able to share the farm with everyone and connecting people through good food has been the best part,” says Brian. Amanda continues, “[the food] is from a genuine source and isn’t commercially produced. We’re feeding people honest food and that’s something we take a lot of pride in. That’s what’s really important to us and is exactly why we’re doing this.”
Ronin Full Moon Dinners are held every month, with the usual exception of July, August, and January due to the extreme Texas weather, says Brian and Amanda. The next full moon dinner is the Harvest Moon Dinner on Saturday, Sept. 14, at 6pm. For more information on upcoming dinners and events, reservations, and pricing, visit www.ronintx.com/full-moon-dinners.
