Local organic Yellow Brandywine heirloom tomatoes, a golden-orange beefsteak variety known for its creamy texture and rich, tangy flavor that's more intense than most yellow tomatoes. Yellow Brandywine is a potato-leaf type, meaning its foliage has smooth, rounded edges rather than the deeply serrated leaves of most tomato plants, a trait shared across the Brandywine family. The variety's own history is a little tangled: it surfaced in 1991 when a home gardener in Indiana passed seeds along a chain of tomato enthusiasts that eventually reached Johnny's Selected Seeds, which brought it to wider cultivation. The ribbed, oversized fruit can weigh up to two pounds and holds a dense, meaty interior with few seeds, best suited to eating raw rather than cooked. Slice it thick for a tomato sandwich or a caprese-style plate with fresh mozzarella and basil, or layer it into a BLT for a sweeter, less acidic alternative to red tomatoes.
Rock Tavern, NY
Halal Pastures is a certified organic and halal farm based in Upstate NY, founded by husband-and-wife team Samer and Diane Saleh. They are dedicated to providing exceptional tasting organic vegetables and halal meats and meat products. Over a decade ago, a single article about Egypt rejecting genetically modified corn sparked their journey. At the time, the only food label they paid attention to was “halal”, but that moment led them to question how food is grown and what truly makes it pure.
Determined to feed their family food that was not only halal but tayyab (pure), the Salehs began growing it themselves. What started as a personal mission soon grew into Halal Pastures, a farm rooted in the values of health, ethics, and transparency.
Today, Halal Pastures cultivates thousands of vegetable varieties using regenerative practices that foster biodiversity and enrich the soil. The farm never uses chemical pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or genetically modified seeds. Instead, they focus on nourishing the land and growing clean, flavorful produce that reflects the care behind every step of the process.
With a deep commitment to transparency and traceability, the Salehs remain hands-on in every part of the farm’s operations.