Nurturing my inner... small town bistro

Last month I took a little trip out about an hour from here on the invitation of a coworker/friend.  She knew of my interest in organic dining and had the perfect place for us to go not far from where she lived.  It was nice to escape to a less busy area than where I park my car every night, yet only have gone about 45 miles door to door.  With a packed two day itinerary, I'll start my relaying of information with dinner the first night.

Seeing as this was specifically an organic farm-themed boondoggle, naturally (to her) that brought us to Dish in Charleston, West Virginia.  (She had been before with her husband and friends, so she already knew it was amazing.)  It always strikes me as so odd how West Virginia is not really that far away.

Graphically hip sign for starters.

I wasn't sure what to expect, well, this far out.  But because I hear there is a race track nearby, this small town area has drawn a lot of people in recent years.  If there's one thing we learned from Las Vegas, where there is gambling, there is some good eating.  Nice to know those people have discerning taste.  (Well, maybe not with the gambling, but with the restaurants.)

On the menu, this caught my eye:

"At Dish, we strive to create each meal around the wealth of local ingredients found only miles from the restaurant in the lush valleys, mountains, and rolling farmlands of West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania.

We are committed to the amazing farmers, ranchers, and others who make the region so special.  As we continue to face rising food and fuel prices, global uncertainty, and shortages, the notion of local economies becomes not a nice-to-do, but a need-to-do.  Buy local.  Be Local."

I think it's great how more places are learning to rely on local farmers instead of shipping food from across the nation or the world.  That ensures the freshest meal ends up on the end of your fork that night.

A menu, a philosophy. It was both.

The decor was playful, yet minimalistic.  And they had a couple playing jazz music at the entrance.  Delightful.

Clouds on the ceiling! So peaceful.

Let's get to it.  We split an appetizer.  Stuffed mushrooms with blue cheese dipping sauce.

Crunchy topping.

Of course, we had to have a little wine to enhance the food.

Can't go wrong with a Cab.

I opted for grilled salmon over a bed of wilted spinach with golden raisins and pignolis, with pumpkin risotto.  Fantastic!  The sauce was lightly sweet.

Just a light taste of pumpkin in the risotto,
incredible! Salmon perfectly cooked.

My local guide for the weekend got the paella.

Yes, that's sausage. Lots of great flavor.

Though we were full, we couldn't not get dessert.  To even suggest we'd consider skipping it would be a ridiculous thought.  I didn't entertain it for a second.  Here was my choice:

White chocolate, cranberry bread pudding.
Warm, gooey, comforting.

And I had a bite of hers too!  (Yeah, you knew that was coming.)

Personal apple pie with vanilla bean ice cream.
The crust was indescribable.

Uh, could I have been more full?  Answer = no.  Dish truly delivered.  It was a fabulous meal from start to finish and I think it's absolutely wonderful that a dinner like this could be found off the beaten path in a little town in West Virginia.  Just goes to show you, you can find fantastic, organic places all over, in every state.  All you have to do is look for them.  (Or have your coworker do the research for you and then you just get to tag long and enjoy!)