Chef on the Farm

Black Cat Farmstead’s home-sourced feasts may be Colorado’s coolest farm-to-farm table experience

It is also the home of Eric and Jill Skokan and their family. Besides running the 500-acre Black Cat Organic Farm, they operate Boulder’s Bramble & Hare restaurant. Food lovers know Eric Skokan for his multiple James Beard Award nominations and Bramble & Hare has earned the coveted Michelin Green Star.

“The pergola and the dining cabanas are in the middle of the garden where we grow flowers, herbs and strawberries to use in the meals. There are also black walnut, apple and pear trees. It’s not unusual to see cooks harvesting during the meals,” Eric Skokan says.

“It really is a farm experience.” The seven private dining spaces seating two to eight guests are set with tables, chairs and even plates and silverware sourced by the Skokans from estate sales and antique stores. Sheepskins cushion the seats.

Each cabana features a small iron stove for chilly evenings fueled by wood harvested near the creek running through the property.

UNWRAPPING BLACK CAT’S MYSTERIOUS MENU

Diners do not know what’s on the menu before they arrive at the farm for a fixed-price spread served family-style. It’s not a dramatic gimmick, according to Skokan, or really a blind tasting. He simply doesn’t know ahead of time. “I start thinking about the menu on Monday. I look at what we have on hand at the farm and what the week’s harvest is looking like,” he says.

“I don’t finally decide the menu until Wednesday, and then it changes.”

Guests are asked to detail dietary needs beforehand, and wine must be pre-ordered before arriving. Skokan takes an almost symphonic approach to creating a menu juggling ingredients and ideas for 25 lucky diners per evening.

“We start with four courses but always end up offering tables additional tastes from the kitchen,” he says.

One recent night’s Farmstead menu was a leisurely taste trip starting with silky foie gras and red wine gelee, smoked trout with duck prosciutto and a sliver of ripe French Delice Mon Sire cheese served with long crackers. The main course showcased farm-raised lamb with piperade sauce, bright parsley salad and aioli. Sweet finales included brandied farm pears with gingerbread and crème anglaise, accompanied by coffee and house-grown herb tea.

Black Cat Farmstead’s mission is to make everything possible from scratch. “We bake all the breads and crackers. We make our own vinegar, ice cream and pastries. We also make our own butter,” Skokan says. The kitchen is also dedicated to using everything the farm produces. “The peelings from beets are dehydrated and powdered and used to color pasta we served with duck confit,” he says.

LINGERING: THE FARMSTEAD’S SECRET INGREDIENT

Guests arrive at 6 p.m. and few guests are late. That is the last reference to time that diners will get during the meal.

“We have seven tables that seat about 25 guests a night. We don’t turn the tables. Each group has their table for the night and we’re on their pace, not ours,” Skokan says.

“Most people choose to eat at a slower pace. Often, they pause dinner partway through and go take a walk and look at the amazing sunsets. Then, they come back and have another couple of courses.” Some stay until constellations blanket the rural sky, but the chef notes that this is a farm, not a park. There will be dirt and mud as guests navigate the gawk-worthy property before, during and after the meal. Fancy footwear is discouraged.

WHY THEY BOUGHT THE FARM

Black Cat Farmstead exists because Eric Skokan’s gardening hobby got out of hand. He started growing herbs for his restaurant, but had zero experience as a farmer.

“We had the restaurant, we were farming in Niwot and I drove back and forth every day. If we lived on a farm, I’d be able to be a real father for our kids who were young,” he says.

The farm that they found turned out to be one of the oldest in the area.

“One of our buildings we can date to 1883, but the rest predate county records. It was called Blacksmith Ridge Farm and Old Swede Farm at various times,” he says.

The old barn 50 yards from the front door of his home has been converted into a full commercial kitchen. The sole copy of that day’s menu – hand-scrawled on a large piece of paper – is taped to a wall.

When he stands at a big wood-fired grill outside the kitchen, Skokan can see the top of Longs Peak poking over the string of foothills nearby.

Most chefs are fully occupied finding labor and dealing with rising food prices. As a farmer, Eric Skokan also has to worry about nearly 500 acres and growing what he wants to be cooking with three to six months ahead.

The organic farm supplies the Farmstead dinners, Bramble & Hare and other local restaurants, as well as Black Cat’s Boulder roadside farm store, Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) produce shares for members, and a stand at the seasonal Boulder Farmers Market.

“We grow around 200 varieties of vegetables, herbs, and flowers and do about 500 sheep and 100 American Mulefoot hogs a year,” Skokan says. His worst crop scenario as a farmer was the 2013 Boulder County floods. “It wiped out all of our winter squash and carrots. The tomatoes swelled up, burst, and turned into tomato soup in the fields. It was ugly,” he says.

HOW TO TURN A FARM INTO A RESTAURANT

Black Cat Farm dinners were born in the pandemic time, in 2020 and early 2021, when Black Cat Farm Table Bistro closed.

When he wanted to make the hugely popular farm meals permanent, Skokan naturally ran into a years-long bureaucratic buzzsaw. No one had ever attempted a similar project locally, according to Skokan, who designed the cabanas and served as construction foreman.

“The construction only took around eight months, but the design and permitting were labyrinthine. The process of converting a farm into a place that meets the same level of code as a restaurant was massive,” he says.

It finally launched in fall 2024, and word of mouth among fans already means that reservations are only available six or more weeks ahead.

When Eric and Jill Skokan opened their first restaurant in Downtown Boulder in 2006, they named it Black Cat Farm Table Bistro after its “lucky” location on 13th street.

“Jill and I have been married 22 years, and still going strong. She works in the restaurant and the farm kitchen and also handles all the administrative functions. She is excellent at the things I’m terrible at,” he says. Cats are part of life at the Farmstead, but it’s no life of feline leisure.

“We don’t have pets. We have working animals that we live with. The cats keep the mice down,” he says.

Both Eric and Jill Skokan smile and shake their heads when asked if they will add more seats or dining days.

“This is just the way we like it. It allows us to really take care of everyone and create a special experience,” he says.

Black Cat Farmstead Dinners: 9889 North 51st Street, Longmont; Reservations: blackcatboulder.com