The French Alpine Table

Join Chef Marie Rutherford for an afternoon inspired by the rustic, deeply satisfying cooking of the French Alps. We will learn about choux pastry as we make cheese and black pepper gougères with Bella Rossa from our own Bellsong Creamery, then turn to making crozet pasta by hand with browned butter, mushrooms, and lardons. We will also learn the basics of brining as we prepare juniper-brined pork loin with wood-roasted grapes and Alpine herbs, served alongside chicories with walnut vinaigrette, before sitting down together to enjoy the meal. At each Class on the Farm you will get the chance to enjoy Bellsong Creamery cheeses, sip a glass of something special, and gather around a beautifully prepared meal. Marie Rutherford is a chef and culinary instructor with a deep curiosity about the relationship between food, place, and culture. A Berkeley native, she studied Art History in Florence, Italy, where travel, food, art, and architecture began to shape the way she understood cuisine—as an expression of landscape, history, necessity, and tradition. That curiosity later took her to Normandy, where she cooked in a restaurant centered around a wood-fired oven and developed a lasting appreciation for fire, working dough by hand, preserving the seasons, and transforming simple ingredients through time and technique. Marie returned to Seattle to work with Renee Erickson as Chef de Cuisine at Boat Street Cafe, The Whale Wins during its James Beard Award-winning years, and Willmott’s Ghost. Her cooking and teaching continue to be informed by travel, agriculture, history, and the stories behind traditional foods. She is especially drawn to the simple dishes people have cooked over fires, stretched into doughs, preserved for winter, and shared around tables for generations. We understand that plans change! While payments for workshops and events at Bella Luna Farms are non-refundable, you’re always welcome to transfer your spot to a friend if you can’t make it. We’re also happy to offer credit toward a future event—provided we’re able to fill your spot. Giving us as much advance notice as possible helps increase the chances of finding someone, so please reach out as soon as you know you can’t attend. We’ll contact our waitlist and keep you posted. In the rare event that we need to cancel a class due to weather or instructor illness, your enrollment can be transferred to a future class or refunded.