Styer's Cafe At Terrain in Glen Mills, PA


Not far away from our house and very close to the magnificent Longwood Gardens is Terrain, a garden lover's dream. The nursery and home & garden store, which is owned by Anthropologie, captures the spirit of this part of the world -- the vast lands of Pennsylvania that is focused on agriculture and a slower pace of living. Right now at Terrain are row after row of colorful hardy plants overflowing and nudged beside them are large wooden crates of pumpkins and squash. 








The Sugar Shack promises a rush with soda and ice cream.
The good life. At dusk guests were enjoying a glass of wine before a fire pit.

Back entrance to Terrain Nursery

Styer's Cafe

While we could spend all of our time wandering the immaculate grounds and shop, the garden conveniently leads you to a Napa-esque restaurant that is stocked with small kitchen and garden accessories that are hard to leave without. Our visit this evening was intended for dinner with good friends at Styer's Cafe, which focuses on local, farm-to-table and organic cuisine. The menu changes often to accommodate the freshest ingredients  in season. On this evening the ingredient that threaded the Chef's menu was eggplant, while the night before was brussels sprouts. Other times we've seen menus solely focused on mushrooms, tomatoes or squash.

Buttery brioche-like bread baked in a terra cotta pot. 
Creamy and velvety eggplant soup poured over shaved vegetables, microgreens and pinched herbs. The textures and flavors were remarkable, and worth attempting to replicate at home.
Grilled eggplants with sweet balsamic vinegar and a primavera sauce
Seared crispy trout with sauteed mushrooms and eggplant
Seared duck breast with an eggplant sauce
Molten chocolate cake with a caramel sauce.
Styer's Cafe is one of my favorite restaurants in the region for its philosophy and breath-taking atmosphere. A wide variety of culinary and garden courses are offered throughout the year at Terrain. It is a place that lives and changes with the seasons and offers countless reasons to visit frequently.

17 comments:

T.W. Barritt at Culinary Types said...

I must visit, if only for the brioche in the terra cotta pot! The photos of the pumpkins are beautiful. I particularly like the cream colored pumpkins.

The Palate Post said...

That's wonderful!

Penny said...

What an inspiration. Wish we had something like that near us. That eggplant soup looks interesting.

Belinda @zomppa said...

What a cool spot!! I would never ever want to leave.

Simply Life said...

oh my gosh, those pictures are stunning! what a beautiful place!

La Table De Nana said...

Had you mentioned this Anthro lieu last year?I would love to visit:-) The bread in the large pot is so darn cute and earthy:-)

SavoringTime in the Kitchen said...

What a gorgeous place and I would love to have such a place nearby- although I'd spend far too much time there ;)

I just saw the first mention of Terrain in an email from Anthro recently with pumpkins for sale!

From the Kitchen said...

I am sorely tempted to hop in the car and head east! I should have known that Terrain was owned by Anthropologie!! My dear daughter-in-love introduced me to Terrain two years ago when I asked her for Christmas gift suggestions for my son. I've only visited online but love it! I'm bookmarking your post. My husband and I might just drive to Providence in the spring and I'm going to plan a visit to Terrain and the cafe. Wonderful, wonderful photos and post.

Best,
Bonnie

kale said...

lovely photos! such a charming place. love the long stems coming up from those pumpkins.

El said...

It looks like such a great place to visit. I love the brioche in terra cotta!

About Last Weekend said...

I love moseying around nurseries for hours and this one is glorious. How much more amazing do the flowers look grouped into colours and then arranged almost in a stripe like that?

Deana Sidney said...

I haven't been to Longwood in decades. You bring back a lot of memories mentioning it.

The restaurant looks wonderful and makes me want to visit. Between the bread and the soup and that fish... all of it looks great and so do your pictures. Great post.

Gloria Baker said...

Christine I love pumpkins !! but really I love all pictures really beauty!

Sam Hoffer / My Carolina Kitchen said...

This could quickly become one of my favorite places too. And they cooked the duck perfectly too.

I would not have been able to go home without one of those pretty pumpkins for my stoop.
Sam

Erica said...

What a beautiful place! The food looks amazing..thanks for sharing those beautiful pictures,Christine

Claudia said...

I am just willing myself there. Lingering, sensing, drinking it. And then settled in the cafe for the day.

Angie's Recipes said...

Even though I am not a gardener, I LOVE this place. Very beautiful!