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.