Hearty Harvest

The Hearty Harvest is a restaurant and inn located in Elton. It is co-owned by Tony Child and Gildrak Steelbrand.

History

The spark of an idea that would eventually become the Hearty Harvest began while Tony closed down his previous restaurant in Elme and began a pilgrimage to Edras in search of more bountiful resources and ingredients. Mid-journey, Tony came across a campfire in a small forest clearing outside of Wellspring and met the dwarf Gildrak. He was just about to begin preparing dinner for the night, so Tony naturally offered to help out. They spent the dinner discussing their new found admiration for each other - Gildrak raving about Tony's cooking and Tony complimenting Gildrak on having some of the finest pots and pans he had ever cooked with (which turned out to be handcrafted by Gildrak himself).

They quickly became friends on their short journey and decided that their meeting must not have been a coincidence. They were meant to work together and thus Tony decided to continue with Gildrak and change his destination to Elton. They rented room and board at a local inn known as The Rat & Troll which they learned was a fortuitous choice after talking with the owner for awhile. Her name was Alenka Martikov and she was now the sole proprietor after her husband's untimely disappearance while returning from Hammerton on supply run. She had been doing her best to keep the business going but running both the inn and the tavern by herself was beginning to take a toll. After hearing that the decision had been made to shut down the Rat and Troll in a few weeks time, Tony jumped at the opportunity – let the two of them lighten the load by taking over the tavern portion while Alenka continued to run just the inn portion. A few days later, the deal was finalized and plans were put into motion to transform The Rat & Troll into what is now known as the Hearty Harvest.

The first few months were tough. While The Rat & Troll was well known for their wine selection, their reputation for food was lacking. Initial news of a new owner, new name, and new menu were initially met with laughter and snide remarks like “you can’t dress that old Troll up in a new apron”. But, people need to eat and people get bored of having the same thing over and over again. It was only a matter of time before the locals of Elton gave the Hearty Harvest a chance, even if it was only out of boredom. One pleasantly surprised patron, became three pleasantly surprised patrons, became 15 pleasantly surprised patrons.

Before he knew it, Tony had built up a sizable fan-base in Elton. Even local nobles couldn’t resist the buzz and attention that had been brewing and began venturing into the unusual neighborhood to steady their appetite. Thus was born one of Gildrak's house rules – “The Harvest is for all and we all dine together!” – meaning that nobles would not be catered to any different than regular patrons. While initially scoffed at, this led to the Hearty Harvest being one of the only places where class seemed to not matter.

On the 19th day of Adinar, 2966, The Hearty Harvest was given the Fresh Apprentice Award, a title given to the best new tavern or restaurant in The Free Cities. Not one to rest on his laurels, Tony celebrated this day by discarding the menu that had earned him that award, unveiling a completely new revamped menu. Initial shock gave way to packed tables night in and night out, and the popularity of The Hearty Harvest was cemented.

Signature Dishes

• Thermal-Cooked Marsh Lizard
• Chimera Delight
• Moon Rabbit Cheesecake
• Thunder Honey Bread
• Ameglian Major Cow
• Tentacle Gnocchi
• Jörmungandr Stew

Expected to debut upon Tony's return

• The King of Feathers
• Deviled Giant Wolf Spider Legs
• Locust in a Blanket with a marinade of Sabal Sauce

Awards

2966 Fresh Apprentice Award

2967 Mithral Plate Award

2968 Mithral Plate Award