Bannerman Island’s Farm to Table Dinner Leaving Very Positive Taste in Everyone’s Mouths

When the August 26 announcement of the upcoming sold-out Bannerman Island Trust “Farm to Table Dinner” fundraiser was released, the excitement of this annual dinner on the breathtaking scenic island fueled everyone’s minds of those counting down the days. The mouth watering announcement spoke the truth of the upcoming dinner, and along with the music and atmosphere, the experience could not be beat. No exaggeration here, only a great memorable day. Below was that original announcement:

Bannerman Castle Trust to Host Annual Farm-to-Table Dinner at Bannerman Castle on Bannerman Island on September 5, 2026

The annual Bannerman Island Farm-to-Table Dinner is taking place on Saturday night, September 5, 2026, on the gorgeous Bannerman Island in Beacon and Chef Scout Metzler is leading the way again with his team of creative chefs. Visitors that evening will be taking the scenic 20-minute ferry excursion from the Beacon docks at the Metro-North Train stop on the RV Estuary Steward to the Island. Upon arrival, visitors will first see the many facelifts that have been completed by the Bannerman Island Trust including the newly restored of the historic Grotto, plus other exciting renovations.

“We are extremely excited about this year’s Farm-to-Table Dinner,” said Bannerman Castle Trust Executive Director & Founder Neil J. Caplan. “In addition to the delicious food being served by Scout and his team of professional chefs, everyone who will be in attendance will be able to take in the many renovations we have been able to accomplish on theIsland. This is surely the icing on the cake to the entire dinner event.”

Head Chef Scout Metzler, a former dishwasher many years ago, showed his love for culinary arts and food presentation at a very early age. During that time, Bannerman Island’s Master Chef Noah Sheetz took a liking into Scout’s mind and creativity and began mentoring Scout up until Mr. Metzler can lead a team to do a complete food service event. BCT also started taking a liking into Scout’s creativity and willingness to learn.

“Scout is meticulous, as well as being kind and dedicated to his craft,” said Caplan. “He is a true asset to the Bannerman Castle Trust. He pulls off the impossible dinner time and time again. He was an excellent student of Noah’s and Noah cannot be thanked enough for his love and dedicated to the Trust.”

Having a dinner service on Bannerman Island isn’t without the most basic and logistical challenges, given that the island is without electricity and running water, two major obstacles when preparing food for an event like this. Mr. Sheetz learned quickly the importance of stocking up on ice, as well as have portable generators full charged and ready to go. When arriving on the Island from the ferry, all of this, including the food, must be taken up the 70 stone steps. Then the set-up begins.

Mr. Sheetz created the Bannerman Island Farm-to-Table event in 2010 during the time the castle suffered a collapse at the Main Tower and this is when the idea of the Farm-to-Table event was born, as a fundraiser to help save the majestic castle. Noah enlisted five to six top-notch chefs from throughout New York State to assemble and create a dining experience like no other. One of the chefs aboard this ride was a very young Scout Metlzer, who learned the ropes from soup to nuts. Sheetz took Metzler under his wing and continued to educate Scout for years to come and only last year, Noah decided to step back and have Scout lead the way and in 2025 Scout led his first Bannerman Island Farm-to-Table Dinner event. Currently, Scout and his team have been meeting and planning every inch for this year’s menu and how to make it exceed even more than last year’s very tasty dinner.

“Each chef designs their own course so it takes a lot to wrangle them all together in five days,” said Metzler. “We are aware of all the challenges, but learning from Noah, from culinary to the Bannerman set-up, I have down to a tee. Our chefs come from different walks of life and places all over the Hudson Valley, from New York City to Clifton Park. I’m very excited, it will surely be a delicious Farm to Table five course menu including soup, salad, entree, cheese, and dessert. No one will be disappointed, I can assure you that.”

For the September 5th dinner, it is a three and a half to four hour event, which includes two dinner seatings, a 4:00 pm and 6:00 pm. For the first dinner seating, the ferry departs the Beacon docks at 3:00 pm and for the second dinner seating, the ferry returns and then departs the docs at 4:30 pm.
The address is at the Beacon NY Docks, which is across the Metro-North Train Station, 2 Red Flynn Drive, Beacon, NY 12508.