Founding Farmers to Open at Tysons in February

The Farmers Restaurant Group (FRG) announced that Founding Farmers Tysons will open in February 2015, at 1800 Tysons Blvd.

Founding Farmers Tysons is owned by regional and local investors, which include North Dakota Farmers Union, National Farmers Union, and a number of private individuals that share a passion for supporting and promoting sustainable agriculture and sustainable business practices.

“This is our best work yet - but it’s not the next chapter of the Farmers Restaurant Group story, it’s the next book,” said Dan Simons, FRG managing partner and concept developer behind Founding Farmers. “When you look around at the billion-dollar developments going up in Tysons, and the Metro Silver line just a block from our doors, we know we’re in the right place at the right time. Tysons is ready for the Founding Farmers version of dining and we’re thrilled to be opening here.”

Food and drink
Tysons Founding Farmers will offer classic, heartland-inspired dishes developed by Executive Chef Joe Goetze and a deep culinary team. Approximately 35 percent of the food menu reflects culinary and recipe traditions of Virginia and new menu items. Open early and serving until late seven days a week, the restaurant will offer breakfast, express breakfast (to take), lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch styled after the Farm Market buffet style found at Farmers Fishers Bakers.

Many new items and categories have been added, including: freshly butchered cuts from the in-house butchery, where whole and half animals will be received and finished; direct-from-Virginia products like artisanal honey glazed hams; house-churned butters for cooking and on the tables for guests; Southern-style biscuits, and other pastry items unique to FFT that will be baked daily, and on display in the bakery case at the entrance.

Executive Pastry Chef Ashley Soto has built upon pastry and dessert signatures and favorites featured at other Founding Farmers locations, with creations such as: the Mille Crepe Cake, award winning, croissant-style Jefferson Donuts and Butterscotch Bread Pudding.

The bar and beverage menu by FRG Beverage Director Jon Arroyo showcases a variety of Virginia-made products, such as Founding Farmers’ proprietary line of Rye Whisky and Farm Gin, produced in partnership with Copper Fox Distillery in Sperryville, wine from Virginia, and all 12 beer taps will feature only Virginia brewed beers.

The back bar will be a showcase of whiskies and other spirits from the Old Dominion. True to the Farmers brand, the cocktails and non-alcoholic beverages will include fresh house-made syrups, elixirs and bitters. With the opening, Arroyo and team will introduce a new cold-pressed bottled juice cleanse, a menu of peak-fresh nutrient-full juices for guests to enjoy in the restaurant or on the go, for detoxing or cleansing from processed foods, or as a healthy, vitamin-rich supplement to regular meal consumption.

Architecture

The design of the 12,000-square foot space was conceptualized by VSAG and designed by the GrizForm Design Architects team that also designed Farmers Fishers Bakers in Georgetown.

Designed to meet LEED Gold Certification standards, the restaurant has been organized with stylistic representations of rooms and areas typically found in and around a classic Virginia farmhouse. In both subtle and more visible or interactive ways, guests will experience the Founding Farmers version of a barn, a front porch, kitchen, dining room, formal space, living room, and a bedroom as they move through the restaurant.

“The farm house was a gathering place, a place to come in from the cold, a place to relax, a place to eat, a place to talk, a place for ideas,” describes architect Griz Dwight. “While the modern farm house restaurant should not look like its inspiration, it needs to fulfill all of the functions of the original version.”

Other unique design elements coming to the restaurant include: eye-catching, commissioned artworks and installations by emerging and established artists such as hand-whittled creatures, farm scene vignettes, a quilted colonial flag, woven bird’s nest basket lighting fixtures, a large family tree sculpture and others that will be included in a ”gallery tour” on the website; a phone closet for guests to take or make calls in private without having to leave the restaurant, as well as custom designed furniture from artisan crafters at the Beachley Furniture Co., in Hagerstown, Md. As in all Founding Farmers restaurants, and to all finishes, upholstery, and the carpeting are made from reclaimed, recycled, or post-consumer content materials when possible.