Dinner on Main: Six years of tradition and community

In 2017, Kingston Springs began to host Dinner on Main, an event focused on providing a farm-to-table dinner on the Main Street of Kingston Springs. The event began as a way to raise money for the Kingston Springs Farmers and Artisans Market and has become a staple in the community.

Dinner on Main will be held Sunday, Sept. 24 at 5 p.m. this year. Public safety concerns have prompted town officials to move the popular fundraiser to the farmers market lot on Park Street, across the railroad tracks from the end of Main Street.

In the past, Main Street was blocked for the event and diners sat at a long row of tables lined up in the middle of the road in downtown Kingston Springs.

“The unique experience of dining in the middle of the street will be gone, but we’ll still have the same great chefs and great food, and our plans will still make this a unique experience and the class event it always has been,” City Manager John Lawless said.

Most of the cooking and final prep will be done at the farmers market site this year, he added.

Chefs for this farm-to-table dinner, which features locally grown produce, include local residents Hal Holden-Bache, executive chef and co-owner of Lockeland Table in Nashville, Deb Paquette, Amy Davis-Bruce and Mike Turpin.

Despite the location change, Dinner on Main is still a hot ticket. All 110 tickets, priced at $150 a pop, sold out in just over 24 hours after going on sale July 21.

Holden-Bache, who has been active in planning Dinner on Main since its first year, described the event as “a great cause,” and “very community driven.” Holden-Bache volunteers every year and works closely with a wide range of people in the community to prepare the menu and ensure the event goes smoothly.

One of the providers of produce for this community event is Harpeth Moon Farm. The City of Kingston Springs buys flowers and produce from them, as well as other local farms, and the talented chefs prepare the meal. Hayley Roberts and Max VanderBroek of Harpeth Moon Farm put emphasis on farm-to table food and how important it truly is.

They said, “At its essence, farm-to-table is about tracing the origins from seed to plate and immersing oneself into the food system in order to empower both the eater and the grower to keep doing what they’re doing.”