Farm Bloomington

OVERVIEW

• FARMBloomington is in the Odd Fellows building. which is where the Odd Fellows organization used to meet.

• FARMBloomington has been around since 2008

• The owner of FarmBloomington, Daniel Orr, went to New York and taught culinary arts, and worked at a French restaurant called La Grenouille

• FARMBloomington is a locally owned restaurant, whose goal is to serve  local  healthy food.

• FARMBloomington gets most of their ingredients from local farms and stores.

• FARMBloomington most popular dish is their garlic fries.

HISTORY 

Before FarmBloomington was in this building, it was used for a society called the Odd Fellows. The Odd Fellows is a  fraternal organization that focuses on community service.They got their name from the idea that doing charity was considered “odd”at the time. they were a club that included plumbers, electricians, and other trade jobs. today, they  even have a table at the back of the restaurant called the Oddfellows table where they have interesting masks from back when the group used to meet there. Also, the head chef and owner of FarmBloomington, Daniel Orr, is the grandson of one of its members, so he is connected to the building. 

They also  kept the artifacts from before, and he hung up his parents' tools for display. 

Even though he is from Indiana, chef Daniel Orr had a long journey to get here and begin this business. Also, he is from Columbus,Indiana and was raised on a farm and he was often sent into the woods to find berries. Then he went to New York and taught culinary arts and worked at a French restaurant called La Grenouille and Guastavino’s. After working in New York, he went to the Caribbean in 2004  and served as executive chef for the CuisinArt. After that, he  moved to Bloomington to be closer  to family, then he started farm Bloomington in 2008.

CURRENT COMMUNITY SERVICE

FARMBloomington plays a big part in the Bloomington community. It is a locally owned restaurant that has been around since 2008. Farm’s main goal is to serve local and healthy food that everybody will like. Many of the vegetables that Farm uses are grown by the chefs that work there, and the vegetables they don’t grow themselves, they get from local farms. The workers at Farm forage for wild vegetables, mushrooms, and other plants to use. Many of these are used for vinegars and sauces, but some of them go into other dishes. 

Farm also has a seasonal menu, which means they don’t have to ship anything from a long way away, and they can get their ingredients from local farms. Farm’s most popular dish is their garlic fries. In 2024, Farm was featured in America’s Favorite Fries.

In the past, Farm has participated in Taste of Bloomington, which is a festival that celebrates food. They also support local arts and music scenes.