Attendees at one of the Moonlight Meadows Farm to Table events enjoy one of the courses. (Courtesy photo)

MARQUETTE — Marquette-area chef and business owner Bryan Koppana’s philosophy on food can be boiled down to one word: connection.

Koppana is the owner and face of Moonlight Meadows, an Ishpeming-based business that many will be familiar with. Whether its bakery, jams, jellies, marmalades or fine-dining, Moonlight Meadows has been a mainstay of the Marquette food scene over the past few years. With items at the Marquette Food Co-op and a stand at the Downtown Marquette Farmer’s Market, the business has expanded to cover several areas and this summer marks the second year of their most ambitious project yet: their Farm to Table dinner events.

This summer, Moonlight Meadows will be hosting a series of five events at Rock River Farm in Chatham.

“Our biggest thing is connection,” Koppana said. “Not only do we love to see the connection between people during the events, we really want to create an emphasis on connecting people to the food and by doing that, we connect them to local farmers.”

Koppana practices what he preaches as Moonlight Meadows uses local ingredients in their multi-course dinner events.

The first of the events is scheduled for June 29.

Each of the Farm to Table events goes just beyond dinner, with a farm tour and beverage pairing being added to the food, which makes the evening a full experience.

“We’ve had great experiences with everyone during our series last year,” Koppana said. “There were times when we had to wait to bring out the next course because everyone was talking and laughing.”

This year’s events look to be much of the same.

For a full schedule of this year’s dinners, or to buy tickets to the events or other Moonlight Meadows merchandise, visit their website at www.moonlightmeadows.shop.

Randy Crouch can be reached at 906-228-2500. His email is rcrouch@miningjournal.net