Don’t get hooked on a favorite dish at Prime Farm to Table in Flower Mound. The menu changes daily. But this is intentional, says Chef Chris Flahaven, who opened the restaurant in the fall of 2014. The shipment of food also changes daily.
A native of Washington state, Chris found an opportunity to bring a locally sourced restaurant to North Texas after his parents moved to Lantana. He knew he could fill a niche.
Prime serves food from farms within a 150-mile radius of the restaurant. Seafood, which is delivered fresh overnight, is the exception.
The reception from the community has been welcoming.
“Delightful!” said Margaret Schubert, a member of the Red Hatters of Lantana, celebrating her “39th” birthday. “It’s one of my favorites.”
The restaurant seats 78 people and started going mobile through Prime Scratch, a food truck that debuted in November.
Chris made many of his contacts through local farmers’ markets. “One farmer tells another farmer. I got involved with them,” he said.
And they get involved with him. In the fall, Chris hosted two six-course meals under the stars at Oakdale and Amen farms in Argyle.
Dinner was served under a tent while guests listened to live music.
Part of the proceeds from each dinner went to support a charity of the farm’s choosing. “We’ll do it again in the spring,” Chris said.
After 11 years as a restaurateur in Chester, Conn., Chris said, the time was right to bring his family and his passion for cooking to North Texas. “It’s a health-driven community,” he said.
The menu adapts to the changing foods that the changing weather brings. On a recent weekday afternoon, Chris was cooking with micro-greens from My Epicurean Farm in Decatur and serving goat cheese from Latte Da Dairy in Flower Mound.
Chris is excited about the impact he’s making on the local restaurant scene and said his presence is forcing the restaurant community to “get local and support farms.”
“I’m paying it forward,” he said.
