If you thought BelleWood Acres was the biggest apple orchard in Western Washington, you are certainly right. BelleWood Acres grows 21 varieties of exquisite apples for your pleasure. But did you also know that it is home to the BelleWood Country Café, whose motto says it all: darn fine farm food.
Seven days a week, every day of the year (except major holidays), BelleWood Country Café, located just five miles from Bellingham, Ferndale and Lynden, serves up delicious breakfasts and lunches, daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Enjoy fantastic down-home fare while sitting outdoors on warm days or inside the spacious, welcoming dining room when the weather turns cooler — all while taking in tranquil views of the farm and Mount Baker.
BelleWood Acres has been nourishing, entertaining and educating Whatcom County residents and visitors from all corners of the country since 2002. But the big venture began as BelleWood Acres became BelleWood Country Café, Distillery and Event center in 2012. Now you can enjoy a meal, taste some spirits, enjoy the art gallery, shop at the farm store and rent a golf cart to tour the farm.
“In the early days, folks would visit the farm and ask where they could go nearby to eat — but they didn’t really want to leave the farm,” says Dorie Belisle, who owns BelleWood with her husband, John. “But I couldn’t do anything there because I didn’t have the proper facilities back then.”
Today they serve darn fine farm food.
“We have a lot of fresh sandwiches that you’re not going to get anywhere else,” Dorie says, as we soak in the sun streaming through the café’s rolling doors. “We have great cooks and our breakfasts are awesome, too.”
Breakfast at BelleWood Country Café can be a simple meal of one egg, a sausage link and a bacon slice, nestled next to hash browns and thick-cut toast, or a full-on traditional dish, like country-fried steak.
“My favorite breakfast menu item is the eggs Benedict,” says Dorie. “Our Head Chef, Keith Wachter, does a wonderful job. His omelets are super, too. It’s a classic, dependable menu at a reasonable price.”
Pancakes are on offer, of course, as well as homemade giant biscuits and country gravy, and convenient breakfast sandwiches. From toddler to great-grandparent, there’s something for everyone on the morning menu. When was the last time you had an apple pancake?
And then there’s lunch.
Specialty sandwiches, an array of gourmet burgers, fish-n-chips, soups, salads and more fill out the lunch options at BelleWood Acres Country Café.
“And of course we do have a few sandwiches with slices of apple on them,” Dorie says with a laugh.
The Apple Hog (honey ham, aged cheddar, apple slices, and seasonal greens) and the French Farmer (oven-roasted turkey, Comte cheese, apple slices, and honey mustard) are both served on homemade wheat focaccia bread made right at the café.
“We also make our own corn muffins,” says Dorie. “The rest of our bread comes from Avenue Bread; we support as much local as we can.”
Another spectacular sandwich is the Gobbler, built with oven-roasted turkey, goat cheese, red onion, seasonal greens and a seasonal raspberry chipotle sauce, which can also be purchased in the BelleWood Acres farm market.
The Country Café ladles up a mean bowl of chili, too — inspired by a favorite from John’s childhood. He grew up in a small farming town in Wisconsin, where his dad ran the local restaurant, and the exact chili served back then — Lynn’s Homemade Chili — lives on now at BelleWood Acres.
The “Future Farmers” section of the lunch menu is aimed at the smaller set: a kids menu comprised of grilled cheese, peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese, or a plate of fresh apples alongside BelleWood’s own amazing peanut butter and slices of baguette.
Looking for some spectacular sweets? BelleWood Acres offers scrumptious scratch-made pies you can buy frozen, and then take home and bake when you’re ready for them — no one need know you didn’t create them yourself.
“We have about eight different pies to choose from,” says Dorie, listing everything from apple pie (of course!) to blueberry, blackberry, honey-roasted peanut butter, and chocolate silk. When in season, they also serve up strawberry rhubarb and raspberry cream pie.
“All are frozen, ready to go. We tell you how to bake them perfectly at home or you can call ahead and we will bake it for you.”
“This is just a great place for families to come,” says John Belisle. “Once summer warms up, moms and dads can bring their kids outside and have lunch — and drinks.”
BelleWood Acres Country Café is a full-service restaurant and bar featuring award-winning spirits from their own on-premise distillery.
“Of course, we’re great for families, but I don’t think people realize they can get drinks here, too,” Dorie says. “A cold beer or hard cider, or any of the drinks made from our spirits.”
“It’s nothing fancy,” Dorie says with a laugh, “but we guarantee it’s going to be darn fine.”
The BelleWood Acres Country Café breakfast menu is served from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (1:00 p.m. on Sundays), with lunch from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
BelleWood Country Café
6140 Guide Meridian in Lynden
360-318-7720
www.bellewoodfarms.com
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