Farmer's Daughter

Located in a converted fuel station garage and at the inflection point where the "North Shore" fades into "North Chattanooga" on its way to becoming Hixson, the Farmer's Daughter has become a favorite spot for a fancy breakfast out of the house.



Their approach is very much in line with my family's current values for food: they source their primary ingredients locally, show a strong bias to sustainable and organic practices, and favor flavor in their preparation.

It may turn out that renovating old garages and gas stations into bars and restaurants is a short-lived fad, but some of the more interesting spots recently opened in Chattanooga are definitely making the most of the trend.

The ambiance inside is reasonably spare given the history of the building; the white walls and bare wood furniture maybe adds to the sense of "cleanliness" of the food.

I mentioned above that Farmer's Daughter has become a favorite breakfast spot for us - of the many times we have visited, all but one or two were before 9am.  The morning menu opens with a sausage and egg biscuit, and I've honestly not ever made it past that option.




This weekend, we decided to give their lunch offering a try.  On weekends, their midday menu is actually brunch focused, but they had a chili cheese hotdog as an "off menu" special, and that's what I chose.  This was an all beef affair, grown and processed at a local farm.  The chili involved some BBQ meat as well, and it was held together on a local bun.

They serve a small variety of local beer on tap, and on the Saturday we were there, all proceeds from the sale of one brew went to a local environmental charity's fund (that's the beer I had - for charity, of course).

I would be remiss not to mention that there is a coffee shop located within Farmer's Daughter, apparently run as a separate business but tightly integrated with the restaurant.  Copacetic Coffee would not be out of place in Brooklyn or Portland, and I mean that in a good way.  They are serious about their coffee, and the passion shows through.  The first time I saw their espresso choices and realized that they paired the milk from different dairies with the different drinks to optimize the flavor and experience of the coffee, I was a little intimidated.  But the coffee is nice, and the baristas are so darn friendly it all works out fine.

So go, check it out, enjoy your meal.  As much as I enjoyed lunch/brunch, I think breakfast will continue to be my family's favorite for this spot.