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A glass of wine, a conversation with a kind stranger, and an enticing aroma wafting throughout the dining space as you await a five course meal: Carrie Masters's passion project at Bird & Toad paints "good food" not just as farm-fresh ingredients, quality of service, and artful cooking methods, but in its true meaning as the meeting point of all of our senses, and the very essence of human connection.
The Bird & Toad dining experience is hosted in a storybook-esque house and garden, nestled in the woods of Marquette, Michigan. The pop-up dinners have attracted their fair share of "regulars," quality-loving locals who would be remiss to miss out on a dinner. But tonight's dinner in particular is a special one: Bird & Toad's first with Vietnamese cook Sandy Le, owner of Nuoc Mama.
While Sandy unpacks heaps of herbs and vegetables, proudly sourced from a dozen farmer friends - fresh ingredients from relationships honed at Keweenaw farmer's markets - Carrie plucks herbs from the garden. Carrie's partner Matt, a friendly carpenter who built the three-story, solar-powered house where the dinners are hosted, washes sawdust off freshly fashioned wooden tile pieces. I place them carefully under chopsticks on the dinner place settings under Carrie's direction.
As guests meander in, the kitchen fills itself with the fresh fragrance of a ginger broth, and I trade my camera for plastic gloves and skewer steak from Sandy's homemade marinade, its fragrance overwhelming my senses with tantalizing umami.
Sandy hoists two vibrantly colored jugs of Living Proof Brewery kombucha onto the counter, flavored for the occasion with fresh Thai basil and other local farmer offerings, another testament to the ironclad ties of the small Keweenaw community.
"When one of us succeeds, we all succeed," remarked Sandy.
Carrie flips Nuoc Mama's dumplings on a pan as I snap photos. Despite the dinner being the first of its kind, the girls work together in tandem, crossing arms and scooping broth, a cooking team like that of a well-oiled machine.
"The connection Carrie and I had was amazing," said Sandy. "We were able to create the menu in about 10 minutes because we shared the same vision and could just build on each others ideas. The potato dish is the collaborative stand-out there. The other dishes are all based off of traditional Vietnamese dishes and flavors, but the potato dish was a brand new creation. We just ping ponged. She said potato salad, I said vinegar not mayo, she said slaw on top, I made fish sauce caramel, she made broth. And boom, there was the dish."
Nuoc Mama's name comes from the Vietnamese word for "fish sauce" (nước mắm). Sandy, the "Nuoc Mama", opened up her food business vending at Keweenaw farmer's markets this season, and it's safe to say the food has been a hit. Nuoc Mama salads, noodles, and dumplings sell out in the first hour of the farmer's market, and the community has reveled behind the deliciousness of this homemade food producer.
An infrequent pop-up with seasonal offerings, Bird & Toad's menu changes with each event. On the menu this time was:
Vietnamese Bruschetta
Fried rice paper, tomatoes, cucumbers, fennel, Nuoc Mam (fish sauce) dressing, parsley, dill, and garlic chive flowers, tomatoes from Full Plate Farm and Ghost House Farm, cucumbers from Minnie Farms, Fennel from Lake Effect Farm, dill from Full Plate Farm, parsley and flowers from Carrie’s garden.
Pho Dumplings
Chicken Pho broth, pan-fried chicken scallion dumplings, basil oil, chili oil, cilantro
Potato Salad
Mushroom broth, duck fat fried purple potatoes, ginger fish sauce caramel, cabbage and carrot slaw dressed with lime and salt, foraged mushrooms, Ghost House Farm potatoes, Full Plate Farm cabbage and carrot, and Thai basil from Lake Effect Farm.
Bánh Xèo (Vietnamese sizzling crepe)
Sandy's personal favorite - Coconut milk and turmeric rice flour crepe, peanut sauce, char siu pork jowl, raw green and purple bean salad, marigold petals. Pork from Seeds and Spores, beans from North Harvest, marigold from Carrie’s garden.
"I love the flavor combo, and the cultural history of the dish. It also has a huge nostalgic factor for me. It was only made on rare occasions, so it was such a treat. The crepe itself is tricky ... I am proud of myself anytime I can make the traditional crepe. I remember growing up always thinking, Vietnamese food will never be fancy or beautiful or popular, but it is! And I’m so happy I can be someone who showcases the beauty," said Sandy.
Bún Thịt Nuóng
Grilled lemongrass beef skewers, vermicelli rice noodles in nuoc mam dressing, butter crunch lettuce, pickled carrot and daikon radish, cilantro, Thai basil, peanuts, fried shallot.
Rosy hues dawned guests' faces as they filled their bellies and sampled flavors with fresh herbs and hand-picked sauces. Carrie adds that although the dinners are focused on food, by the end of the night, the real magic happens.
"People are always friends by the end of the dinners. There's always a buzzing crowd and everyone's hugging at the end," she said.
"I love the connections that our dinners forge, with farmers, with neighbors, with strangers. It's a very beautiful thing to witness."
Get on Carrie's email list to hear about pop-ups: e-mail birdandtoadmqt@gmail.com
Catch Nuoc Mama every Saturday at the Calumet Farmer's Market, and stay tuned for more collaborations from this pair.
 | Nuoc Mama Keweenaw Peninsula, MI Instagram Email: nuocmama.up@gmail.com |
 | Bird & Toad Marquette, MI Instagram Email: birdandtoadmqt@gmail.com |
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