As most of you know, there is a restaurant opening on the main level of Oxford Athletic Club. We have already introduced you to the new chef, Martin Thomas, and his passion for local ingredients to create fresh dishes. To give you a greater understanding of exactly what local means to Chef Thomas and offer a little taste of what you have to look forward to, we decided to take a little field trip with our wonderful chef.

Chef Thomas was kind enough to share with us a trip to one of his favorite farms, Dillner’s. Only 15 minutes away from Oxford Athletic Club in Gibsonia, Dillner’s is a 4th-generation family owned and operated fruit and vegetable farm focused on sustainable agriculture. At Dillner’s, seeds start in the greenhouse and then are transplanted into the high tunnels or fields where they are supported by integrated pest management (IPM). IPM removes the need for pesticides by allowing good bugs to survive on your plants in order to eliminate the bad bugs that would normally kill your plants.

Dillner’s has a variety of crops including strawberries, peaches, eggplants, lettuce, onions, spinach, garlic, and brussels sprouts among many others. But, they do not only have crops on their farm, they also have some animals running around. Dillner’s has around 1,000 cage-free chickens to produce brown eggs, cows for grass-fed beef, sheep, rabbits, and honey bees.

Not only does the Dillner family sell their products directly to the customers from the farm at their new store on Sandy Hill Rd., they are also a provider for the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and many farmer’s markets around the Pittsburgh area. The CSA program is a partnership between the grower and the consumer where the customers make a commitment to support the farm throughout the growing season by paying in advance to receive a share of the farms freshly picked crops. To learn more about the program and how too sign up click here.

Seeing Chef Thomas at the farm and talking about all the local crops and eyeing his favorites for the restaurant highlighted the passion he has for food and sustainable sourcing. The restaurant will capitalize on his passions and our local resources to give you the best, most fresh dining options available. We are so excited to see what the future holds for Chef Thomas and our new restaurant and we are so thankful to all of our loyal members who have stuck with us through the construction. Stay tuned for more exciting news about the restaurant coming soon!