NORTH FORT MYERS — Every once in a while you sit down at a restaurant and it’s not just a meal you have, it’s an experience. That is most definitely the case at Rosy Tomorrows Heritage Farm tucked away in the rural areas of North Fort Myers. It’s not just a farm or a restaurant, it’s more like a movement.
To get there, you have to take a nice scenic drive. Once you arrive to pass through the front gate and drive down the long dirt driveway you’ll find what can only be described as a special place.
“You go through the gate and you do the nice long drive and it's so pretty and there's the animals,” explains Executive Chef Philipe Schroeder.
Nature and the animals are only part of the magic you’ll experience while you’re there. The other part is what Chef Philipe is whipping up in the kitchen day to day. He uses only the freshest ingredients straight from the farm outside.
When he describes how he starts his day he has a big smile on his face.
“You get to walk around and pick herbs for the first hour of work. It's really just, I don't know, it's hard to explain. It's really nice."
The “mama hen” at Rosy Tomorrows is Rose O’Dell King. She and her husband created this hidden gem from the ground up about 7 years ago. It all started as a working farm and then about 3 years into the adventure the restaurant on property was born. King says it happened out of necessity. They wanted to use what they were growing on the farm and not let it go to waste.
“We were growing vegetables, and it was vegetables were going bad. I couldn't sell them to chefs in town, which surprised me, I really expected that was what I was going to be doing. Then eventually, it just evolved to what it is today, which is the farm-to-table restaurant,” King explains.
Pretty much everything you are served at Rosy Tomorrows Heritage Farm is grown there and raised there. If it’s not, it’s locally sourced and is from Florida.
The focus of the farm is organically raised heritage breeds raised out on pasture the way nature intended it to be.
“Our cows are certified 100% grass-fed, which is the way cows were meant to be. They’re born on property and we raise them up,” King says.
When Fox 4’s Amy Wegmann visited the farm the pigs had just given birth to babies and there was no shortage of chickens running around fertilizing the land.
“We have close to 650 chickens here. So we use all their eggs here they are out on pasture just running doing what chickens are supposed to do,” King says.
The end result is something you have to experience to fully understand. The atmosphere and ambiance will keep you coming back for more. As for what comes out on the plate, well, it's a dish full of beautiful detail and amazing flavor.
Chef Philipe isn’t one to brag though.
"I just happen to be lucky enough to use the best ingredients in Florida so all I have to do is put in on the plate the hardest part of my job is done," he says.
So, if you find yourself wondering if the farm and restaurant are open, they are! The restaurant shut down for a short time during the pandemic during which they sold meal kit boxes with their locally grown ingredients.
King says if one positive thing came from COVID it’s the curiosity people now seem to have about their food. People are asking if what they eat is locally grown and ethically raised after they saw supply chains break down during the pandemic and she doesn't think that interest will let us any time soon.
To learn more about Rosy Tomorrows Heritage farm check out their website.
