Farmer’s Rail brings ‘farm-to-table’ store, restaurant to Main Street

by Michele Collins

The Farmer’s Rail opened its Hudson location late summer, giving local food connoisseurs a variety of what owners Jeff and Melanie Brunty call “farm-to-table” meats, cheeses, prepared dishes and homemade bakery items. 

Many of the products com from the Bruntys’ Akron and Ashland farms. And with the people who grow the food preparing it for sale, customers are sure to get the highest quality, freshest food around, said Marketing Director Kal Bowers.

“This is our third location,” said Bowers. “It offers [Hudson] customers who previously traveled to Cuyahoga Falls or Akron the chance to purchase their food right in their hometown.”

The Bruntys started their business as  farmers in the Cuyahoga Valley and sold produce from a small store on their farm. They purchased a larger farm in Ashland and expanded their operation, and in 2018, opened the first Farmer’s Rail in Bath. Later, they opened a location on Front Street in Cuyahoga Falls and now their third location in Hudson. 

The Hudson shop, in the former Surburban Sit, on Main Street is large enough to include a butcher shop, a restaurant that seats 30 diners and one of the most unique attractions, a dry-aging room lined in Himalayan salts.

“The dry-aging room allows us to dry meats at the perfect temperature and time. When you come to the store, you can see whole animals that are able to be dried in that space,” said Bowers.

The Farmer’s Rail is “an artisan butcher shop,” he added, offering pasture-raised poultry, pork, beef and lamb from local farms along with sustainably raised and wild caught seafood, small-batch grocery items from local vendors, hand-selected artisanal cheeses and charcuterie products and all-natural deli meats. And a special offering at the Main Street store is an onsite bakery, offering rolls, buns, breads and desserts.

Many of the seasonal food offerings will be incorporated into a menu in the soon-to-open restaurant where, Bowers said, customers will be able to experience a true farm to table dining experience inside the store.

Weekly specials are publicized on the business’s Facebook page, facebook.com/thefarmersrail. But Bowers believes the best way to learn about The Farmer’s Rail is to walk in and ask the staff for their recommendations. 

The store’s motto is simple, “know your farmer and understand your food,” he said.