I could tell as I pulled into the parking lot, that this beautiful Wednesday at Red Barn Farm was going to call 
for a bit of a waiting in line. The sunny skies and comfortable weather made it a great night to set up chairs and blankets on the grounds of the Northfield, Minnesota farm and event venue and the full parking area indicated that fans of Red Barn Farm Pizza Night were taking full advantage.
I grabbed a spot in the pizza line and waited for my former co-worker, Mackenzie, to arrive. I knew she had a lot of farm experience since she grew up on McCann Goat Farm and I knew she liked pizza based on our post work adventures to places in Minneapolis like Pizza Luce, so I was excited to see what she thought of her very first Pizza Farm experience. After a long day at work and a rough commute over to Northfield, I could sense a brief moment of discouragement when I informed her that we would be waiting in line for a bit to order and I expected about 45 minutes to an hour of wait time beyond that before our pizza was ready. To help ease the disappointment, I procured a build-your-own 6 pack that I had assembled of 
some of Chicago’s favorite beer and got Mackenzie started with Revolution Brewing’s Rosa Hibiscus Ale. Since it is in Minnesota, Red Barn Farm is BYOB and I was excited to share some of my Chicago beers, although I wish I had a cooler to keep them a little more chilled.
Once we moved forward enough to see the chalkboard menu, Mackenzie and I passed the time by discussing our dinner options. We agreed that getting something more non-traditional would be fun and we decided to get the Pizza of the Week and a dessert pizza. The Pizza of the Week is always appealing because it tends to focus use the most seasonal produce. This week it was a BLT pizza with mozzarella, bacon, tomato, aioli, and fresh lettuce thrown on top after the pizza was cooked. The dessert pizza was apple and vanilla icing.
At first the hour long wait for pizza sounded a little long, but we took the opportunity to walk around the farm and see the horses, chickens, vineyards, and the garden plot that the seasonal pizza produce comes from. We also met up with another dedicated pizza farm goer, Kris. Kris has been a regular source of Pizza Farm news for me since we first ran into each other at Love Tree Farmstead in Grantsburg, WI. While we waited we talked about putting goat cheese on pizza, using word of mouth to find out about more pizza farms, and caught up on whatever else we could think of.
Red Barn Farm was cranking out the pizza on Wednesday. Our pizza was number 286 and 287 and Kris’ number was well into the 300s. With the two ovens, one inside and one outside, they accurately predicted the wait time and after just over an hour, we opened up our pizza boxes and started the satisfying work of eating.
I used to be a strong advocate for leftovers, but as I have been traveling more and since I am typically only feeding myself, I have been passing these off. Mackenzie was happy to take home the remaining BLT and dessert slices, Kris took home his few Greek slices, and I was pleased to go home empty handed after an enjoyable evening on the Pizza Farm.
