Plentywood Farm.
It was a well known and well liked restaurant in Bensenville, Illinois, from the early 30’s into the ’90’s. From nice dinners to wedding receptions, business retreats, funeral luncheons, and Easter dinner, it was one of those restaurants where one always felt comfortable, the food was always outstanding, and you left knowing you had a few dollars left in your pocket.
I modeled a darling black dress at Plentywood Farms,. It was festooned with white polka dots and smart, red piping with a red leather belt. Me? Modeling? My last time on a runway was as a fallen angel of the Lord for the Christmas Pageant, and we all know where I landed in that attempt.
This “walk” was for a Newcomers Club fashion show. The dresses we modeled were from Honey Girl, in Elmhurst. I liked the dress so much, I bought it with the discount the store offered. I really felt good in it, and wore it for quite a few years, amazed that I not only modeled it, but, did so without falling off of the runway. That was my first time in Plentywood Farm.
Tom wanted to take me there shortly after the “fashion” show. I think he was miffed that he couldn’t attend. We went for our anniversary later that same year, and returned there on several others.
We celebrated a New Year’s Eve with our good friends , Jeri and Kyle; one of several New Year’s we celebrated with them. It was the restaurant of choice for confirmation celebrations, funeral luncheons, wedding showers, and just a night out when Ma came to watch the girls.
Plentywood Farm was a large, rustic building with several annexes: warm and inviting, all. It gleamed in the sunshine and glowed in the candlelight and never, ever disappointed. There was even a little county store on the grounds, where one could by county styled items – and their fresh-baked bread.
The photo is of a rendition of Plentywood Farm in one of my Ford Treasury Cookbooks. Although we never ate there on Thanksgiving, it always had the aura of “Over the River and Through the Woods” to me – and I wanted to share it with you. It is one of those places that someone from the area will say “remember Plentywood Farm?” and chorus line of memories will ensue. In fact, it just happened today at an event I attended.
The restaurants you’ve mentioned in your comments are sadly not in the books. I will, however, try to post a restaurant that might illicit a memory for you, every once-in-awhile.
Off I go to make some cranberry relish.
Lifeonthecutoff's Blog 
I’m not sure if I was ever there before, but it sounds delightful! Do you have a rough idea when it closed?
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Boy, Tom and I were trying to recall when it closed, Janet, and couldn’t remember, just know it was several years before we moved here. It was such a nice, wooded property, that was developed, so, it must have been during the the big development, McMansions in its prime.
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Sounds like a cozy, homey place with good food to match the atmosphere. Do you have a picture of you in the black dress you wore? So glad you are feeling better! Maybe you can share a Penny recipe for one of your Thanksgiving dishes if you have time. It’s 72 degrees here-that’s just not right!
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I do have that a picture, Marilyn; a family photo. I don’t know what box it is in. Should I find it, I’ll share it. It was a cute dress and one-of-a-kind. Hmmm…. let me think about what recipe I could share . . . Thank you, Marilyn. i’m on the mend and out-and-about. I think I’ll have this cough for a while longer, but, at least I feel human again. We’re quite cold here and do have snow, but, it’s no more than a dusting. I still need to go to the grocers – and not looking forward to that.
I wish you the best Thanksgiving, and some good food wherever you eat tomorrow, Marilyn.
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It sounds like one of those comfortable places in which you know the food will be good and plenty of it. One of those places where you know it won’t be too fancy, but everyone will like it. I love those cozy places that are so welcoming.
I was trying to sing Over the River and Through the Woods the other day but the children looked at me as if I were from another planet. They never heard the song. Sigh……I guess I am one of the few grandmas who actually live through the woods so the song and I are out dated.
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You’ve captured Plentywood Farm perfectly, Janet. It had an atmosphere around it very reminiscent of what I remember the lodge/restaurant in New Salem; log structure amid trees, fireplaces. Is it still there? Wasn’t there a theater, too? At any rate, imagine me modeling a dress in the woods. tee hee
That’s funny. I was singing it to Kezzie and she looked at me the same way. A horse weighing a sleigh? So glad that you and the song are alive – and you are never outdated. 🙂
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Plentywood Farm: what memories it holds for you Penny, and although I’ve never heard of it I warm to it immediately, with a name like that. It sounds like ‘Plenty-good Farm’ to me.
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It was, indeed, a “Plenty-good Farm” Juliet. It had an aura about, along with good food, that I think you would have appreciated. I hope your weather is tamed. Very cold here.
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Just the name “Plentywood Farm” sounds so inviting. What a wonderful memory, Penny. It’s such a fun thought to picture you as a runway model! Now that’s fun. I wish you still had that dress to show me. Of course, I no longer have any of those old favorites either, but once in a while I think back to the clothes I wore in the late 60s and early 70s and wish I still had them…not that they’d fit. They were just fun! I’d love to show my daughters. Fun memories in this post, my friend. 🙂
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I do have a photo, somewhere, of me wearing the dress; one of those Church/PTA type family photos. It was fun, Debra – and I didn’t fall off the runway. 🙂 I know what you mean about wishing back some of our clothes. It was a more fun time of dressing up, wasn’t it? or, maybe just younger days. Thanks!
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What an attractive-sounding restaurant, Penny. Such a shame these places are so vulnerable to the developers
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It was like a trip out to the country, Perpetua. Sadly, there are fewer and fewer of them these days due to the developers. It is nice, however, to have the memories and the book.
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I found it here: http://www.craigslostchicago.com/lost-eateries.php
You will love this site. Joe Pepitone!
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Good golly, Nan, that was a trip down Memory Lane. I know most of these establishments, which are just about all gone now, and there, you found it, Plentywood Farms. Joe Pepitone. Pretty cool. 🙂 Thanks for finding this.
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[…] years then passed before I discovered the Ford Treasury cookbooks, which depict famous restaurants I have begun chronicling here on the Cutoff, I was pleasantly surprised to find The Hotel Anderson […]
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