Outstanding In The Field

Look­ing for some­thing dif­fer­ent that you haven’t expe­ri­enced in your culi­nary life as of yet?

Out­stand­ing in the Field is a rov­ing adven­ture – lit­er­ally a restau­rant with­out walls. They set the long tables at farms or gar­dens, on moun­tain tops or in sea caves, on islands or at ranches. Occa­sion­ally the table is set indoors: a beau­ti­ful refur­bished barn, a cool green­house or a stately museum. Ingre­di­ents for the meal are almost all local and gen­er­ally pre­pared by a cel­e­brated chef of the region. This really is a great way to expe­ri­ence the farm to table trend.

I per­son­ally have not had the plea­sure of shar­ing a meal at one of their tables. They’re not always in your area and dip deep into your pock­ets. How­ever, it is on my list of things to do…eventually. I’d also like to men­tion I have no finan­cial gain by shar­ing this infor­ma­tion with you. It’s just some­thing I found to be inter­est­ing that I wanted to share with my read­ers. MARK YOUR CALENDAR, MARCH 20th TICKETS GO ON SALE! Look at their sched­ule now and plan ahead. Tick­ets sell out in minutes.

DIYD: (do it your­self dinner)

• If you know the day you can burn a few hun­dred bucks is not in your near future, but you’re inspired by the idea, why not try to recre­ate your own “farm to table” dinner.

What to do:

• Loca­tion! Loca­tion! Loca­tion! Find a spe­cial space whether indoors or out that is a lit­tle more adven­tur­ous then the din­ing room. Think-the beach, along the river, in a cac­tus for­est, on a ranch, at a local park, in a pri­vately owned library, under a big tree, in the mid­dle of the street at the end of a cul de sac, on a basketball/tennis court. Think out­side the box and have fun!
• After your loca­tion is estab­lished, decide on how many guests you will be serv­ing. A roman­tic din­ner for 2? A fam­ily reunion for 20? You decide! Once the num­ber of peo­ple is estab­lished be sure you have enough long ban­quet tables and fold­ing chairs to recre­ate an out­door din­ing room.
• Cus­tomize the din­ing décor to your own indi­vid­ual lik­ing. For me, I would use as many can­dles as would fit! Oth­ers may use hay stacks for the benches with crisp white linens drap­ing the tables. Have fun and remem­ber there are no rules! (Martha won’t be attending)
• Next, decide on your menu. Choose sea­sonal items that you can get at your local farm­ers mar­kets. If you really pre­pare in advance, you can even grow some of your own ingre­di­ents your­self.  Try to select items that can be pre­pared fully in your kitchen and brought to the sight in cool­ers or warm­ing bags.
• Remem­ber the details such as weather con­di­tions, bugs, restroom avail­abil­ity, park­ing, dietary restrictions/allergies , wine pair­ings, music, throw blan­kets, etc…
• If you like the idea but don’t want all of the work, cater the event and have it deliv­ered to your site.  Try to find a store or restau­rant that makes farm to table meals. The con­cept and ambiance will still be enjoyed by all.

Buon Appetito!