When we heard Outstanding in the Field is coming to our hometown soon, we headed on over to their website to learn more. While there, we were bowled over by the varied arrangements of long outdoor dining tables that are so emblematic of their productions...
So important is it to the meal, they even have a gallery page devoted to images of the long table.
"The second I saw that table stretching away in its sensual, undulant curve, I understood Denevan's brand of genius. Not just at bringing together the people who make these dinners click, or hiring the right staff to manage the daunting logistics. His gift is creating a table that is an art installation, then filling it with people and food that create transitory magic." - Allison Cook, Houston Chronicle
See more inspiring long outdoor tables at the Outstanding in the Field blog. We have a weakness for long-table outdoor dining, as evidenced in our previous post on The Endless Feast.
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A culinary Christo (best I could come up with on the fly)
I went to one of the Outstanding in the field events a couple years ago and it was such a great experience. I loved eating outside in an amzing vineyard setting experiencing fabulous food and wines sitting at a long table, closest experience to this way was when I was in Italy.
I highly recommend attending one of the Outstanding in the Field at least once.
How do you get to go to one of these?
Wow, that's amazing! Those tables seem to go on forever, and I agree with the Christo reference.
I don't know that many people.
you can see if there are in openings located near you.
Usually, you need to book a year in advance, some are sell out faster than others- http://www.outstandinginthefield.com/
The Devil's Gulch Ranch, Nicasio, CA always sells out fast.
I heard the one in Manhattan is super cool, urban dining.
Look to see what chef you might like as well.
That table reminds me a lot of the expansive outdoor and wonderfully memorable dining experience last year at a <A href=http://www.flickr.com/photos/typefiend/2829685838/in/photostream/>Slow Food Nation event hosted by my college, UC Davis. Dining on long outdoor tables with locally produced food under 200 year old olive trees and surrounded by thousands of grape varieties from the National Clonal Germplasm Repository is something I'll always remember and cherish. The outdoor communal setting made the meal all the more tasty!
check out: http://vimeo.com/4252502
wow $200! i guess i will be setting up my own chairs on my street!
wow..this looks like it could be a really interesting evening
i wanna go!!
I just hope the people aren't all pretentious...
Pass the salt, please,.. uhh...better mail it instead...
It's beautiful and I am sure a great experience. But to me, it's just another place where the price excludes the people who could use a good experience with local food.
It would be amazing for something like this to provide a big, local meal priced (or even donated) to lower income people. Expose them to local farmers and simply prepared fresh food. It might make a world of difference.