The Ultimate Farm to Table

Outstanding in the field

when was the last time you ate outside?

when was the last time you had a picnic?

… stood out in an expansive field?

was it a 4 course meal and wine pairing with servers and 200 others from across the country?

If you have never heard of Outstanding in the Field, do yourself a favor and start following them on Instagram right now! I have followed the company for several years now, mainly because I love seeing the photos of their dinner table setups. I love this concept and am a little upset that I didn’t come up with the idea on my own. The company was started by [the brainchild of] Jim Denevan in 1999 where they (a group of people) would travel the country and do what I would call a pop up dinner party in a field or large open area utilizing local chefs and ingredients to prepare the meal. They also partner with a winery for the night and pair wines with each course of the dinner. My sister originally considered traveling with the group for a bit after college, which is how we even knew about it - it is seriously like a best kept secret (yet tickets sell out quickly one locations are announced).

I have to give my mom major props for this one! On a recent family vacation in Jackson Hole, Wyoming she surprised us with an Outstanding in the Field dinner. While I had always thought it was a cool concept and company, I really didn’t know what all to expect.

The Setup

There was a group of 6 of us, we showing up (via uber) around 4pm to the Mead Family Ranch (also their home) where we were greeted, checked-in and served drinks and passed horderves during a welcome cocktail hour. The home bordered the fields of the ranch and had stunning views of the Grand Tetons. They also offered a short tour of the property and before heading over to the dinner they introduced the owners of the ranch, spoke about the history, their operation and the sources of each of the foods included in the dinner.

The Mead Ranch has been in their family for 5 generations and over 100 years. In 2002 the family placed the ranch under conservation easement to ensure that its pastures, water and spectacular scenery would be protected. All of their cattle are grass-fed, never placed in feedlots, never administered growth hormones or antibiotics and are treated in a humane and natural way. Kate Mead was an instrumental leader in starting the local beef movement in the Jackson Hole area.

We then headed over towards the long table set for over 100 people and if you brought your own plate which is an OITF tradition you took your plate and selected your seat. Since we were traveling to Wyoming from North Carolina we didn’t exactly pack our own plates but they had a stack for us to choose from.

Once seated at the table we introduced ourselves to the folks seated around us and soaked in the awesome view of looking both ways down the table. May I suggest if you ever have the opportunity to experience OITF that you try to snag a seat towards the middle of the table!

The food & drink

Now for the really fun part - the actual food! Everything is served family style at the big table and was fabulous! The farmer’s market bounty salad, polenta, beef strip and ribeye were all so good I can’t really identify a favorite.

All of the wines for the evening were from from Gros Ventre Cellars, a small family-owned winery operating out of Healdsburg, CA. They opened in 2009 and are currently producing about 2,000 cases of wine. Founders Sarah and Chris Pittenger ended up naming their wines Gros Ventre, because they met in the region near Jackson Hole. The wines are sourced from mostly organic or bio-dynamic vineyards and are managed by teams dedicated to producing world class wine. Many of their growers and vineyard managers are close friends enabling them to collaborate with shared beliefs of sustainability and quality. While red wines tend to be my favorites, of the wines served that night I loved their High Country White and the Rose!

I have to say it was a dining experience like no other! The views - spectacular, the table - stunning and the food - fabulous. I love how their dinners are farm to table and setup to support and highlight local farmers and chefs. How cool is it that there is a company out there traveling, offering a unique dining experience and supporting local ingredients and chefs? Because they are typically only in a location for one night at a time they book up quickly, I would encourage you to join their mailing list and follow them on Instagram to stay in the know when they announce their tour dates and locations in the case that you luck up like we did and have the opportunity to experience this amazing dinner!