Outstanding in the Field

[J M S]

Has anyone heard or been to one of these dinners? It looks like it would be an amazing food experience. That ticket price is a little high...ranging from $190-$300 per person. Im wondering what they have served in the past and if it is really worth all that money? Website is below.

Here is the main website: http://outstandinginthefield.com/

Here is a link to the locations: http://outstandinginthefield.com/even...

[buttertart]

Friends in the Bay Area went to one a couple of years ago and said it was a pleasant experience, but the food wasn't all that great.

[J M S]

Thats upsetting especially with how much it costs.

[buttertart]

I can get more details if you want, but it sounded like a bust.

[woodleyparkhound]

I went to one last summer. The dinner was in a horse barn on a gorgeous organic farm (Ayrshire in Upperville, VA). It was a very pleasant experience and very different. You show up with 200 others and spend a few hours with them, so there is potential to meet interesting people there. I went with a friend who flew in from Chicago for it. He went to four of them last year in different parts of the country. The meal is prepared by a local chef - in this case Bryan Moscatello of Zola and Potenza. I thought the food was good but not killer. $180 I think was excessive -- although I would note that the wine was poured very freely. It's one of those experiences that I'm grateful for, but unlike my friend from Chicago, I won't be rushing to do another one. That money would get me a far better meal at any one of several places in DC.

[buttertart]

That was my friends' experience as well. They said the money would have been better spent at Gary Danko or another such place in SF.

[gck]

I went last year to one of the Seattle dinners and thought it was an amazing event. If you're going purely for the food, I agree that going to a nice restaurant is a better "value." But for the experience, I thought it was worth it - farm tour, dining in a beautiful, unique setting (and for me, sitting near both the farm owner and winemaker!), hours of good company and fun. And our farm gave us containers to pick raspberries and a bag to take farm produce back with us.

The Pacific Northwest gives us a nice selection of local ingredients, so we saw scallops, mussels, tuna, Mangalitsa pork belly, and king salmon on the menu. I know people have complained about there not being enough food, but we had three appetizer options in addition to the 5 courses, and you could eat as much as you could get from the traveling waiters. And it must have been 8 glasses of wine.

My pictures, including the menu: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gck/sets...

[JMF]

I was invited to one held on a friends farm last summer and saw the whole behind the scene and up front. I was glad I didn't have to pay. It was ok, but the price was way too high, and the people who showed up were very pretentious. (We did amazing dinners on the farm each week that whole summer, but for a dozen folks at a time, and the ones who came to the small dinners were really nice, fun folks.) OIF makes a fortune off these events. They do one or more a week, all year long, all around the country. They use top local chefs, so they can vary a lot, but I wasn't impressed with the one I attended.

One thing bothered me, they said they would serve local wines, beer, and hard cider; then when it came down to it they didn't even serve any wine or hard cider made in the state, only one type of beer made 150 miles away, the rest was from out of state, and there were several breweries and wineries within 50 miles of the event. One was mine, and I offered them wine, beer, and hard cider at below cost, some of it for free, but they had cut some deal, so didn't have any of the local stuff.

[fireflyy]

Hey JMF. Where are your friends' farm? I am interested in the farm dinners they put on AND your wine! You can email me if you do not want to post details here....
[e-mail]
Thank you and Cheers~

[JMF]

It was at the famous Four Seasons Farm. They aren't having the dinners anymore. That was a special year because my two friends who ran the farm for two years have moved on. He was a chef in NYC prior to working the farm and had worked at Momofuku in NYC and exec chef at Frannies. She is a world class, award winning bartender who had worked at PDT. He is now working for a year as a chef in Rome, and she is giving seminars and guest bartending her way around Europe with Italy as home base, working for a few weeks each at the best bars, presently in Copenhagen or Amsterdam, and going to Moscow starting this week. (She has worked at so many great bars in so many cities the past 8 months its hard to keep track.)

I am no longer a partner in the winery and brewery in Maine. I ended my partnership recently and pulled out all my equipment. I am currently starting an artisanal distillery on a 350 acre farm in NY. I break ground on construction in a few weeks. Going to grow our own grain for whiskey, make gin and genever, rum, and other spirits. Going to raise heritage livestock, feeding them the used grain from the whiskey. Going to be happy critters.