We love Tangletown Gardens so much, we’ve decided to spend two nights this year. Farmer Dean’s farm tour is always one of the most informative and inspiring of the season, and there’s plenty of pretty places on the farm to set the table. On night two, we have guest chef Niki Heber cooking the feast. He’s a good friend of OITF and no stranger to the field kitchen — he was our kitchen expeditor on the 2012 traveling tour crew, working closely with our roster of celebrated chefs. Since then, he’s run the kitchens at some of the best restaurants in Minneapolis including Libertine and 4 Bells. He’s also a self-proclaimed Yakitori enthusiast, so there’s a good chance we’ll see some wood-fired skewers on the menu.
Archives: Events
Events
La Ferme des Quatre-Temps, Hemmingford
We were supposed to come back to La Ferme in 2020, but it’s been two years since the Canadian border was closed to us and everyone else. Now we’re beyond excited to return and see what rock star farmer Jean-Martin and his innovative crew have been up to and what they will show us. La Ferme des Quatre-Temps is an agricultural project that aims to demonstrate what the farm of the future could look like, paving the way toward a more ecological agro-food model for all of Quebec. It also is a remarkably beautiful spot for a farm dinner, with eight acres of bio-intensively farmed vegetables, 40 wooded acres for the pigs to roam, and 60 acres of grassy pasture for beef cattle and laying hens in moveable egg-mobiles. Guest chef Emilie Bégin will pick from the very best of the farm’s bounty for our late summer meal in the field. She’s the chef at Montreal’s Society for Arts and Technology (SAT), where she crafts inventive locally sourced menus that celebrate Quebec’s wealth of farmers and food producers like host farmer Jean-Martin. Before taking the reins at SAT, Emilie cooked at a number of lauded restaurants in Canada including La Bête à Pain, Mesón, and the three-starred Clos de Sens.
Nous devions revenir à La Ferme en 2020, mais la frontière canadienne nous est fermée ainsi qu’à tous les autres depuis deux ans. Maintenant, nous sommes fou de joie de revenir et de voir sur quoi l’agriculteur rock star Jean-Martin et son équipe innovante ont travaillé et ce qu’ils vont nous montrer. La Ferme des Quatre-Temps est un projet agricole qui vise à démontrer à quoi pourrait ressembler la ferme du futur, ouvrant la voie vers un modèle agroalimentaire plus écologique pour tout le Québec. C’est aussi un endroit remarquablement beau pour un dîner à la ferme, avec 8 acres de légumes cultivés de manière bio-intensive, 40 acres boisés pour les porcs et 60 acres de pâturage herbeux pour les bovins de boucherie et les poules pondeuses. La chef invitée, Emilie Bégin, choisira parmi les meilleurs produits de la ferme pour notre repas de fin d’été dans les champs. Elle est chef à la Société des arts technologiques (SAT) de Montréal, où elle élabore des menus inventifs à base de produits locaux qui célèbrent la richesse des agriculteurs et des producteurs alimentaires du Québec, comme l’agriculteur hôte Jean-Martin. Avant de prendre les rênes de la SAT, Emilie a cuisiné dans plusieurs restaurants renommés au Canada, dont La Bête à Pain, Mesón, et Clos de Sens avec ses trois étoiles Michelin.
Powisset Farm
Powisset Farm is a three centuries-old agricultural landscape dotted with beautifully maintained barns, wooded wetlands, and a lively group of farm animals. It’s the kind of farm where time stops on a mid-Summer day. Take a stroll out to the oak forest or the neighboring hay fields where you might spot a herd of white-tailed deer. Then settle into your seat at the long table for a peak summer feast from guest chef Will Gilson. Will grew up cooking at Herb Lyceum on his family farm in Groton, where he developed a passion for rustic farm-to-table cuisine and fresh herbs. He’s since made a name for himself in Boston with a number of successful restaurant ventures including Puritan & Co, his Modern American bistro in Cambridge featuring locally sourced ingredients from area farms. He’ll pick from Powisett’s bounty for an alfresco meal that perfectly embodies a New England summer.
Hidden Acres Farm
Summer in Door County is a sight to be seen, smelled and savored. In August, Hidden Acres will be in full bloom, bursting with fragrant herbs and a colorful variety of heirloom vegetables. A passion for home gardening and healthy cooking led host farmers Tom and Carolyn to build a large community garden for locals and supply regeneratively grown produce to Door County’s host of talented chefs — including guest chefs Gretchen Geurts and Robert Van Egeren. Gretchen has worked on our front of house team at several events over the years and we are delighted to host her and her partner Robby in the field kitchen for the first time! They’re both Wisconsin natives with a wealth of diverse culinary experience. Together, they run Ohana Hospitality in Sister Bay, where they craft unique private dining experiences and locally sourced seasonal menus influenced by their collective travels around the world. You can expect a late summer meal as stunning as the scenery.
Hidden Acres Farm
We’re thrilled to spend two nights at this regenerative produce farm in Door County, where an abundance of heirloom vegetables and herbs grow amongst lush woods and nature preserves near the rugged shores of Lake Michigan. Farmers Tom and Carolyn are passionate and conscientious growers who put great care into tending the land. And guest chef Ian Milosek will put great care into the evening’s meal. At Hotel Washington, Ian works with many local farms, foragers and purveyors on the island including Hidden Acres. We can’t wait to see what he does with all of the summer goodness growing near the table.
Elawa Farm Foundation
This majestic 16-acre property was originally developed in 1917 for the A. Watson Armour family, a distinguished family in Chicago society. We were very excited to discover it, and this is our first visit. Upon arrival, Elawa Farm looks like a very fancy place, with impressive, brick-faced manor buildings, green lawns and groomed hedges populated by cherubic garden sculptures. But don’t be fooled. This is a real working place, a historic farm and garden whose fields produce a plethora of organic goodness and also serves as a unique center for hands-on learning and food access programs for the local community. Guest chefs Rob Martino, Frankie Vazquez, Spencer Koppi and Angelyne Canicosa are the chef team behind Vie and Vistro Prime, two celebrated restaurants in the Chicago suburbs from Paul Virant. Vie has collected a long list of awards over the years for its ever-changing prix fixe menu featuring local ingredients from area farms. Virant’s other popular spot Vistro re-opened last year as Vistro Prime, a neighborhood steak house specializing in wood-fired steaks and sides. They’ll love cooking over fire in the field kitchen.
Blue Moon Community Farm
It’s hard to believe, but the last time we were here at Blue Moon was in 2015. We’re very excited to be back again to see what Farmer Kristen and her team have been up to since then! The Blue Moon crew are longtime and beloved regulars at the Westside Community Farmers Market in downtown Madison, offering 50+ varieties of farm-fresh veggies, starting in April with Spring vegetables and organic seedlings that home gardeners can plant in their own plots, all the way through Fall harvest in November. Growing food in the Upper Midwest is not what it was 17 years ago when Kristen first started her community farm after getting the farming bug in New York’s Hudson Valley. Climate change and disrupted weather patterns have brought new challenges. Kristen will tell us how Blue Moon is adapting to serve the needs of the land and keep Madison’s community larder rich in delicious, local, nutrient-dense vegetables. Meanwhile, guest chef Evan Dannells will transform all those delicious vegetables into a summer feast in the field kitchen. His Madison restaurant Cadre combines French-inspired cuisine with Wisconsin-grown produce, meat and cheese. Yum.
The Hickories
This is one of our most beloved stops on the tour — so we’re always sure to stay two nights. There’s plenty to see, after all. And farmer (and former poet!) Dina Brewster has plenty of stories to tell. We’ll have another wander through the orchard, stroll by the trout pond, and say hello to all the friendly farm animals before settling in at the table curving around their beautiful barn. This time, the supremely talented chef team at Olmo will helm the field kitchen. We first worked with Olmo back in 2019, less than a year after opening their doors. During the pandemic, they converted their experimental restaurant into a bagelry and marketplace offering some of the finest bagel sandwiches and flatbreads on the East Coast. They are sure to cook up another unforgettable meal with the farm’s 160 varieties of vegetables, fruits and herbs growing under late summer sun.
Blue Moon Community Farm
Rolling green hills, colorful cut flower beds, heaps of peak Summer vegetables and herbs, a drove of happy pastured pigs. This 6-acre agricultural oasis outside Madison is worthy of a second night. Especially with guest chef Dan Fox helming the pans in the field kitchen. Chef Dan has cooked many memorable events in Wisconsin with us over the years. He’s also caught the eyes of Madison Magazine and James Beard quite a few times over the years for his creative farm-to-table menus at Heritage Tavern. He is deeply committed to sourcing from local Madison farmers like Kristen. He also has a passion for pigs. In 2011, he founded Fox Heritage Farms, where he raises heritage breeds including Mangalitsas, Red Wattle, and Tamworth for his own restaurant and many other Madison and Milwaukee-area chefs. Expect to see some of that delicious pork on the menu.
The Hickories
An idyllic place to dine. Garden beds bursting with peak summer produce, herds of happy sheep grazing in the farm’s rolling green pastures, trees heavy with ripe fruit. And then there’s the trout pond, the brightly colored flowers and the friendly flock of hens. We’ve been coming to the Hickories since 2013 and we’ve been back nearly every year since, often for two nights in a row. Farmer Dina Brewster and her team grow over 160 varieties of vegetables, fruits and herbs plus pastured hens and sheep for meat and wool — which means guest chef Johan Jensen has plenty to pick from for the evening’s menu. He opened Whitecrest Eatery in 2019 to much acclaim, quickly becoming one of Stonington’s most celebrated restaurants. We are thrilled to welcome him to the field kitchen for the first time.