Archives: Events

Araxi restaurant has been described as the best restaurant in Canada. Nothing like a good recommendation to get dinner plans moving. Outstanding In The Field tour coordinator Leah Scafe hails from B.C. Canada and Leah is excited to show our many Outstanding fans a taste of home. Our local producer is Jordan Sturdy of North Arm Farm located in the scenic Pemberton Valley. Not only is Jordan Sturdy our featured farmer, he is the mayor of nearby Pemberton. Araxi chef James Walt will gather this and all of the B.C  bounty for a locavore feast.

Beautiful. The Okanagan region is a destination for many reasons, many or most of them food and wine. A few years back we had our long table laid out high above Lake Okanagan. Guest chefs Cameron Smith and Dana Ewart joined us for that memorable event. This year Dana and Cameron join OITF at Covert Farms, near the town of Oliver in the South Okanagan. We’ll get a tour of the farm and hear the Covert Family story.

We have been setting our table at farms around British Columbia for more than ten years. Over that time, we’ve been told ‘’you should head out to Salt Spring Island’’ more than quite a bit. We finally listened. The crew at Hawksworth is coming out to the island with us. Last year they joined us at North Arm Farm in Pemberton for a fabulous event that will be hard to top. (link to readymag) But we know they’ll try. For OITF fans wondering where they should go this year…You should come here! Our dinner site, Bullock Lake Farm, is a small, first-generation family farm specializing in organic produce, flowers and pastured meats. The farm spans 24 acres of rolling pastures, wetlands, historic orchard and forest. Established in the late 1800s, it’s one of the oldest agricultural properties on Salt Spring Island. We can’t wait to be there.

Canada? We are in the neighborhood. Eastern Canada is new for Outstanding in the Field. We have set the table in Western Canada several times. Cowbell looks like a great restaurant (nice name). Very farm-connected with lots of culinary chops. Chef Mark has ‘farmer nights’ in the restaurant. We LOVE the ‘farmer nights’ concept. The idea for Outstanding in the Field was born out of a series of very successful ‘farmer dinners’ in California way back in the late 1990’s. With these dinners the farmer gets a meal prepared by the chef, the farmer gets to talk and the guests learn about where food comes from. Take it all outside and you have Outstanding in the Field. We look forward to setting the table at Dennis and Denise Harrison’s Dingo Farms.

Our hosts are Jean-Martin Fortier, whose book The Market Gardener has a dedicated following worldwide; Danny Hadley, the farm’s livestock manager, and Maxime Bilet, co-writer of Modernist Cuisine who heads up La Ferme’s on-site culinary lab. Jean-Martin has been described as a rockstar farmer. This might suggest some musical ability. Regardless, we’ll be pleased to see his acclaimed methods in the field. And we expect Jean-Martin and his team will be in perfect harmony with Marc Cohen, chef/butcher/co-owner of Lawrence, whose attention to the best quality ingredients is central to his approach.

It’s been a few years since we set the long table in lovely Ontario, and what better venue to host our return than a stunning winery and farm just 20 minutes from Niagara Falls. The farm grows grapes, raises animals and grows vegetables. And has a hugely majestic and very old chestnut tree; perhaps we’ll put the table under it. Our guest chef is Ariel Coplan from Toronto’s Thoroughbred. Ariel has cooked and traveled all over the world. We’re excited to see what he creates in the field, and taste the wines that pair perfectly with his dishes.

Potatoes are beautiful. It has probably been said by someone at some time. Maybe that’s why Mr. Potato Head has such a following. The real beauty of potatoes is the potato field, and especially a potato field on a forested island with a view of the water. Then there is the famous beauty of the potato flower and the story of how Sir Walter Raleigh brought potatoes to Queen Elizabeth’s table from the New World. Chef Emily Wells has lived in England, Germany, Sweden, and now Canada. All have a hearty culinary relationship with potatoes. Chef Emily will source from land and sea.