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The Watson Farm is a historic 265 acre farm in the Narragansett Bay. After five generations, the Watson family bequeathed it to the New England Historic Society with the stipulation that this beautiful land remains a working farm in perpetuity. These days, the farm is managed by Max Sherman, who keeps it home to grass-fed Heritage Red Devon cattle and sheep raised sustainably for meat and wool. We’re excited to explore the farm, but we are especially excited about its coastline. Brian Pinsky from 401 Oyster Co. will share his story of oyster farming in Rhode Island before we sit down to a seafood-focused dinner from Benjamin Sukle, who is currently quite busy – opening a brand new restaurant, Gift Horse, while moving his acclaimed Oberlin to a new space. We can’t wait to give him a bit of a break to join us in the field for the day.

Join us in the heart of the New York Harbor on Governors Island. These 172 acres are home to transformative public art, open parkland, educational programming, and climate research. We’ll spend the afternoon with two island-based growing initiatives designed to engage New York City students and youth volunteers — one on land and one in the sea. Billion Oyster Project will show us a bit of their work to restore the harbor’s oyster reefs — we’ll visit their oyster shell pile along Buttermilk Channel and learn more about their restoration efforts before sitting down to a world-class dinner from the region’s breadth of culinary talent. As an extra treat, the Billion Oyster Project’s Executive Director, Pete Malinowski, is bringing in his family to help shuck some briny beauties from Fishers Island Oyster Farm in the nearby Block Island Sound.

We’re setting the long table just outside the Lancaster Central Market, the oldest continuously running farmers market in the US, and featuring local makers from across the region in our table settings. This is the heart of Amish country, where the tradition of handmade goods is still strong. Kyle Sollenberger, owner of soon-to-be-opened Passerine, has been asking us to visit him in Lancaster for years. So, it was easy to decide who we would invite to the table. Passerine’s chef, Joshua Manny, has a particular passion for working with regional growers and producers, making him the perfect choice.

This is one of a special series of Community Table Dinners, where we highlight not just farmers and the ingredients they provide, but also local makers and artisans whose work becomes our tablescape. OITF seeks to connect us through a celebration of all that is handmade, local and personal – forging bonds between those at the table and the people and the place that helped create the meal.

These views are too good to stay for just one night, so we are back at Moose Hill Farm for round two. This historic cattle farm spans 347 acres of restored woodlands and pastures, with a charming farmstead that operates as a nature-focused preschool on weekdays. After reception, we’ll have a wander through the hayfields up to the table — where there’s a panoramic view of Great Blue Hill. Derrick Teh will join us in the field kitchen with modern Malaysian-inspired cuisine from his lauded pop-up, Sekali. What started as a pandemic project now has a loyal following, and has earned Chef Derrick a place as a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best Chef: Northeast. We can’t wait to see what he creates for us from Moose Hill’s offerings.

Farmer Dina has welcomed the OITF culinary caravan to The Hickories for nearly ten years. The wandering whimsy of OITF is a perfect match for the once-city-poet-become-country-farmer. Dina’s poetry is now in the field—more boots on the ground than words on the page. She has a vibrant farmstand and CSA with fruits and vegetables, a friendly flock of sheep and a new native wildflower program. This time of year, the dahlias will be exploding like fireworks. We’ll have a wander through her vegetable gardens, meet the farm crew and check out whatever the team’s latest project may be before sitting down to dinner. The long table stretches across Dina’s backyard, where she welcomes us every year to throw a party as the finale for their hardworking summer. Chef Norberto Piattoni is a master of the wood-fired cookery of his Argentine heritage—and our open kitchen at the Hickories is the perfect stage for his creative passion.

We met Christa Barfield last year on Elkins Estate, where she charmed us with her approach to organic farming, civil rights leadership, and food sovereignty. After quitting her career in healthcare five years ago, she was inspired while traveling abroad to commit herself to urban farming and work to expand food access in her hometown of Philadelphia. FarmerJawn has had a year of rapid growth since then, and we can’t wait to hear all about it as she tours us around her urban farm on the grounds of the historic Elkins Estate property. We’ll be joined by Chef George Madosky in the kitchen, leading the team from Fork. We love to work with them anytime we’re in the Philadelphia area – Fork is one of Seth’s favorite restaurants in the country. They just celebrated their 25th anniversary and seem to only be getting better with age.

Tom Murtha gives one of the country’s best farm tours, but last year he gained some stiff competition—from his daughter Dakota when she hopped on the box in honor of our tenth event on their property. Tom and his wife Tricia work tirelessly to keep the agricultural tradition of Bucks County alive while always looking for ways to innovate their farming practices. They’ll tell us about some of this year’s successful experiments (and maybe some less successful ones) while we walk to the table, wherever it ends up. We’ve set the table pretty much everywhere it can go on this farm, but it is always beautiful, even in last year’s drought conditions. Ashley Pellegrino and Christopher Sanchez from Black Eyed Susans will be back in the field kitchen, after cooking an incredible dinner in Seaside, New Jersey last year.