Maine is a magical place. Ancient oaks and firs mingle with rocky beaches, sparkling seas and sunny summer skies. Not to mention many different varieties of succulent seafood, including oysters—which we’ll taste at the table from local legends Glidden Oyster Company, who’ve been raising oysters here since the 1980’s. They suggested we set the table at Salt Bay Farm & Nature Center, a gorgeous, 115-acre expanse of protected land and marshes with spectacular views across Great Salt Bay and a mile of shimmering shorefront. The land is part of the Coastal Rivers Conservation Trust, which works to protect wildlife and water quality and connect the community to nature through walking trails, oyster gardening and educational programs. We’ll get a good look around the property before sitting down to a seafood-centric feast from guest chef Ben Jackson. Chef Ben is the James-Beard-nominated chef at Magnus on Water in Biddeford where he keeps a nature-inspired small plates menu featuring all sorts of delicacies from the sea and surrounding farms and woods. This will be his OITF field kitchen debut!
Taxonomy: 2022 Tour
Dandelion Spring Farm
Dandelion Spring Farm is home to rows of tender greens, vegetables, cut flowers and herbs, which means there’s lots of pretty spots to place the table — and lots of goodies for our guest chefs to play with. Farmer Beth is a lifelong lover of herbalism and grows a huge variety of medicinal and culinary herbs including tulsi, hyssop and lemon verbena. And guest chefs Damian and Ilma are some of her very best customers. They’re the talented team behind Chaval, a highly acclaimed Portland restaurant with a focus on Mediterranean flavors and a deep dedication to peak season local produce. Their zero-waste kitchen makes use of everything from root-to-stem and nose-to-tail, including a serrano-ham-infused ice cream made with scraps from their charcuterie program. This is bound to be a fun one.
Domaine Lebreuil
Outstanding first brought our long table to France in 2017. We really wanted to go to Burgundy, and Domaine Lebreuil welcomed us with a warm embrace that year, and several summers since. We’ve been pining to get back and can’t wait to see Jean-Baptiste’s friendly face once again. Domaine Lebreuil is an 84 year-old winery with a charming (impressively so) château typical of Burgundy’s small villages. Before we sit down, Jean-Baptiste will take us on a tour of the organic vineyard, where his family has used biodynamic farming practices for over two decades. Guest chef Christophe Ledru grew up north of Paris, enamored of cooking from a young age. After years of hard work, he earned a coveted position in the City of Lights, working with Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athénée. Subsequently, Christophe brought his knives to L’Auberge des Glazicks, a Relais & Châteaux property in Brittany where he worked with Chef Olivier Bellin to earn two Michelin stars. Now Christophe is in Beaune, the heart of Burgundy, and we are honored to have him in our field kitchen.
Outstanding in the Field a amené notre longue table en France pour la première fois en 2017. Nous voulions vraiment aller en Bourgogne, et le Domaine Lebreuil nous a réservé un accueil chaleureux cet été-là, et plusieurs étés depuis. Nous avons hâte de revenir et hâte de revoir le visage sympathique de Jean-Baptiste. Le Domaine Lebreuil est un domaine viticole de 84 ans avec un charmant (et impressionnant) château typique des petits villages Bourguignons. Avant de nous mettre à table, Jean-Baptiste nous fera visiter le vignoble bio où sa famille pratique l’agriculture biodynamique depuis plus de vingt ans. Le chef invité, Christophe Ledru, a grandi au nord de Paris. Dès son plus jeune âge, il se passionne pour la cuisine. Après des années de travail acharné, il décroche un poste convoité dans la Ville Lumière avec Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée. Ensuite, Christophe a emmené ses couteaux à L’Auberge des Glazicks, une propriété Relais & Châteaux en Bretagne où il a travaillé avec le chef Olivier Bellin pour obtenir deux étoiles Michelin. Aujourd’hui, Christophe vit à Beaune, au coeur de la Bourgogne, et nous sommes honorés de l’avoir dans notre cuisine de campagne.
Hillside Grain
Amber waves of grain! This family-farmed ranch in Idaho’s Wood River Valley is outrageously beautiful and our host farmers are extraordinarily passionate about what they do. Brett Stevenson and her brothers grow many different heirloom wheat varieties carefully chosen for nutritional quality, environmental sustainability and flavor. This is terroir-driven grain: you can taste the region’s hot sunny days, cool nights and spring-fed Silver Creek water. And their custom-made stone mill modeled after the French burr makes for some seriously delectable flour. Guest chef Jay Veregge will make good use of all that grain and flour in the field kitchen. At Warfield, he’s known for high-end pub fare and a deep commitment to the region’s agricultural community. That means lots of peak season produce and locally reared meat to go alongside Brett’s delicious grain.
Sage Farm Goat Dairy & The Market Garden School
This family-run micro-dairy in the mountainous town of Stowe is intentionally small, producing award-winning cheeses from happy, healthy Alpine goats. Farmer Katie milks the goats and Molly crafts all sorts of cheeses with the milk, while their partners Bob and Dave manage the maple grove. Lelia Evans runs the Market Garden School, a farming and gardening educational program for kids in the community. Sage Farm’s acres of rolling green pastures makes for a stunningly beautiful spot to dine outdoors. And we’re thrilled to welcome guest chef Cara Chigazola Tobin back to the field kitchen for the second year in a row. She’ll take the night off from her James Beard-nominated restaurant Honey Road to whip up a Mediterranean feast — with plenty of goat cheese, of course.
Mead Ranch
Breathtaking views and delectable beef. We love dining at Mead Ranch. This historic property encompasses 1,500 acres of impeccably green grasslands and grazing cattle in the shadow of the Grand Tetons. The Mead family has been sustainably raising cattle here for more than a century, and guest chefs Nick Phillips and Joel Cox know just what to do with all their lovingly raised beef. Sweet Cheeks Meats specializes in whole animal butchery and barbecued meats — the perfect team for the job. After dinner, you’ll probably find the crew letting loose at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. In the morning, you’ll find us at Sweet Cheeks for a breakfast burrito.
Mead Ranch
A summer meal surrounded by gorgeous views of the Grand Tetons, grazing cattle, and undulating grasslands — this is just about as good as it gets. The Mead family has been sustainably raising beef here for over a century, and ranchers Kate and Brad Mead have been our friendly hosts since we started setting the table here in 2010. We’ll hear their story with a welcome beverage at reception before taking a look around the property and sitting down to our meal from guest chef Martin Levitz. At Roadhouse Brewing Co, he’s known for simply prepared seasonal cuisine, always highlighting the region’s farmers and ranchers on the plate. The restaurant’s on-site microbrewery means craft beer sometimes makes unique appearances on the menu — like stout mustard, pale ale broth and beer can chicken. We’re excited to see what he cooks up in the field kitchen using the very best beef in Jackson.
Beekman 1802
It’s been a few years since we’ve set the table at this gorgeous farm property in upstate New York and we are thrilled to be welcomed back by our hosts Josh and Brent. This spot boasts romantic views complete with a picturesque pond, flower gardens, an elegant farmhouse built in 1802 — plus a friendly herd of goats whose milk is used to make Beekman 1802’s world-famous artisanal cheese and skincare line. This time around, we’re lucky to have husband and wife team Sohail & Sara Zandi of Brushland Eating House join us in the field kitchen. Their family-style restaurant is known for hyper-local menus, comforting classics and warm hospitality. Expect a peak summer season feast surrounded by idyllic grassland and fragrant flowers.
Indian Line Farm
The Berkshires are outstandingly beautiful: rolling green hills, sparkling streams, lush forests, and mystic morning fog. Tucked away within all that beauty is Indian Line Farm, a 17-acre oasis of certified naturally grown vegetables, herbs and fruits. Indian Line Farm became the country’s first Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm in 1985, and our host farmers have stewarded this land since 1998, partnering with The Nature Conservancy and The Community Land Trust in the Southern Berkshires to preserve the land as a working farm forevermore. Guest chefs Daire Rooney and James Corcoran are celebrated chefs in the Berkshires. They have helmed the kitchen at a slew of local hotspots and made many appearances at the James Beard House before opening Marjoram + Roux together in 2020. This will be our second event at Indian Line Farm and our first time working with chefs Daire and James. Join us in welcoming them to the culinary circus!
Red Acre Farm
We don’t bring our long table to Utah too often, but when we do, wow! With its kaleidoscopic, water-carved landscape of pink cliffs and lava-lamp hoodoos, it’s a trippily beautiful place! We first visited Red Acre Farm in 2018 and vowed to be back some day. That day has come. This is a high-desert location, at 6000 feet elevation about an hour from Zion National Park. The Patterson family left southern California for Utah in 2005 and now grow year-round in the red dirt of southern Utah, inspired by the boundless enthusiasm of daughter Sara. Sadly, Dad Lynn passed on in 2015, but the indomitable mother-and-daughter team of Symbria and Sara continue to do amazing things here, providing devoted CSA members with nutrient-dense produce, meat, dairy and baked goods from the Red Acre fields and farm kitchen. Guest chef Shon Foster will make magic with our farmers’ summer bounty. At his Kanab restaurant Sego, Shon cooks up a rotating menu of shared New American small plates, celebrating unique flavors and food traditions across the country while sourcing as much as possible from farms and producers within the fine state of Utah. Shon cooked us an epic feast for our last event at Red Acre and we are thrilled to welcome him back to the field kitchen!