This stunning site never ceases to amaze. Whether we’re cliffside looking at the clouds over the redwoods or staring straight down to the Pacific on a sunny day, the views are nothing short of breathtaking. And the table – stretching majestically along the cliffside road – is pretty splendid on its own. We are honored to set the long table in partnership with One Tam, the community campaign of the Tamalpais Lands Collaborative, who help ensure a healthy future for the mountain that so many cherish. Chef Jeremy Zimmerman of the girl and the fig is an OITF alumnus and knows exactly what he’s getting into. Cooking (or dining) on a mountainside thousands of feet above the ocean is for the genuinely adventurous and not for the faint of heart.
Taxonomy: 2023 Tour
Sausalito Waterfront with Heath Ceramics
Regardless of where we set it, we serve the long table with family-style platters from Heath Ceramics. They hold the abundance of each farm feast in style. As we wind down our tour season we simply have to stop by to celebrate at the source, the Heath Factory in Sausalito. We’ll start the evening in the factory yard to get a peek behind the scenes before seeing their ceramics in action at the table, set on the iconic Sausalito waterfront at the Clipper Yacht Harbor. Guest chef Matthew Accarrino of SPQR & Mattina will bring his soulful, Michelin-starred Italian cuisine to the table while showcasing the freshest catch from our host fisherman, Zander Budge.
Pie Ranch
Every year, we finish out the summer tour season with a foraging dinner at Pie Ranch. Our host forager and king of mushrooms, Todd Spanier, will take us on a tour of the surrounding forests looking for autumnal treasures amongst the redwoods, while host farmers Nancy Veil, Jared Lawson and Karen Heisler show off their heirloom wheat and organic vegetables. To keep it all in the family, we’re inviting an alumnus of our Tour Crew to celebrate our 2023 Crew’s achievements. Carlo Espinas was our kitchen manager for the 2019 tour, before launching several of his own acclaimed projects throughout the Bay Area — and we are thrilled to have him back in the field kitchen to cook this year’s feast.
Boggy Creek Farm
We love the Sayle family and the historic farmhouse at Boggy Creek so much, we’re sticking around for a second night. We also can’t leave Austin without getting some really great BBQ, so we’ve invited one of the city’s best pitmasters to dinner. Evan LeRoy runs LeRoy and Lewis, an experimental BBQ truck dedicated to sourcing meat from small, responsible purveyors in Texas. You’re just as likely to find beef cheeks as brisket on their menu. It’s safe to say chef Evan knows a thing or two about open flame cooking, so we can’t wait to see what he does in the field kitchen while we dine between Boggy Creek’s abundant vegetable beds.
Peeler Farms
The Peeler family has been in the cattle business for over 100 years. Their 3,000-acre ranch is home to hundreds of Wagyu cattle, goats, sheep, horses and water buffalo who happily graze on green and golden grass—and we’ll be dining right in the middle of it all. If we’re lucky, hosts Marianna and Peter may show off their horsemanship skills by the table, but they will definitely welcome us with their signature Southern hospitality. Patrick Jackson of Austin’s Paperboy and San Antonio’s exciting new addition, Full Goods Diner, will be joining us as guest chef for the night. He has become well known in the area for his seasonally-driven cuisine that artfully blends Mexican and American flavors, a true reflection of Southern Texas style. We can’t wait to see what he does with Peeler Farms’ meat, showing us firsthand why they’ve become a favorite of chefs across the San Antonio restaurant scene.
Pinnacle Farms
Janna Anderson is a first generation farmer, but her land carries a long history. Pinnacle Farms’ fragrant lemon, grapefruit and orange orchards carry on the long-held tradition of citrus farming in the Southwest, and the rare Maktoom date trees have origins in early 1900s Iraq. At Pinnacle, Janna focuses on growing crops suited to the arid climate of Arizona, and has created a vast diversity of tastes and textures from her fields. We will get the chance to try some of her favorites at dinner prepared by our guest chef, René Andrade. Sonoran-born Andrade is a master of woodfire cooking, which he shows off at his restaurant, Bacanora. There, he’s won accolades from the likes of the James Beard Foundation and GQ. Chef René is joining us at Coachella this spring, and we’re already looking forward to his next turn in the field kitchen near his hometown of Phoenix.
Temecula Olive Oil Co.
We’ve been coming to Temecula Olive Oil Company since 2013 (sometimes a few times a year), and every time we pull into the dusty driveway, we feel like we’re coming home. Thom, Nancy and Catherine are some of the most gracious hosts you will ever meet, and can’t wait to help us taste through last year’s pressing of olive oil while telling us all about this year’s harvest. We’ll be there right in the middle of it. For dinner in the olive groves, we’re inviting John Cleveland from South LA’s Post & Beam down to show us his renowned Southern twist on California cuisine. After the event, keep an eye out for our crew enjoying a nightcap at the Stagecoach Inn, just down the street.
Malibu Pier
Peaceful crashing waves, green hills rolling down to the shoreline and panoramic ocean views – the Malibu Pier is a dream dining destination. We will set the table along the rough-hewn planks of the pier for a dinner celebrating the bounty of Southern California’s land and sea with Australian-Italian chef Monty Koludrovic of Botanical Hospitality Group.
Rancho Sisquoc
Stepping onto this cattle ranch winery feels a little bit like stepping back into time. Rugged hillsides dotted with cows frame rows of grapevines leading up to the ranch’s historic barn and the nearby chapel, standing just outside the gates since 1875. We can’t wait to bring the table here for the first time. The Flood family has been on this land for six generations, and the youngest members still practice their riding skills with the ranch’s cowboys. Meanwhile, they’ve produced award-winning estate wines since the 1970s, with stunning labels illustrated by the family artist, Betty. Elizabeth’s daughter, Brett, is an old friend of OITF. We often set the table at her farm, Hillside Grain, in Bellevue, Idaho. Maybe we can convince her to join us at her family’s table for dinner with Chef Rhoda Magbitang from Mattei’s Tavern, a ranch-inspired restaurant with a thriving on-site garden. Chef Rhoda’s passion for California’s ranching history makes her the perfect person to showcase the history of this special property through her work in the field kitchen.