Taxonomy: Upcoming Events

Knee High Farm is a women-owned and operated farm in eastern Pennsylvania focused on employing and empowering women in agriculture while creating a stronger, more resilient local community through food. Here, Farmer Emma and her crew tend over 100 varieties of vegetables, fruits and herbs using regenerative organic practices that protect the soil and surrounding ecosystem. Kitchen Garden Textiles is another women-centric endeavor, founded by Heidi Barr. They produce elegant, heirloom-quality napkins, produce bags and aprons, all made with 100% organic linen locally crafted in Pennsylvania. Emma and Heidi’s Pa. Flax Project aims to revitalize the flax for linen industry that originated in Pennsylvania in 1691. This dinner will feature tablecloths and napkins from our collaboration with Kitchen Garden Textiles. We are proud to feature these custom textiles at a number of our dinners this year. Guest chef Ari Miller wears Kitchen Garden Textiles aprons in yet another example of what he calls “relationship cuisine” — his approach to creating unconventional dishes sourced from local producers with whom Chef Ari has formed close relationships. We are excited to see this very special farmer / maker / chef relationship in action.

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!

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.

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.