The Book!

Just in time for the new season, Jim Denevan's first book Outstanding in the Field: A Farm to Table Cookbook is now available in bookstores across the country and online.

The June 2nd, 2008 New York Times Sunday Book Review describes the book as "one of the summer season's most interesting new cookbooks."




After almost 10 years of hard work and celebration of Outstanding in the Field dinners we are pleased to present recipes, photographs and stories that share our mission of bringing farmer, chef and diner as close as possible to the source of our food.

This season, besides our bus being a home away from home on the road, we'll be setting up the bus as a "bookmobile." When you attend a dinner please come aboard and get your copy.

Here we go.

Spring will soon be summer as Outstanding in the Field prepares to roll. Our big red bus has a bright new coat of paint. The crew is gathering all resources. We are ready to go!

Thirty-seven sites, thirty-seven unique events; farm tables, chairs, plates, forks, water glasses, napkins, platters, spoons, paper lanterns, rotisseries, table cloths, wine glasses... With passion and inspiration from chefs, farmers and producers we set the table.

Interest in Outstanding in the Field and farm dinners is at an all-time high. Dinners are selling out very quickly and diners are asking for more events. We added several dinners and we will see the long table gracing even more beautiful farms.

We've recently updated our Dinner Site History Map to include our 2008 dates. This year's sites are shown in red.


The past few months have been busy for us. Besides putting together the 2008 tour, Jim has been working on his artwork. Our bus, Outstanding, and the Outstanding crew recently visited the remote Nevada desert. Jim completed a giant freehand drawing on a dry lake. The drawing spanned almost three miles. We will be sure to share more stories and pictures with you soon.




Don't go looking for this drawing. It washed away in a big rainstorm.



Jim is exhibiting work this summer at the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, NY as part of the Sand: Memories, Meaning and Metaphor. The exhibit starts June 29th and runs through to September 14.

We participated in an episode of Alter Eco for the Discovery Green Network featuring Outstanding in the Field. Jim, Katy, Aubrey and Caleb rode the bus down to Earthtrine Farm in Ojai, CA. Our adventures can be seen in episode 6 on August 4th at 9:00 pm.





Jim and the Outstanding team have been organizing a spectacular adventure ArtDinner at an undisclosed site. The dinner is sponsored by Absolut Vodka for a new campaign called Absolut Visionaries. Look for notice of this special event. Dinner tickets will be available to all.

Our first event of the season is this weekend at Route 1 Farm, just north of our home base of Santa Cruz, CA. Jim will be preparing recipes from his new Farm to Table Cookbook [see our next post] featuring produce from Jeff Larkey's fields, fresh seafood from Hans and paired with wines from Ridge.

We're very excited about the 2008 season and invite you to join us on our many adventures... whether here on the blog or seated at the table.