October 13th, 2008 · No Comments

By John DeFore

Just witnessed on the outskirts of Austin: A multi-course gourmet meal, impeccably cooked from local produce and elegantly served, smack dab in the middle of a farm called Johnson’s Backyard Garden.

And it’s not just happening in Austin, or even just in the South. Outstanding in the Field is the name of a roving crew of foodies (one of whom is a dirt-digging artist) who travel the country (and sometimes the globe) organizing massive dinners for customers who want to see exactly where what they’re eating was grown.

Call it an extreme (and, at $180-$220 per person including wine, extremely fancy) take on the locavore ideal, one designed to use the group’s culinary cred to promote awareness of small-scale farmers. In Austin, scores of diners gathered in the mid-afternoon and, after wine and some delicious finger food, heard a short talk from the young organic farmer, Brenton Johnson, who owned the land; afterward, he and his farming interns (interesting college-age characters who ranged from a nutritionist to a literature student) gave a short tour of the grounds, proudly recalling a greenhouse’s recent construction and explaining the workings of exotic farm machines. Then the main event began.

The evening’s veggies — which were delicious — were grown just yards away from where the long communal table sat. Other dishes, like a rich lamb neck, came from animals raised by another farmer, who greeted diners later in the evening. The dinner was family-style, meaning that strangers got to know each other while passing dishes around; it was an eclectic group, and many attendees decided to immediately sign up for the host farmer’s suddenly popular produce-distribution list.

Around the country, Outstanding has fed the local-food-hungry in caves, on beaches, and at wineries. They’ve been doing it since 1999, and are happy to have seen other
farm-dinner clubs sprout up around the country (search “farm dinner” online for more). They’ve made enough of a name for themselves that a season’s tour schedule can completely sell out within days of its announcement, so interested gourmets are advised to join the mailing list for up-to-the-minute news about future dates.

Copyright © 2008 | Distributed by Noofangle Media