FOUND: A Traveling Feast that Invites You to Dine Next to Earth’s Most Surreal Landscapes
I fell in love with the photo. A long table draped in pristine white cloth and flanked with wooden chairs; surrounded by warm sand on one side and a seamless ocean on the other. The ethereal dinner table disappeared into the ocean. I wondered if it was real or an art project, as many of these things seem to be.
Luckily, after some quick Google searches, I found out that these seemingly never-ending tables are not only very real but happening all over the country. Outstanding in the Field invites you to a “roving culinary adventure – literally a restaurant without walls.” During the summer of 1999 chef Jim Denevan, a California native, wanted to create a setting that inspired great conversation and paid homage to the origins of our food and the local farmers who cultivate it.
So, the dreamy long tables set against breathtaking landscapes were born. For a hefty price ($235), you can reserve one of their traveling feasts online via a schedule that’s released ever year on the first day of Spring. Details of the event are sent two weeks prior to the dinner, which includes directions to the often secret locations and dress code. Note: for the past 15 years the dinners have taken place on remote islands, inside sea caves and even on mountain tops.
Once guests arrive, they’re given wine, a tour of the hosting site and a chance to meet the local producers behind the ingredients. Soon, everyone is invited to take a seat at the table and to share a meal family style, passing plates of fresh food around. Unsurprisingly, the dinners are touted as unforgettable and we can see why.
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Into the ocean…
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Dinner beneath a sea cave
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At the farm
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Up in the mountains
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Well, you get the gist of it
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