For a combined Mother's Day and Father's Day gift this year our daughters gave us tickets to a treat of a lifetime...reservations to a dinner sponsored by Outstanding in the Field. Founded by a Californian artist, Jim Denevan, the mission of this group is to re-connect diners with local food, the land it is grown on, the farmers that grow it, and the artisans who prepare it. This was the first year that a dinner was held in RI and only the lucky ones who had heard of it early were able to get tickets...they sold out fast. Our dinner was held at the Aquidneck Farms in Portsmouth, RI which raises grass fed beef and is situated on the Sakonnet River. My words can't describe how beautiful the evening was but maybe my photos will...
When we arrived we were first greeted with sparkling wine under this wonderful old tree...
We waited there only long enough to gather enough people for a hay ride around the farm with one of the farmers discussing how the farm was run and answering questions...
...We met some of the farm residents...
...then headed towards the river.
Here there were more servers waiting with local wine and the first courses...
The workers live on a bus for the five months that they travel around the country presenting these meals...
To get to the dinner table we walked towards the water...
...and there it was.
Long enough for 150 people...
The view was breathtaking...
....The food was served family style and was simply amazing.
Jim Denevan sat across the table from us for part of the meal...
Mr O and I enjoyed ourselves completely...
We managed to miss a rainstorm and capture a small rainbow just as it was turning dark.
As the meal ended with dessert wine the candles were lit ...and the mosquitoes came out...Time to go home...
This was such a wonderful gift!...Thank you to my wonderful daughters!
18 comments:
what a perfect day! perfect setting for dinner too :)
It just doesn't get more perfect than that! Beautiful, gorgeous setting! Love that shot of the rainbow...just that one spot of color...it's perfect!
Amazing! Lucky you. I'm so glad you got to have this remarkable experience. That table--wow! The whole evening looks like magic from beginning to end. What great work they do in putting these dinners on. xoxo
What a thoughtful, wonderful gift, and what an ideal location for a feast (I'm a native Rhode Islander)! It must have been a lot of work for the servers to get all the food out to that table!
wow - what a wonderful evening - beautiful shots and I'm so glad you had a great time.
i especially love the candlelit shot
Beautiful.
Oh Oliag!! This captures my imagination. Of course it reminds me of our farm wedding, but the idea of this group really fires me up. I was just talking with my husband, "would we want to host an Outstanding dinner?" We do have some chickens. :)
Anyway, it is a very cool thing, and I imagine it is fairly expensive. I just love the concept and intention behind it, to connect people with their locally raise food.
Oh, I just went to their website, and they are sold out the rest of the year. What a great concept, and yes fairly expensive. :) A wonderful gift!!
what an amazing gift.....sooooo fabulous !
WOW! This must have been an amazing evening, and such a thoughtful gift from your daughters.
They have an open date in Queens, NY, for the upcoming summer but it would use up my whole year's "dinner out" budget..lol
I'm sending the link to my nephew who is a chef, as I know he'll enjoy reading about the concept of a moveable feast. Thanks!
PS: Feel better soon!
Wow how wonderful what a great present. The shots are great especially the candlight one. So much fun thanks for sharing it with me
Such skies, such food, such tree...*sigh*... Beautiful... :o)
What a beautiful day and gift.
this is so breathtaking, my friend. what a beautiful treat.
love the photos.
xo
What an excellent idea and it all looks so wonderful. Must have been an immense amount of work to co-ordinate and plan.
Oh, what a wonderful gift! Thanks so much for sharing it with us in photographs.
thank you for sharing this gift through your photo series...the long set table just took my breath away...als0 the two of you looking so happy! wow!
I'm glad that I reminded you of your beautiful evening. I love the table set with the water nearby. I hope to do this again next year.
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