‘Table-to-Farm’ Feast at North Kohala Ranch

Outstanding in the Field will return to O‘ahu’s Kualoa Ranch on Jan. 6, 2018. Outstanding in the Field photo.

North Kohala Ranch in in Kapa‘au on Hawai‘i Island will be the site for an open-air Outstanding in the Field “table-to-farm” dinner on Sunday, Jan. 7, 2018, at 2 p.m.

The event at North Kohala Ranch will be the second stop on OITF’s January/February Winter Tour to warm-weather spots, and the traveling restaurant without walls’ first visit to the ranch on the northern tip of Hawai‘i Island.

Noah Hester of Kamuela’s Puako Provisions & Catering will serve as the guest chef for the multi-course, family-style feast.

Hester, a popular local chef, is rated as one of the country’s top culinary talents by the peer reviewed Best Chefs America guide.

Outstanding in the Field is the pioneer of hyper-local, pop-up dinners set between the earth and sky in the places where the food on the plate was grown and harvested.

Outstanding in the Field past table to farm event at Mao Farm on O‘ahu. Outstanding in the Field photo.

Known for its long communal table in spectacular settings, the culinary troupe is also holding a Jan. 6 dinner on O‘ahu at Kualoa Ranch with guest chef Andrew Le of Honolulu’s The Pig & The Lady.

North Kohala Ranch farmers Jessica Wieloh and Jim Pedersen raise grass-fed sheep and beef cattle on their beautiful animal-welfare approved spread, where they also farm tropical crops including breadfruit, coconuts, papayas, bananas and hot peppers. The property is very near the coast, so they’ve planted extensive windbreaks to mitigate trade winds and salt spray coming off the ocean.

“Our mission is to get diners out to the places where their food comes from and to honor the people whose good work brings nourishment to the table,” said Outstanding in the Field founder, Chef/Artist Jim Denevan. “We look forward to coming to Hawai‘i every winter to meet local farmers, fisherpeople and food artisans, and invite islanders and visitors alike to come see and learn what happens out on the land.”

From a handful of events in 1999, Outstanding in the Field’s annual tour now includes 100-plus multi-course feasts from coast to coast across North America and around the world. Partnering with top regional chefs at each stop, the culinary caravan’s #TabletoFarm tour season runs May through November. The smaller winter tour in January/February visits warm-weather spots like Hawai‘i, Florida and Mexico.

Outstanding in the Field past table to farm event at Mao Farm on O‘ahu. Outstanding in the Field photo.

Along the way, OITF sets its long table at abalone farms and vegetable farms, creameries and cheeseworks, urban gardens and big-sky ranches, fruit orchards and olive groves.

The price is $225. Purchase tickets online.

About Outstanding in the Field

Jim Denevan came up with the idea of setting a table at a farm in the summer of 1999. He called it Outstanding in the Field, a celebration of farmers and the gifts of the land.

Since that first dinner in Santa Cruz, Calif., Outstanding in the Field has staged table-to-farm events in all 50 states across the US and 15 countries around the world, welcoming more than 120,000 people to its long table set in vegetable fields and grazing pastures, on beaches and mountaintops, in barns and greenhouses. Hundreds of talented chefs—including dozens of Top Chefs and James Beard award winners and nominees—have cooked in OITF’s traveling kitchen.

Guests at an Outstanding feast may find themselves sitting next to the farmer who grew the greens, the fisherman who reeled in the fresh catch or the cheesemaker who separated curds from whey. Fellow diners at the long table may have traveled from across town or across the country. Many loyal “fieldheads” follow OITF as it travels, using an Outstanding event as the centerpiece for a visit to a place they’ve never been before or to experience a favorite spot from a fresh perspective. One couple attended 13 OITF dinners in one season!