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Outstanding in the Field, the wildly popular pop-up dinner series that roams the nation and abroad, is back on tour, with stops in Michigan in August 2021.
Detroit Farm and Cider will serve as host on Tuesday, August 17, while Sarah Welch, executive chef of Marrow butcher shop and restaurant, prepares the evening’s dishes. Guests will receive a welcome reception with appetizers, a tour of the farm, and a four-course dinner served family-style by OITF’s traveling waitstaff, wine pairings, and gratuity.
When Leandra King opened Detroit Farm and Cider last fall, the property became the first cider mill in the city of Detroit. The dinner at the mill in Detroit’s Boston-Edison neighborhood follows two on August 14 and 15 at Seedling Farm in South Haven. Chefs James Rigato, Sam Stanisz, Doug Hewitt, Kristina Conger, and Eddie Moreau of Mabel Gray in Hazel Park will prepare the meal on Saturday. Thomas Lents of the Apparatus Room in Detroit Foundation Hotel is chef on Sunday, August 15. Tickets for the functions aren’t cheap. They start at $265, plus sales tax and service fees, but always sell out fast.
In its 22-year history, Outstanding in the Field has brought elegant, massive outdoor dinners to foodies in all 50 states and 16 countries, using what’s nearby to prepare the meals. Dozens of guests — strangers and friends alike — are asked to bring an appetite and a willingness to socialize at one sprawling table, learning more about each other, the food, and the land. Many of the nation’s most world-renowned chefs and culinary artisans have cooked in the field kitchen of this moveable feast. In addition to farms, tables have also been set in scenic vineyards, and on bucolic beaches, fishing docks, and city streets. OITF has taken its meals against the backdrop of Jackson Hole’s mountains, the downtown Chicago skyline, and the rose garden of Coachella Music and Arts Festival.
Just like all Outstanding in the Field dinners, the menu isn’t revealed ahead of time. Instead, diners put their faith in the host chefs, who take inspiration from the land and local ingredients.
Detroit Farm and Cider is at 1600 Lawrence St., Detroit; Seedling Farm is at 6737 111th Ave. #6601, South Haven. Tickets for both locations are available on the company’s website.
