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Chef Jim Denevan began staging Outstanding in the Field dinners at organic farms around his hometown of Santa Cruz, California back in 1999. The idea: To dine at the source on the very soil that nourished the bounty on the plate, in the company of the farmers who cultivated it.

Word of Denevan's dinners spread among the food community. Eager to support the small farmers who provide just-picked produce for their menus, many of the San Francisco Bay area's top chefs joined us in our al fresco kitchens, including Traci Des Jardins of Jardinière, Craig Stoll of Delfina, Charles Phan of the Slanted Door, and David Kinch of Manresa.

After just a few seasons, the concept proved too big for even the wide-open spaces of Northern California. In the summer of 2003 Katy Oursler first experienced farm dinners at Jim's brother Bill Denevan's apple orchard in the Santa Cruz mountains. Inspired by a magical feast Katy soon joined up with the OITF team as field manager and host.

Jim and Katy made ambitious plans to take the dinners from coast to coast. Jim purchased a beautiful red and white 1953 bus. Our vintage Flxible bus carried us to inspirational farms from the Rockies to the shores of Lake Michigan and down the eastern seaboard to Atlanta.

In 2005 Outstanding in the Field went farther afield with our our second tour of North America. We journeyed from our home in California to Canada, Alaska, New York City and Texas. Our table was set for a total of 15 events. 2006 saw a successful third tour of North America with 17 dinners. In 2007, we completed an exciting fourth tour of North America with 14 sold-out events. In 2008, our fifth tour, we increased the number of dinners in North America, and ventured farther afield to host our first dinners around the world. For 2009 we visit ten new states and Eastern Canada, for a total of 54 events.

For a complete history of where we've been in the past 10 years see our interactive map.