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It was such an incredible night dining at a long table with many people that I didn’t know, in a spectacular setting at UBC Farm. This was my first Outstanding in the Field dinner, and it was a memorable experience.

Outstanding in the Field, is a pioneering table-to-farm dinner series, that organizes dinners on farms throughout the United States as well as a couple in Canada, both of those were held in Pemberton and Vancouver respectively.

UBC Farm Summer Vegetable & Organic Ocean Dungeness crab cornette

UBC Farm Summer Vegetable & Organic Ocean Dungeness crab cornette

Parkside Brewery

Parkside Brewery

Yarrow Meadows chicken rillete on toast

Yarrow Meadows chicken rillete on toast

Hatch Wines

Hatch Wines

Chef Ryan Reed of Nomad and his crew were the stars of this wonderful dining experience. The event began in the field outside with delicious canapes being passed around for the guests to enjoy along with wines from Hatch Winery along with beer from Parkside Brewery.

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Véronik Campbell who is the Academic Programs Manager at the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm led a tour of UBC Farm and this was another incredible experience especially for me. We learned all about the farm and how it is layed out, who farms, who learns and how important the farm is to our food community not only at UBC, it benefits the community throughout the city as well.

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Founded by chef/artist Jim Denevan, Outstanding in the Field is the pioneer of pop-up dining. In the summer of 1999, Denevan came up with the idea of setting a table on a farm and inviting diners to an open-air meal in celebration of the farmer and the gifts of the land. He called it Outstanding in the Field, and since then Denevan has been the Johnny Appleseed of farm feasts.

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Fermented seed & cracked wheat sourdough with fermented garlic butter and smoked salt was the perfect Segway into the wonderful meal ahead. They also served us some Nomad olives and fermented UBC farm beet, cucumbers and radishes.

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A selection of wines from Hatch Winery (Okanagan, BC) were served alongside the family style multi-course meal which was made by Chef Ryan Reed of Nomad Restaurant.

1st course:

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Char grilled UBC Farm radicchio, herbs with pickled wild mushrooms & Cioffie’s pecorino tartufo

2nd course:

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Barbecued North Thompson Farm, Berkshire pork collar with German potatoes, braised UBC farm collard greens, sweet onions and roasted Hannah Brook Farm zucchini marrow

3rd course:

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Whole-roasted Cioffie’s lamb shoulder, fried UBC farm tomatoes with North Arm Farm honey-glazed carrots and pardon pepper apricot relish

4th course:

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UBC Farm Blueberry Cake with UBC farm lavender buttercream, elderflower syrup & orange blossom

I met many wonderful people sitting around me at this long table, local foodies and many who had travelled to Vancouver, to attend this Outstanding in the Field farm feast on a beautiful summer night.

By: Richard Wolak