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"  On a breezy afternoon last summer, nearly 150 food lovers from around the country gathered at Johnson&amp;#039;s Backyard Garden, a 60-acre organic vegetable farm in Austin. They were there for one simple reason: to eat a five-course dinner orchestrated by Outstanding in the Field a band of roving epicures devoted to what founder Jim Denevan calls &amp;quot;a celebration of food at its source.&amp;quot; For nearly half the year, Denevan and his crew travel across America, staging gourmet meals in beautiful agrarian settings, from a cornfield on Nantucket to a cattle farm in Wisconsin to an orchard in central California. For each of the events, Denevan incorporates as many local, organic foods (from eggs and olive oil to lettuce and berries) as possible, with nearby ranchers, vintners, and cheesemakers providing grass-fed meats, regional wines, and artisanal cheeses. The menus for the suppers--which change according to the season and the venue--take shape under the direction of a celebrated local chef with strong ties to the area&amp;#039;s small food producers.  Set in an open pasture under towering pecan trees, the table at Johnson&amp;#039;s Backyard Garden seemed to stretch straight toward the blue horizon. Denevan, who at six foot four inches tall resembles a postmodern Marlboro Man in his straw cowboy hat, black glasses, and flip-flops, surveyed the scene. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s my hope that connecting people to where their meal comes from will bring about a change in the culture of food,&amp;quot; he says.  Throughout the 1990s, Denevan spent a lot of his time visiting small farms and food artisans to source local produce, wines, cheeses, and meats for Gabriella Caf\u00E9, the Santa Cruz, California, restaurant where he was head chef. Those visits triggered his imagination and got him thinking of ways to not only share the purveyors&amp;#039; homegrown fare, but to help diners reconnect with the land and the farmers who tend it. So in 1999, Denevan started throwing locavore feasts at a network of Northern California farms and vineyards. The outdoor dinner parties proved popular almost immediately, and within a few years, he had purchased a wheezy, red-and-white 1953 tour bus and was taking his field-to-fork gatherings nationwide. Since then, Denevan&amp;#039;s even been asked to host his nomadic meals in urban venues, including a community garden in New York City and an art museum in Florence, Italy.  At the predinner reception at Johnson&amp;#039;s Backyard Garden, Denevan introduced host farmer Brenton Johnson and several of the other purveyors who contributed to the evening. As the sun started to set, waiters began delivering the courses, which had miraculously taken shape in a makeshift kitchen manned by chef Jesse Griffiths, proprietor of the Dai Due Supper Club in Austin. Griffiths dazzled the guests, first with a chunky fish chowder, then with charcuterie made from regional meats and exotic game. A tomato-cucumber-and-feta salad appeared next, followed by perfectly charred quail on a bed of peppery arugula.  By the time dessert--Bosque blue cheese paired with praline pecans and a sweet fruit paste--made it to the table, night had fallen and the only light came from flickering candles. As if on cue, guests began singing &amp;quot;Home on the Range.&amp;quot; A woman laughed, then explained, &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s the only Texas song we all know!&amp;quot;  At 9 P.M., six hours after the event started, guests headed toward their cars. Denevan and his team worked past midnight, washing dishes, packing up glasses, and folding chairs. The next day, they would be on their way to Santa Fe for another dinner.  &amp;quot;We exist for only one night and then we&amp;#039;re gone, but in that brief time, magic really does happen,&amp;quot; says Denevan. &amp;quot;And it&amp;#039;s all because of great food, a farm, and one long table.&amp;quot; Find an Outstanding in the Field supper near you: Visit outstandinginthefield.com for upcoming locations and dates, and to reserve a seat at the table. Or enter our sweepstakes to win tickets for two and a copy of Denevan&amp;#039;s book, Outstanding in the Field: A Farm to Table Cookbook. The events, which can last up to six hours, cost about $200 per person and include a guided tour of the host farm, a five-course meal, wine pairings for each dish, and all gratuities. See photos and get the recipes from this Outstanding in the Field event! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.countryliving.com/life/travel/a3435/jim-denevan-interview-0710/>