‘Restaurant without walls’ brings two feasts to local family-owned farm
A wide-ranging farm feast tour described as a “roving restaurant without walls” will make a two-day stop in Palm Beach County on Jan. 14 and 15.
The “Outstanding in the Field” series, which spotlights innovative farms, food purveyors and chefs across the United States, Mexico and various other locations across the globe, comes to Loxahatchee Groves, where farmers Mary and Liza Holman will host two outdoor feasts at their Holman’s Harvest farm.
On Friday the 14th, the Holmans will welcome Almond Palm Beach chef Jason Weiner to headline the event. On Saturday, the farm feast features acclaimed Miami chef Niven Patel of Ghee Indian Kitchen, Orno and Mamey. Both events, which kick off at 2 p.m., cost $365 per person ($390.55 with sales tax).
An idea sparked in 1999, Outstanding in the Field is the brainchild of American artist and farm-to-table advocate Jim Denevan of Santa Cruz, CA. It began with a small dinner at Denevan’s brother’s farm and later mushroomed across the 50 states.
The communal tables to be set on this tour are “fully immersive and offer a sense of escape,” Denevan said in a press release. That sense of escape travels with the moveable feast, whether the tables are “ensconced in an olive field, on a pier surrounded on all sides by water or amongst the floating gardens of Xochimilco, which date back to the Aztecs,” he said.
The “Outstanding” series will also travel to other Florida locations this month, including Big Pine Key, Punta Gorda, Tampa and Ocoee. Past Florida events have brought the series to the sands of Miami Beach, a historic dock in Key West, a pier in Pensacola Beach, a suburban farm in Tampa and other sites.
The overarching idea, according to the series’ website, is to bring diners as close as possible to “the origins of their food while celebrating the hardworking hands that feed us: chefs, farmers, fisherpeople, cheesemakers, vintners, brewers and many more.”
“It is a momentary experience and a joyful celebration of human connection,” according to the site. “Together we gather at one long table to share the most fundamental and universal human conversation: a meal.”
The locally featured farm, Holman’s Harvest, has been growing pesticide-free produce since 2008.
Using organic practices, the Holman family also harvests tropical fruits and eggs from their pasture-raised chickens. And they offer CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) subscriptions in the fall, winter and spring for locals who want to enjoy farm-fresh produce and eggs at home.
Outstanding in the Field
Events at Holman’s Harvest, Loxahatchee Groves
The traveling, farm-to-table series Outstanding in the Field will bring farm feasts to Loxahatchee Groves at 2 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 14, and Saturday, Jan. 15.
Tickets are $365 per person ($390.55 with sales tax) and sold online at OutstandingInTheField.com/upcoming-events/.
Jan. 14: Featuring chef Jason Weiner of Almond Palm Beach.
Jan. 15: Featuring Miami chef Niven Patel of Ghee Indian Kitchen, Orno and Mamey reestaurants
Farm location: 15851 Collecting Canal Rd., Loxahatchee Groves, HolmansHarvest.com
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: ‘Outstanding in the Field’ farm dinner series visits Loxahatchee farm
