Al fresco dining in New York City is often limited to a meal at a sidewalk table where the frenzied ambiance is courtesy of taxis zipping by and humid waves of summer heat shimmering off the asphalt. When Jim Denevan and his Outstanding in the Field crew roll into town, however, they expand the perspective of the weary New York diner longing for more than a wedge of hazy blue sky overhead.
Chef Denevan has been hosting farm-to-table meals since 1999. It was a modest start with only a few meals that year in Denevan’s home state of California, but the enterprise has expanded to dozens of dinners prepared onsite by local guest chefs at farms around the country as Denevan and his crew follow the seasons from May to early December.
Arriving at The Queens County Farm Museum on Outstanding in the Field day is a little like stumbling across Brigadoon: the notion of a farm in the city seems mystical and impossible. Founded in 1697, the farm is anything but temporary however; it is the oldest continuously farmed piece of land in New York, according to Farmer Michael Grady-Robertson. It is a not-for-profit organization with a “commitment to preservation.”
The farm is impressively diverse for a relatively small operation. Grady-Robertson and his crew of five tend two acres of vegetables as well as a variety of animals including hogs, sheep, cows, chickens, and geese. The beekeeper is an exterminator by trade; he will transfer those pesky hives from private residences to the farm where the bees make raw honey from the local wildflowers. Grady-Robertson’s five-year plan is to make new use of some of the 47 acres to include pastures, nature walks, and a dairy.
The Outstanding in the Field crew (or “OITF” as they call themselves in print) arrived in Queens yesterday from another event on the North Fork of Long Island, an area with numerous farms and vineyards. As guest chef Bill Telepan and his team prepared the main meal, guests sipped glasses of a crisp Chardonnay from Shinn Vineyards on Long Island and wandered around Queens Farm, sometimes followed by the roaming roosters.
Chef Telepan, proprietor of the eponymous Upper West Side restaurant on 69th Street between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West, has long been committed to using local products. He is a jaunty fellow with a big laugh, and his food is accessible and respectful of the ingredients.
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