Farm to Table Dinner by Outstanding in the Field: SF

The piece de resistance of the Foodbuzz festival was the Farm to Table dinner coordinated by Outstanding in the Field. Have you ever seen the show Endless Feast on PBS?  Basically it's a show where dinners from around North America are coordinated with local farmers, food producers, and chefs working together to create the freshest meal in the most rustic environment.

Outstanding in the Field takes this concept and opens up the opportunity to the public.  They have even coordinated several sold-out dinners in NY (At $200 a ticket, though, we have not been able to go.)  As you can guess, this dinner was the event I was most looking forward to attending. 

Chefs from notable San Fran restaurants Namu, Ame, Walzwerk, and Hog Island created the meal.

At left is the 2007 Le Cigare Blanc and at right is the fresh seltzer from The Seltzer Sisters.

Randall Grahm from Bonny Doon Vineyard (who provided all the of the wine for the dinner) was on hand to greet all of the diners.

The antipasti was filled with tons of great vegetables including beets and kimchi.

 

We started the meal with this Mushroom dashi with maitake, shimeji, and enoki mushrooms.  It was so earthy with a bright lemon taste from the pickled turnip.

This pile of grilled Monterey calamari in a browned butter ponzu reduction was mixed with cucumbers, kaiware, frisee, and yellow pear tomatoes with cojang and sesame vinaigrette.  Below all of these fresh and light ingredients was a bowl full of udon.

Though this fish looked and tasted a lot like salmon, it was actually a Sea trout baked with dashikombu, fried garlic, and Japanese curry powder (which was very subtle).

Mushroom risotto with koshihikari rice and crispy maitake mushrooms.  I enjoy dishes that mix textures and these mushrooms nicely retained their crunch.

This red wine is Bonny Doon Vineyard's tribute to Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

Notice the UFO on the label?  The wine itself, Le Cigare Volante, translates to "The Flying Saucer" in French.

The tastiest brussels sprouts dish I've ever had!  This was Roasted Brussels Sprouts with ponzu fried garlic, guanciale, and bonito flakes.  Guanciale is very similar to bacon and pancetta in taste (which is probably why this dish tasted so good!)

This dish was also one of the most anticipated entree of the evening.  Here we have Soy braised beef cheeks and oxtails, with baby carrots and fingerling potatoes in a OB beer and denjang demi.

mmm...dessert wine! 

Koshihikari rice pudding with cookie crumble and warren pear.

The 2008 Vinferno paired nicely with the the rice pudding dessert.  The pear fruit in the pudding brought out the pear and apple aroma in the wine. It was warm, comforting, and a great way to end the meal.

The food was great, but it was even better meeting fellow food fanatics like Cindy from NYC.

 

My cohorts from the weekend:  Meghan and Mardi.

The dinner tasted even better than it looked and I had such a fun time meeting so many great people!