Image by Jeremy Fenske

Outstanding in the Field is presenting two Arkansas on-the-farm dinners -- one in Scott, the other in Tyronza. 

California-based Outstanding in the Field, a restaurant without walls that inspired pop-up supper clubs nationwide, is pairing up with local chefs for two dinners at farms in Scott and Tyronza.

The organization, founded in 1999 by chef and artist Jim Denevan, stages outdoor communal dining events at country farms, urban gardens, mountain tops, sea caves and on islands and ranches. Its mission is to reconnect diners to the land and the origins of their food and introduce them to local farmers and food artisans.

Outstanding in the Field events start at 2 p.m. with a glass of wine and hors d'oeuvres, followed by a tour of the host farm and a family-style four-course meal paired with wines.

Cost is $180 per person, which includes the tour, wines and gratuities. 

The first dinner, hosted by Jody Hardin and Barbara Armstrong, will be held Oct. 15 at Scott Heritage Farm in Scott with guest chef Lee Richardson of Ashley's at the Capital and Capital Bar & Grill, Little Rock.

Along with culinary herbs, fruits and vegetables, Scott Heritage Farm raises beef cattle, hogs and goats. Chef Richardson's six-course alfresco menu will feature the Glouchester old spot lard hog, one of several heritage breeds that farmer Jody Hardin specializes in.

The pre-dinner farm tour will include a visit to the nearby Scott Plantation Settlement which showcases typical plantation buildings such as a hand-hewn cypress corncrib, 1840s log cabin, tenant houses and a blacksmith shop.

After the tour, guests will be led to the long table through a sorghum maze.

The menu starts with creamy Pimento Cheese and fresh baked soda crackers, paired with a glass of wine, followed by Sorghum Roasted Aylesbury Duck from Moss Mountain Farm with Richardson’s famous Arkansas Rice Grits, Black Apples and Muscadine Glaze, War Eagle Mill Oat Crusted Quail Legs with Pepper Jelly and Old Spot Rillettes and Pork Rinds with fig Mustard and Dill Pickles, among other courses.  

The second dinner, hosted by Keith and Jill Forrester, will be held at Whitton Farms in Tyronza. 

Guest chefs include John Currence & Dwayne Ingraham of City Grocery in Oxford, Miss.; Kelly English of Restaurant Iris in Memphis; Tyler Brown of Capitol Grille in Nashville, Tenn.; Tandy Wilson of City House in Nashville; Andrew Ticer & Michael Hudman of Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen in Memphis; Jonathan Magallanes of Las Tortugas Deli Mexicana in Memphis and Miles McMath of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis.

Keith & Jill Forrester grow heirloom vegetables, cut flowers, shiitake mushrooms, berries, chickens, culinary and medicinal herbs on retired pasture land where Keith’s grandfather Jess grazed his horses for 50 years.

To learn more and reserve a seat at either dinner click here.