Trailblazing host Jim Denevan launches his 27th year of alfresco dinners
Outstanding in the Field’s Jim Denevan hosts a dinner at Black Mountain Ranch in Point Reyes Station in June, 2025.
As Jim Denevan blazes through his 2026 Outstanding in the Field season, he reflects on his first event, held in 1999 at Mariquita Farm in Corralitos, Santa Cruz County.
He admits that it seemed like a crazy idea—inviting people to connect with their heirloom food system and each other, by sitting al fresco at a single, long table on a working farm.
“It began as an appreciation of my oldest brother, Bill Denevan,” Denevan says. “He’s been an inspiration to me since my teen years, when he roped me into helping out at his fledgling organic farm and orchard in Happy Valley (Santa Cruz).”
News of the first event quickly spread, and chefs and winemakers immediately clamored to come along. The second event, at Bill’s farm, featured chef David Kinch of the three Michelin star Manresa in Los Gatos, and winemaker Paul Draper of Cupertino’s legendary Ridge Vineyards.
More than 25 years later, Jim and his team pull together some 70 events annually, and have set up suppers in 50 states and 25 countries—all staged on picturesque, often private vineyards, ranches, sandy beaches, seaside piers or oceanfront cliffs.
Even at a healthy $400 a pop, most meals quickly sell out, with hundreds of guests attending to toast the agricultural talent, chefs and winemakers that keep exceptional food on our plates and superb wines in our glasses.
Producing food is hard, complicated work, and often challenged by Mother Nature.
Waves cresting over tables next to the sea, torrents of rain exploding from the sky, thunderous wind toppling glassware.
Guests and servers take it all in stride—leaning in to the communal nature of the gathering to tidy the mess and move tables onto higher ground, into barns, or under trees safely out of nature’s unpredictable reach.
North Bay dinners this summer are taking place at Front Porch Farm and Ridge Vineyards in Healdsburg, Black Mountain Ranch at Point Reyes Station and Robert Sinskey Vineyards in Napa. Then Denevan and his team continue on their al fresco dinner tour, stopping in every region of the nation, plus Spain, Italy, Japan, Korea and back again—each new destination yielding the promise of a breathtaking vista, a superlative meal and an adventure waiting to unfold.
