Kinnikinnick Farm

HOST FARMERS: David & Susan Cleverdon | Kinnikinnick Farm

GUEST CHEF:
Paul Virant | Petite Vie
Carlo Lamagna | Magna Kusina 

Kinnikinnick Farm is an important site in the lengthy history of Outstanding in the Field. When founder Jim Denevan was planning our first cross-country tour way back in 2004, the heralded Chicago chef Paul Kahan suggested farmer David Cleverdon’s place might be a great dinner site. David eyed the idea with a strong dose of skepticism, mixed with appreciation for the cockamamie. The fact that our ragtag crew was going to cross the country in a vintage 1953 bus did not engender confidence, but was maybe balanced by an appreciation of the culinary chutzpah. In the end, that event was more than we could have hoped for, and set the stage for many years of feasts in the fields—many of them in the fields of Kinnikinnick.

In 2004, we set the table between two just-planted weeping willows. Come to the event and see how those trees have grown.

Chef Paul Virant has performed chef duties for many OITF events since that first event when the willow trees were small. He’ll be joined in the kitchen by Carlo Lamagna, a mentee who has garnered wide acclaim for his take on contemporary Filipino cuisine. Tenuous beginnings can, with care and attention, become secure and strong.