danapop

I’ve wanted to interview Jim Denevan, the creative genius behind Outstanding in the Field for ages now. His culinary troupe goes beyond just farm to table by literally bringing the table to the farm. With food events criss-crossing America, stops in Europe slated for 2011, and tickets selling out in hours, this is one dining experience that’s a must when in a town near you.

I’m thrilled to finally be able to post my interview with Jim, in which we chat about charming venues, adventurous eaters, and geographical salts.

dp (danapop) I’m fascinated by the Outstanding in the Field concept, what made you initially come up with it?

oitf (outstanding in the field) I worked at a conventional, popular, interesting restaurant in Santa Cruz and we’d go to the farmers market twice a week and meet the farmers there and also my brother is a farmer, so I was very familiar with farms and farming.

We started farmer dinners at the restaurant and the whole menu was organized around one particular farm with the farmer getting to talk about their work. The dinners were really interesting and people wanted to hear what the farmer had to say.

That was an eye-opener, and that was in the late ‘90s. Then in the summer of ‘99 we took the dinner to a farm. It was very exciting, it went very well, but it became less of a struggle as people became more interested in learning about a farm and having a meal on a farm. Basically in the last 3 years I’ve seen that culturally people throughout the country were ready for this experience.

dp What do you think Outstanding in the Field brings to the culinary and dining scene?

oitf I think it’s fun and it’s also stimulating from a culinary perspective. It would be outstanding as in the best we could find throughout the country. We work with some of the better chefs. It mixes up people’s expectations and I think the concept of a conventional restaurant was a little tired. The whole idea of supperclubs and underground restaurants are examples of doing something out of the ordinary and unusual. People want to be a little more adventurous, really.

dp Do you think farm to table is an overused phrase? A trend?

oinf The farm to table is a little buzzy and mushy, where it used to be a little clearer. Now, you can really use that word to describe anything.

You can’t get anymore direct, or literal and real than taking a table right into the farm. That’s the new phrase, table to farm (laughing).

dp How do you select and scout locations for a tour stop? How do you come up with the menu?

oitf First the location has to be charming and beautiful. Really it comes down to the farmer and their story and cultivation of land for food.

There’s orchards, dairy operations, the sea cove ones. Whatever we find along the way we try to include. There are always more people at the table than just the fisherman or the farmer, there’s the winemaker or local cheese maker, beekeepers.

We brought in guest chefs about 5 years ago. I do the first event of the year every year in California and then the theme from that is to bring in another local chef when we travel across the country. Which is interesting in terms of ingredients and venues.

dp You kind of touched on it a bit, but beyond the remoteness, who comes up with the overall look of an event?

oitf I’m the concept guy. The table shouldn’t be seen when the guests arrive. It should be behind a row of trees. It should be in this spectacular site. I get pretty darn obsessive about that. I really like to have it in the most pleasant place it can be on the farm.

dp I know you live in Santa Cruz as a base, what does California (and its state of mind) bring to your life and business?

oitf People are definitely marching to their own drummer at times. I think here they embrace instead of question things. Across the country there’s more farm to table than in the Bay area. I think people are pretty excited throughout the country, I don’t see it as an east coast west coast thing at this point. Things are changing.

dp I hear (and have also seen) that you are quite the artist. How do you balance Outstanding in the Field with your art?

oitf My season for doing art is about November through the middle of March, through the winter. Outstanding in the Field takes places from the first day in May until late October, so it fits in perfectly really.

dp What gadget, spice, product, or technique is getting you excited these days?

oitf As elemental as it is and somewhat boring, I really like salt. I think it’s kind of a fun like wine from a certain place and such. It’s a fun geographic specific thing.

As for a gadget, a chef thinks about the knives first.

I love the dualism of Anna Bondoc’s work. This L.A. based artist works in one of the most seemingly simple forms around–paper. But what she does with an X-acto knife creating and cutting these layers is like nothing else. Working and whittling down pieces ever so intricately, using shapes and designs that appear like a modern twist to an ancient medium dating back to origami.

I had the chance for a Skype interview with Anna and her business partner Vanessa Peter in which we chat about perfectionism, patterns, and parenthood.

dp There’s something so simple about working with paper, yet, your work is so intricate, how do you balance that?

ab The simplicity is true it really comes from my background as a printmaker. I like the idea of layers of color, very graphic, and sharply designed shapes. After I had my daughter it was one activity I could do in small bursts and when you’re working with paper there’s immediate color. There’s no weight, no machinery, just paper and an X-acto knife.

That sort of intricacy comes because I enjoy the repetition of it and the actual cutting and as I work with the layers the layers then turn into shapes and all nest with each other and mimic the first shape that I cut.

Similar to when you’re a child making snowflakes the magic of cutting out a shape and having the paper not fall apart and holding it up to the light, seeing that you created a positive space out of a negative space. That forces me to slow down; I’m taking the time to cut and thinking deeply about how colors interact. I’m not rushing through it on a computer, which is very fast. It’s much more deliberate than on a computer.

dp Your work to me seems very influenced by Japanese forms, and even origami, where does that come from?

ab I don’t really know. I do know that when I open up and choose my own art books there was always a negative space and industrial design. Hours and hours spent looking at books. I just kept gravitating towards Japanese design. Lots of open space, but there’s a sense of restraint.

dp How does living in Los Angles affect and influence your work? Because I think L.A. in general would be a complete contradiction to your tight, clean style.

ab L.A. doesn’t necessarily affect me, but my inner goal. I love traveling because it brings layers of history. The California lifestyle has allowed me to bring out levels of concern … in L.A. you have hiking everyday and swimming and in NY (where I used to live) you have twitter everyday.

dp Which is interesting because I think in this conversation and the grid and sort of pattern of New York is would be more you and it’s interesting to me that L.A. and the nature that it is sort of is the balance for you.

ab I feel like NY left sort of an intellectual footprint on me. But, with a child it’s a little too much.

dp How does being a mother influence your work? Or how does it not?

ab This pushed me into art because when I had minutes of free time I worked. Before I was sort of cerebral and thought it through in ways that I don’t now. Now, it’s put up or shut up. Are you going to create or are you not?

And made me think why is a child’s name such a big deal? Now I understand that connection. My work is now a reflection of giving myself one tiny goal and giving myself a space to work.

dp How do you know when a piece is finished? Is it an aesthetic feel or emotional one? With your pieces because there are so many layers, when do you walk away?

ab It’s kind of when I run out of space to cut and those windows are full. And then there is always that question of–do I feel balanced? Does the piece feel top heavy? Bottom heavy? Does the negative shape take too much space? I’m not a gardener, but I imagine that must be how a gardener must feel. Is this space too intricate? My eye now will notice a slight imbalance.

dp You work really resonates with me because there seems to be an exactness and preciseness that I can appreciate. Does that piece of your personality only come out through your work?

ab I was raised in an Asian household and was a chef for a little while and my leaning was towards pastry, which is mathematical. I enjoy the chemistry and exactness of that, that kind of completeness is why I enjoy working with a knife. I want that clean boundary so I can see exactly how a shape interacts with the color. I see it in my parenting. My daughter is on a very strict schedule. I get satisfaction in making right.

dp What’s next for you?

ab The big thing is our launch and after we launch with our product–I’m not just creating layered pieces on paper, it’s on a knitted product, a rug, and beyond. When people see my work they generally say this would look so great on such and such.  I would also love to see it on wallpaper. I don’t picture someone wearing it because it’s so big, but it would be great in a fabric.

We love being on the learning curve. Cut paper is fun, but part of the learning curve is what kind of yarns are out there to make a children’s sock and what kind of manufacturers. And how you translate a flat pattern into a fiber. We have fun contemplating what we must learn.

dp Which is interesting because I think most people don’t want that side to them to be exposed. They do what they know. Interesting that you’re not only willing to step outside of that box, but explore around a bit.

ab It’s fun. And I think I come from an entrepreneurial family. We’re used to the layers and when you look at things you can use it’s endless. Can we work with leather and layer it? Rugs? It’s so exciting.

dp How can my readers get one of your fabulous pieces?

ab Order online through the website–annabondoc.com

I’ve always been drawn to glass. From my ridiculous collection of wine goblets and barware to blown glass home accessories and sculptures bursting with vivid pops of color. So what better way to nourish my glass obsession than wearing it?

Kathleen Plate may not be a household name, but her work, Smart Glass, is. This remarkable jewelry line was way ahead of its eco time. She’s cutting edge, creative, and yes, very, very smart.

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Since 2000, the WWII-era propaganda images that appeared on a number of posters loosely known as the ‘Keep Calm and Carry On’ series have been experiencing a steady resurgence in popularity. The original poster, produced in 1939, is a perfect reflection of the then and now-famous power of British resolve with those five simple words  – keep calm and carry on – neatly typed beneath an image of the royal crown. Although there were others, and I love them all, this one is my favorite with its simple message to not panic. It’s an image I want to wrap myself in daily and one that is currently striking a resounding cord with people around the globe.

While the original poster was mass-produced (it’s said that 2.5 million were made), it never saw the light of day; two others that were also created suffered a similar fate. And they might have remained hidden in the proverbial closet except for one man who, it has been reported, found one of the posters in a box of old books he bought at auction. That discovery was then copied and eventually led to it being featured as a holiday gift item in a British newspaper supplement – and the imagery took off.

So what was the original intention of the series and why the strong connection to it now, some seventy years later?

I got the opportunity to interview the amazing Hayley Thwaites and Lucas Lepola of the Keep Calm Gallery in London. The gallery is run online, out of their home and features not only the ‘Keep Calm’ prints, but several other propaganda posters as well. Below is the interview, where we talk art and politics. Both, I think, are perfectly socially acceptable dinner party conversation.

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