Saks Fifth Avenue and Outstanding in the Field Set the Most Incredible Table at a Benefit Dinner the Hamptons

“We have 100 events a year where we have strangers sit down at a table over food—wine helps—and become friends,” explained Eden Riley atop a brown stool in front of an open barn, addressing attendees of Friday night’s Outstanding in the Field dinner at Fireplace Farm in East Hampton.

Outstanding in the Field, or OITF, brings elegant, massive dinners to farms around the world, using the offerings of that farm to prepare the meals. Dozens of guests sit at one long table, eating family-style, learning more about each other, their food, and the land.

In its 20-year history, OITF has brought its sprawling table to all 50 states and 17 countries. In the U.S., OITF has hosted their multi-course meals against the backdrop of Jackson Hole’s stunning mountains, the downtown Chicago skyline, and the rose garden of the Coachella Music and Arts Festival. This year, they have quite a few more dinners to go.

Sponsored by Saks Fifth Avenue, the dinner’s ticket proceeds benefit Quail Hill Farm and the Peconic Land Trust. The Trust has preserved almost 13,000 acres of farm and natural land on Long Island, including Quail Hill Farm, which provided eggplants, peppers, zucchini, and more for the evening’s five-course farm-to-table meal. And given how much the dinner gives back, it would have been just as accurate to call it table to farm.