Outstanding in the Field is a traveling restaurant without walls: Think gourmet dinners at farms, ranches, orchards, greenhouses and aquaculture facilities where the meals’ ingredients are produced.

Chef, artist and OITF founder Jim Denevan one-upped the well-known “farm-to-table” concept with a “table-to-farm” experience that takes the dining table to the farm, spotlighting food producers on their home turf. Many of the featured chefs are “Top Chef” titleholders and James Beard Award winners whose pop-up kitchens are al fresco, near the table, which could be 250 feet long and seat up to 200 guests.

Since it was launched in 1999, Santa Cruz, Calif.-based OITF has presented events in all 50 states and nine countries , including Brazil, Japan, Spain and Denmark. It is on the road in January and February, and from May through November, staging about 100 events annually. This month it returns to Hawaii for its fifth consecutive year.

“At our dinners you get a rare behind-the-scenes look at farms, ranches and other businesses and meet the people who run them,” Denevan said. “They love their work and talking about it, and I’m happy to give them an opportunity to get some recognition.”

His appreciation for farmers and nature’s bounty traces back to his teen years, when he worked at his brother Bill’s apple and pear orchards in the Santa Cruz mountains. In his early 20s he was a cook at three popular tourist restaurants in Santa Cruz.

“I didn’t go to culinary school,” Denevan said. “I learned to cook in the kitchen.”

Living in Italy and France for nine months in 1986 while working as a model introduced him to Europe’s rich food culture. When he returned home to Santa Cruz, he landed a job at an Italian restaurant, Trattoria Primizia, where he was named head chef within a year. He was just 26 years old.

Five years later Denevan became the chef at Gabriella Cafe, which is a few blocks from a popular farmers market. Once a week he’d ride his bike there, with a wagon attached, and take a load of fresh fruits and vegetables back to the restaurant. He also shopped at a market on the other side of town and created dishes with produce farmers brought to his door.

Weekly “farmer dinners” were sold-out summer events at Gabriella. Denevan based menus on what the featured farmer had harvested that day, and the farmer would come and enlighten guests about his work and crops while they enjoyed the meal.

Inspiration struck: Instead of bringing farmers to guests, Denevan thought, why not take guests to them?

Thus, Outstanding in the Field was born. The name has a double meaning. “We work with outstanding farmers, chefs, cheese makers and other food artisans,” Denevan said. “Also, we’re ‘out standing’ in the field, listening to their stories. We continue the conversation over a delicious dinner based on the freshest available ingredients.”

The inaugural OITF event in 1999 was at a farm owned by one of Denevan’s longtime friends, Andy Griffin, near Santa Cruz. The table was set between rows of tomatoes and gladiolas, and Denevan cooked for about 60 people, only about half of whom were paying customers. The rest were family and friends.

“Andy’s farm is very diverse, so I had plenty of produce to work with,” Denevan said. “We also cooked a whole pig in the ground — definitely something you can’t do in a brick-and-mortar kitchen. Some of the guests grabbed shovels and helped us retrieve the pig from the pit. From the beginning I believed that bringing people to dine at a farm was a powerful idea that would speak to their craving for authenticity and grow beyond Santa Cruz to the rest of the country and beyond.”

Denevan sees OITF’s communal table as a bridge that connects the people who work the land with those who appreciate the fruits of their labor. Through his eyes as a professional artist (see jimdenevan.com), every event is an art installation, which is why thoughtful placement of the table is key.

Dinners have been served on a boat, in pastures beside grazing sheep and cattle, and at rooftop gardens with spectacular views of city skylines. At a Massachusetts oyster farm, the table was set beside the sea. Halfway through dinner, the tide rose up to guests’ ankles before receding.

“That added some excitement,” Denevan said. “We love diversity and discovering new places and partners.”

In the islands, OITF settings have included Mauna Kea Tea on Hawaii island; Kauai Kunana Dairy, a goat farm on Kauai; and Kualoa, a working cattle ranch and visitor attraction on Oahu (the Jan. 23 event marks Kualoa’s third straight year as an OITF venue).

“Eating a meal in the place where the food comes from is a visceral, immersive experience,” Denevan said. “You’re sitting under the sky or a canopy of trees, surrounded by the smells of the earth and the sounds of nature. It’s an amazing adventure that gives context to the equally amazing food that’s on the plate.”

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.