The bulk of our planning time is spent recruiting the chefs, farms, winemakers, volunteers and sponsors for the season and putting together a very complicated puzzle -- this chef wants to cook on that farm, this winemaker wants to be with this chef, this farm wants to be on this date, it's like a Rubik's cube only there are personalities and egos involved!

Once we get the schedule set and put tickets on sale, then we put on our customer service hats and try to "control" the ticket sale frenzy. This year tickets sold so fast it crashed our rather archaic system so we had to deal with every transaction individually. Every year the demand for seats far exceeds our supply, it's a great problem to have, but it's a challenge dealing with disappointed people.

After tickets are sold then we work with the chefs and farmers to make sure that the menus reflect what's at its peak in the field. Menus aren't set until about two weeks before the dinner to ensure we're using as much of the farm's produce as possible, it makes it more of a challenge, but it's what the farm dinners are all about, eating a salad of the lettuce that's growing in the field right next to your dinner table.

Overall it makes for a pretty hectic, exhausting summer. But when the sun is setting and you look across a dining room filled with happy faces and joyous conversation, you get stuck in a moment and you have absolutely no doubt that the work is worthwhile.

Worthwhile is certainly what this is all about. With the growing since of local and sustainable food crossing the country Plate and Pitchfork has been well above the curve. So next time you're in Portland look them up, or look for similar operations in your area. If you can’t find any start the ball rolling there!

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