Private Chef Experiences · Mendocino County
Dinner where the food actually comes from
A farm dinner is Mendocino at its best: one long table, food harvested steps from where it’s served, and a menu that exists only on that night.
We cook and host long-table farm dinners across Mendocino County — private ones for your group, and public pop-ups with Caspar Bread & Wine through the year.
The menu gets written the week of
Most catering menus are decided months out, which is why they taste like they were decided months out. A farm dinner works the other way around: we find out what’s actually being harvested, and then we write the dinner.
That means we can’t tell you in March exactly what you’ll eat in September, and that’s the point. What we can tell you is the shape of it — how many courses, how it’s served, roughly where it’s going — and then let the week decide the detail. Nobody has ever been disappointed by that trade.
Cooking over fire, outdoors
Many of these dinners are cooked over open fire. It’s the oldest way to do this and still the best for a long table: things come off the coals in waves, people eat as it’s ready, and the fire gives the evening a center to sit around once dinner’s finished.
It also means weather is part of the evening rather than a threat to it. We plan for coastal fog and a wind that arrives at seven whether you invited it or not, and we’ll always have a version of the night that works if it turns. On this coast, a tent isn’t decoration — it’s insurance, and our rentals guide covers what you’d actually need.
Where the food comes from
Mendocino County farms including Nye Ranch and Wavelength Farm, plus local foragers, ranchers and whatever came off the boats at Noyo that morning. Bread and wine from neighbors down the road — Anderson Valley is twenty minutes inland, and its Pinot Noir is genuinely world-class.
Part of hosting one of these is telling you where things came from. Not as a performance, but because the answer is usually interesting and often involves someone we know by name.
Two ways to eat at one
Book one privately
A long-table dinner on your land, at a farm, or anywhere with room for one table and a fire. Works for celebrations, client events, milestone birthdays and just-because gatherings of ten to sixty. We handle the cooking, the hosting and the pacing of the evening.
Come to a public one
Our community pop-ups run on sliding-scale tickets — $20, $40 or $60, whatever works for you. No minimum, no per-person rate. Keeping the table open to everyone is the point, and it’s the reason we cook. The last one sold out.
Good to know
How much does a farm dinner cost?
Open-fire farm dinners and tasting menus start at $275 per person and most land between $295 and $350 — see the pricing guide. Public pop-up tickets are separate and deliberately sliding-scale.
Where do the ingredients come from?
Mendocino County farms like Nye Ranch and Wavelength Farm, plus local foragers, ranchers and the coast.
Can we attend a public farm dinner?
Yes — we host pop-ups with Caspar Bread & Wine through the year. Check the events page or Instagram for tickets, and join the mailing list if you’d rather hear first. They sell out.
What if we don’t have a farm?
Most people don’t. A big garden, a meadow, a ranch, a deck with a view — anywhere with room for one long table works. What matters is space, a bit of shelter and somewhere safe for a fire. Tell us the property and we’ll tell you if it’ll work.
What time should it start?
Earlier than most people plan. On this coast the light goes fast and the temperature drops with it, so we usually aim to have people at the table well before sunset and let the fire carry the rest of the evening. We’ll work the timing back from sunset on your actual date.
Also planning something else? Corporate gatherings · Anniversaries · Retreats · Sample menus · Pricing guide · FAQ
Check your date
Tell us your date, guest count and where you’re thinking of putting the table — we’ll reply with a menu and a quote, usually within 2 business days.