Where to eat, straight from the farm

NEW YORK -- Country cooking with ingredients fresh from the farm, and trendy, elegant menus are not mutually exclusive.

Conde Nast Traveler magazine is recommending top "farm tables" in its February issue. Some are in restaurants that buy heirloom tomatos, organic chicken and other produce from nearby farmers; some are organizations that set up movable feasts at outdoor tables, often right in the fields.

Farm tables mentioned by the magazine include those found at Shelburne Farms, which is actually a historic mansion in Shelburne, Vt.; Inn at Baldwin Creek, Bristol, Vt.; Restaurant at Potowmack Farms, Lovettsville, Va.; occasional garden soirees at Paradise Farms, Homestead, Fla.; Arrows Restaurant, Ogunquit, Maine; monthly Sunday dinners at Celebrity Dairy, Siler City, N.C.; the famed Blackberry Farm resort in Walland, Tenn.; and the Gathering Together Farm in Philomoth, Ore., where diners get a field tour in a pickup truck before eating.

Organizations mentioned by Conde Nast that arrange or sponsor one-of-a-kind culinary events in conjunction with artisanal food producers and farmers include Slow Food USA, http://www.slowfoodusa.com; Dinners at the Farm, in New England, http://www.dinnersatthefarm.com; Learn Great Foods, Michigan, http://www.learngreatfoods.com; Plate and Pitchfork, Oregon, http://www.plateandpitchfork.com and Outstanding in the Field, http://www.outstandinginthefield.com.

Just remember that the simplicity of fresh ingredients and dining al fresco does not come cheap. Conde Nast Traveler says attending a dinner party sponsored by Outstanding in the Field can run $300-$400 for two.