The farm-to-table philosophy has long promised diners a closer relationship with their food—but a recent experimental installation takes that idea to an entirely new, almost literal depth.
Hosted at Treiber Farms, New York, USA, the installation blurs the line between landscape, meal, and sculpture. Artists carved a long dining trench directly into the farm’s soil, shaping the earth itself into a communal table where 30 guests were invited to dine. The result is an immersive experience transforming a simple dinner into a fun experience.
Guests were framed by weeds, grasses, wildflowers, and the soft sounds of the farm, encouraging them to notice the textures of the soil beneath them.
This conceptual dining experience forms part of A New Futurist Cookbook, an ongoing project by artist Allan Wexler and Michael Yarinsky, principal of the New York–based interior design studio Tangible Space. The cookbook reinterprets historical ideas of performance dining and speculative gastronomy through modern, site-specific installations.
Chef Caroline Hahm of Đi Ăn Đi cafe, NYC, curated a multi-course meal, locally sourced and mostly from Treiber Farms itself. Even the flowers for the meals were planted on the table. Complementing the food, farmer and artist Peter Treiber Jr crafted serving platters and utensils from repurposed farm implements, merging function, craft, and agricultural history.
