Culinary Feast on Catalina Island

Outstanding in the Field, the roving restaurant without walls that has been hosting open-air events at farms, ranches, beaches, olive tree groves and orchards since 1999, brought its long winding table to Catalina Island on Nov. 1. In a secluded sea cove that’s the site of a beloved summer camp, Nyesha Arrington, a former Top Chef contender who owns Leona Restaurant in Venice beach, prepared a four-course lunch in her jerrybuilt surfside kitchen. On the menu: crispy quinoa with sun chokes and arugula, snapper cooked with the local herb chadon beni, Catalina Island spiny lobster, baby lamb chops with mustard frills and, for dessert, a pumpkin-ginger crème pie with candied ginger and pomegranate seeds. “I grew up in Los Angeles and this is the first time I’ve been to Catalina,” says Arrington, boasting that she had climbed up a tree that morning to pick pink peppercorns. (Try saying that three times fast!) The conviviality of the day continued on the hour-long ferry ride back to the mainland aboard the Catalina Express. As always, there were lots of people celebrating since the fleet offers free rides to travelers on their birthdays (register in advance on the website). Adding to the high spirits: The Commodore Lounge serves an excellent Bloody Mary.