The First Ever Dinner Series On A Professional Sports Field, Field To Table, Comes To San Jose’s PayPal Park

Sam and Cassie Minkoff are the founding couple of SE Productions, the events and experiences production company behind Field To Table, the first ever dining series on a professional sports field. This dining series came after brainstorming ways to both bring people together safely, and keep their team employed, during the unpredictable beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

“This whole concept was dreamed up during the pandemic when our event production company could not bring people together through shared experiences,” says Sam and Cassie Minkoff. “We came up with the craziest and most creative ideas possible and Field To Table was one of our favorites.”

After pitching the concept to Lumen Field, their longtime venue partner and home of the Seattle Seahawks and Seattle Sounders, the conversation lagged with the understandable uncertainly of pandemic times. Nine months later the ambitious couple were granted the opportunity they had been waiting for — they had three weeks to put together the Field To Table brand and bring together the best of Seattle’s chefs for a dinning series to remember.

The debut had a new chef and team taking over the kitchen and field each night, with each chef taking the opportunity to introduce themselves to their guests, explain the menu and how much the dinner means to them.

The initial three-week long debut was so popular that they extended the series by three more weeks. It then returned for additional sold out runs in June of 2021 and most recently in February of 2022. Their latest dinner series is currently taking place October 15th – 30th in San Jose, California. This series will be showcasing over a dozen award winning, highly acclaimed and wildly talented Bay Area Chefs who will be presenting a curated four-course dinner in the middle of PayPal Park.

“I’m honored to be showcasing pan African cuisine in San José,” explains Executive Chef/Owner of Oakland hot spots alaMar Kitchen & Bar and Sobre Mesa whose dinner takes place October 19th. “It’s my purpose to push the envelope on this. I want to show how influential and beautiful the African diaspora is through food. It’s so cool that I’ll get to do this with my team in the middle of PayPal Park. As everyone knows I love to cook meaningful food in fun settings.”

Featured chefs in this Field To Table dinner series includes Crystal Wahpepah of Wahpepah’s Kitchen; Nite Yun of Nyum Bai; Nelson German of alaMar Kitchen & Bar, Sobre Mesa; Manish Tyagi of Aurum; Jessica Yarr of Chicken Foot, The Brunch Shift; Robert Hernandez, former Chef at Octavia Restaurant; Byron Hughes of Last Supper Society; Monique and Paul Feybesse of Tarts de Feybesse; Alexander Hong of Sorrel; Reem Assil of Reem’s California; and Gonzalo Guzman of Nopalito.

For the full lineup and details, click here.

We chatted with Sam Cassie Minkoff on this unique concept, what it was to work alongside these chefs and more. Here’s what they had to say.

How did you choose the chefs?

This whole event was founded upon supporting our chef and restaurant industry in Seattle. We try to be intentional about our selections and work hard to ensure that our lineup provides fair representation of each community. We love partnering with chefs and restaurant owners who are excited about connecting with diners in a brand new way.

Our team asks our community who they are excited about in the food and beverage space. We recognize chefs’ schedules can be very demanding and it is very important to us that we respect their time when it comes to producing a dinner series of this magnitude.

Talk about the process of working alongside each chef to curate exclusive menus of inventive seasonal dishes?

We have a dedicated team member who works alongside our chef partners every step of the way; exploring their menu styles, understanding their unique perspective and building a cohesive menu that tells their story on the plate.

How is this dining series special and unique to what you’ve curated in the past?

We built something so special in Seattle and have connected with our hometown in a way we never have before. With Field To Table transcending its pandemic beginnings, we are witnessing this event come to life in a way we never imagined. Producing this dinner series in a new city is a testament to the concept. There is truly no better feeling for us as event producers when we watch our chef partners walk the dining room and speak to tables about their menu, inspiration and story.

Our entire purpose is centered around providing chefs with a platform to do what they love. We are crafting a moment that will never be forgotten by our guests; enjoying a four-course meal in the middle of an MLS field. We tie in the soccer affiliation through the opportunity to kick a goal at PayPal Park!

Guests can try their luck at scoring a goal in exchange for a donation of $50 to La Cocina, a nonprofit centered around solving problems of equity in business ownership for women, immigrants and people of color.

Reservations are available for purchase at fieldtotable.us.