Te courses of dinner stretch on into the evening and finally, guests satiated on many levels with new knowledge, comradery and great food, head home with an experience they’ll likely never forget.

Tat idea of “experience” is a staple of Jim’s overall philosophy, not just with Outstanding, but also in his artwork. During the seasonal downtime between his food events, Jim grounds himself, quite literally, by joining his creativity with the earth and the sea. Begun as a way to cope with his mother’s ailing health in 1999, these huge sand drawings (and occasional earth drawings in Nevada near the Burning Man site) are sometimes photographed and attended, but otherwise, just as ephemeral as his hosted dinners. He’s created several hundred of these drawings, mostly on California coasts, but if the setting is available, he’s been known to take a break from preparations for a dinner and hit a local beach. Te soothing contemplation involved in this performance art help Jim to maintain balance and, with a mother