Coachella 2019: Some of L.A.’s best chefs are cooking at a fancy pop-up dinner in the desert

The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival is a food festival. I’ve made this argument before, but I feel compelled to make it again.

Coachella, which takes place on two consecutive April weekends in Indio, is where chefs from all over the country come to cook and, depending on the lineup, let loose over a little Beyoncé/Father John Misty/Haim. L.A. chefs have an outsized presence thanks to the city’s close proximity to the festival.

Besides pop-up dinners, a temporary ice cream shop and a 40,000-square-foot food hall, one of the premiere dining offerings each year is Outstanding in the Field, a $225 four-course dinner for a couple hundred attendees each night in the Rose Garden VIP area. Picture long tables covered in white tablecloths and wine glasses while EDM blares from a music tent nearby.

This year, Outstanding in the Field is back with a new lineup that includes some of Los Angeles’ most-lauded chefs. “Top Chef” alums Shirley Chung of Ms. Chi Cafe and Casey Thompson will be cooking April 12, followed by Native’s Nyesha Arrington and Simone’s Jessica Largey on the 13th and Tartine’s Elisabeth Prueitt, Katie Hagan-Whelchel and Leah Chin-Katz on the 14th.

The next weekend, Adam Sobel from Cal Mare and Ray Garcia from Broken Spanish will be cooking April 19; the Border Grill’s Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken are up on the 20th; and Jason Neroni from the Rose Venice will close out the weekend on the 21st.

For more information, visit coachella.com/eat-drink/outstanding-in-the-field.

jenn.harris@latimes.com

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