Dreamstaurant: The Wandering Table

Imagine a 1,200 square foot space that’s narrow (about 25 feet wide) and long with concrete floors, a white ceiling and a row of fluorescent tube lighting as long as the narrow room. Each wall is a different, loud color ranging from nectarine orange to lilac purple and sky blue. There’s art hanging from the ceiling and on the walls, there’s art standing on the floor and there’s art drying on tables. But it’s not just any art, it’s created and designed by children.

As you step into the space you find a 4 foot tall “Where the Wild Things Are” monster (who I later found out was the mascot of a parade float) and a 5 foot heron hanging from the ceiling with a thick wire frame and blue fabric to fill in the body. Each colored wall is lined with shelves containing crayons, colored pencils, construction paper, clay, paint and brushes, glue and chalk.

Through the middle of the space sits a long community table large enough to seat 30 people. The table is covered with a white table cloth, white candles and tall cylindrical vases holding white hydrangeas. Each place setting consists of a folded dark brown, cloth napkin with two forks to the left and a knife and spoon to the right. A stemless wine glass is filled with drinking water and a cream card stock menu rests on the napkin with 12 dishes listed chronologically. The top of the menu reads, “ The Wandering Table.”

The Wandering Table at Art on the Edge
The Wandering Table at Art on the Edge

The Wandering Table is Dreamstaurant winner, Chef Adam Hegsted’s, underground supper club. The table makes stops in various locations from art studios and museums to local farms to the beach – and everywhere in-between. The menu generally consists of local, seasonal ingredients (served tapas style) and wine paired with each dish.

Below is the menu from the pop-up dinner I attended on St. Patrick’s Day. I think I became an honorary member of the “Clean the Plate Club” during this 3 hour meal. It was so delicious I could have licked all 12 plates clean!

Wandering Table Menu
St. Patrick’s Day Wandering Table Menu

What Hegsted strives for at each pop-up dinner is to bring the community together. He continues to develop and evolve something he feels Spokane is lacking – a food community. With each dinner, palates grow wilder and minds whirl into a flavorful abyss. The community is being trained by Hegsted’s Wandering Table to savor the delicious, local flavors of the earth and relish seasonal foods.

Another goal of Hegsted’s is not only bringing the community together but to support it. He doesn’t always make a profit on Wandering Table dinners, but if he does, he donates to local not-for-profit organizations. Art on the Edge is one of Hegsted’s favorites to support. It’s a non-profit community art program of St. Vincent de Paul that provides quality after-school art classes, summer workshops and camps, public art and community festivals. In fact, the dinner I attended was hosted at the Art on the Edge studio and all proceeds from the dinner went to the organization.

Art on the Edge Entrance
VP of Design, Jeff Katz entering The Wandering Table at Art on the Edge.

The Wandering Table was a unique experience and I was grateful to be a part of it. One attendee mentioned they had been on the waiting list for 6 months before they were granted a seat. It’s definitely a desirable dining adventure, especially for the foodies.

Leaving the Art on the Edge studio got me thinking how lucky Tundra was to find Chef Adam Hegsted. Not only is he an exceptional Chef, but he is incredibly organized, humble, and his presence truly warms a room. A server working the dinner with Chef Hegsted had rave reviews about his management style, temper, talent, and personality. Turning Adam’s Wandering Table into his Dreamstaurant is a feeling money can’t buy. It’s the feeling you get when you know you are doing something right. It’s bliss. See pictures from the meal here!

Chef Adam Hegsted and Jeff Katz
VP of Design, Jeff Katz (left) and Chef Adam Hegsted (right)

About Molly Patterson

Molly is a former Online Marketing Strategist at Tundra Restaurant Supply where she specialized in promotional strategy, email marketing, social media, online merchandising and, of course, content creation for The Back Burner. When Molly isn't putting her creative mind to work, she likes to journey out with her black lab pup, Winnie, explore Colorado’s great outdoors, travel and try new restaurant’s in the Boulder/Denver area.

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