‍January is decidedly not high season in Maine. The small towns along the coast are sleeping through the season’s short days and the weather forecast is anything but welcoming to outsiders. Mainers embrace the beauty of this time of year, though. They pull themselves out into the elements to enjoy every bit of the season, no matter what it brings.

Supper ended after a gorgeous sunset ushered in a peaceful evening and the lights twinkled on across the city skyline. Guests lingered around the table late into the night, sipping on dessert cocktails and reveling on our little community created just for the day, on this rooftop in the city, so far away from the many realities waiting below.

During cocktail hour, we were given the unique chance to step back from our end of the food chain, all the way to the source, through a live butchering demonstration in the barn. With a cocktail in hand, everyone in attendance was able to watch the craft of whole animal butchery unfold in front of them — moments before sitting down to try the results at the table.

The drive down highway 94 from Detroit to Ann Arbor is a transformative one. You leave the Art Deco mosaic of Motor City highways and the clean lines turn soft, the expanse of Michigan’s farmland begins to emerge as a pastoral pastel.

Around dessert, the sky started to change — the Northern Lights turned what was a memorable Supper into a once-in-a-lifetime event, and we couldn’t be more thankful to Chef for the location change!

Within the landscape of the impeccably manicured Redeemed Farm, the lawn bursting with hydrangeas in full bloom, we set the table for a sparkling evening painted in shades of blue and gold. As the sun set in tandem with the rising moon, the shining bulbs of chandeliers glinted in the bubbles of champagne glasses, blurring into an image of impressionistic joy.

While in the full swing of summer, we decided to add a Supper to our schedule to host a celebration presented by those who know the pleasures of bittersweet best, Aperol. After a steamy summer week, we caught one of the first cool nights of the changing season — perfect for setting the table fireside, not to mention cooking over open flames. The chefs from Fyr + Salt crafted an incredible Italian meal from farm-fresh meat and produce from 8 Hands Farm.

Everything about this Supper sung of peak season in the Northeast — from the pop of fresh cherry tomatoes to the sizzle of fresh oysters on the grill, the bright fresh flowers on the table to the colorful menu sourced almost completely from the farm, and the conversations that lingered long after the candles burned down. It was one of those lingering summer nights that nobody wants to end.

In short, it was a perfect Southern California day.

As the California sunlight thickened into syrupy gold at sunset, the previously bare table gained a truly unique tablescape we could never have outmatched: gorgeous bottles of all shapes and sizes (accompanied by the inevitable drips and red-wine rings that come with such a celebration) became a collaboratively created table runner, their sculptural beauty refracting the sunlight and reflecting a celebration well attended, a portent of the successful harvest about to begin.