Food plots in quiet places. The big fields are fine for checking on the ladies at night, but those small plots in a little field; a good way to pop a shy buck.
On my land, I have a small ravine which is a natural funnel between bedding and a larger woods and farm fields. The bedding is on the neighbors, like your setup. This east / west ravine is about 60 yards wide. A small meadow to the north, a 8 acre grass field to the south. Along the edge of the grass field, I run a clover food plot about 30 yards wide, and about 150 yards long. I also have 4 corn and bean strips running east and west, 8 rows wide, 150 yards long in the grass field. The grass is cut for beef cows once a year. The corn and beans are there for the deer and turkey. The deer hammer this little area; the does at all times. The younger bucks with them, and the bigger bucks at night, but they start showing up in the day light hours in late October. That's when you sit the stand in the ravine. I've got pics of the same deer all summer, so they are hanging out in an area about 100 acres in size.
I've had great luck with this setup, so I guess my answer is a private little food area, with variety; very near thick cover. As the rut draws near, you hope to catch them making a mistake of peaking into the field just at prime time. I've owned the place for 5 years, and it's taken me a while to get this going, and to get the deer into utilizing it as a favored food source. The key is that this is not like a farm field that gets picked. It is always there for them. Last year, everything was harvested early, and then I was the only game in town. I do not gun hunt my land, so it is a sanctuary for them from that as well. Thus, I have some decent deer to hunt. I have a 155 inch deer out of this from two years ago, and a couple of similar deer are out there now. I think I have the "right place" thing worked out, now I am working on the "right time" part of it. We'll see how that turns out a little later this month.