Back at the Ranch
For more than 150 years, the Bay Area’s innovative thinkers and out-of-the-ordinary revelers have gathered in Guerneville, a Sonoma County enclave on the Russian River, 75 miles north of San Francisco.
Originally a logging town (which provided enormous amounts of redwood to rebuild much of San Francisco after the devastating 1906 earthquake), the vibe today is NorCal casual with a healthy smattering of bohemian pizzazz. Summer weekends are bustling with tourists taking part in the rich food and wine scene, cycling its many picturesque backroads, canoeing, kayaking, or languidly tubing down the Russian River.
Dawn Ranch, a riverfront resort, is the latest addition to Guerneville’s diverse offerings. Situated on a century-old former resort site, this fashionable wellbeing destination is centered on 22 acres of park-like grounds surrounded by towering redwoods, a lush meadow, a smattering of plum trees, and a 100-year-old heirloom apple orchard. The resort also boasts a fairly rare Dawn Redwood, a deciduous tree whose leaves turn a shade of bright golden copper before falling in autumn, and the property’s namesake.
Offering refuge from the hustle and bustle of everyday life, Dawn Ranch is an ideal place to relax and rejuvenate. The General Manager of Dawn Ranch, Teach Mayer, describes the resort as “an excellent place for people to come and unplug — and get back in touch with themselves, with one another, with nature, and with their own creativity.”
To inspire this transformation, upon arrival, guests can tailor or choose different experiential activities offered by Dawn Ranch. The hope is that guests will become deeply immersed in these experiences, and their inherent feelings of enjoyment and discovery will refresh and inspire them. Not just momentarily, but enough to provide a rich rêverie of their Dawn Ranch experience long after they’ve returned home.
Some of the experiential activities offered at Dawn Ranch include scent-making classes to inspire olfactory memories. There are flower-pressing workshops to create a wildflower postcard to be filled with words of encouragement and intended to be mailed to oneself upon departure from the resort. Naturalists lead tours of the property to identify the impressive selection of native California flora. Visitors are encouraged to forage in the Kitchen Garden to later enjoy a dining experience consisting of their personally selected bounty crafted by the Dawn Ranch culinary team.
Experiential offerings, the idea of learning by doing, always pique my curiosity. And, as one always interested in anything gastronomic, the idea of foraging in a garden for ingredients that would be integral to my evening meal sounded right up my alley.
Landscape Designer and an O’ahu kama’aina, Keala Peterson, gave me a tour of the Kitchen Garden. Walled by sturdy pig wire and burley hand-hewn redwood posts (to keep the crafty deer out), the English style garden is made up of tidy square plots, each planted with their own specific purpose. The aromatic herb area is dense with lemon balm, lemon verbena, lemon grass, rosehips and catnip. According to Peterson, this mixture contains nepetalactone — which is ideal for calming, and is also used by the Dawn Ranch spa team to make ambrosial sachets for herbal soaks in their artisanal Japanese Ofuro tubs. Another garden plot contains only edible flowers that are used by the chefs to embellish their culinary offerings and as colorful garnishes for several of their tasty, crafted cocktails.
There’s a butterfly flower plot thick, with pink and white scabiosa, a flower that looks remarkably like single scoops of vanilla or strawberry ice cream. I counted seven Swallowtail butterflies (similar in color to the Monarch), fluttering about. Petersen directed my attention to a nearby plot consisting of a tangle of zinnias, dahlias, yarrow, echinacea, and cosmos.
“The tall-stemmed flowers in this plot are grown solely for Dawn Ranch floral arrangements and are picked at their peak beauty. She added, “Ideally, flowers, like food, should be local, seasonal and sustainable.” The last part of the garden where the vegetables are grown commands several plots, and except for the kale and lettuce section, there wasn’t much to forage. Orderly rows of zucchini, tomatoes, chard, and an assortment of peppers weren’t quite ready for foraging but held the promise of being part of delicious meals later in the summer.
Skillfully composed flower arrangements (from the Kitchen Garden), earth-toned rough-woven rugs, a walnut slab table, stylish 1970s-era couches (found in Texas at an estate sale), and perfect for lounging armchairs create a hip, laid-back-without-trying-too-hard vibe in the Lodge Bar. The bartender was affable and well-acquainted with the array of Russian River Valley wines available. Locally brewed beers and deftly crafted cocktails using locally made spirits are offered as well.
Brazilian chef Juliana Thorpe is the chef de cuisine at the Lodge. Her impressive credentials include the three-Michelin-starred Meadowood in neighboring St. Helena, as well as Mugaritz, considered one of the finest restaurants in Spain. The Lodge’s dining menu was developed by chef Argentinean Fernando Trocca, the culinary magician at the internationally celebrated Mostrador NYC in Manhattan — the fusion of their creativity and talent is evident in the South American flair of the cuisine available at the Lodge.
Guests of the Lodge can enjoy an array of beautifully prepared food. Some of the standout starters include Yellowfin tiradito, thinly sliced raw tuna served with avocado, cilantro, red onion and jalapeno, Octopus Mojo Rojo (a spicy flavor-forward red sauce) with marble potatoes; or a small loaf of homemade sourdough bread, that has a perfectly tangy chew and is served with dill butter. Entrées include pasta, hand-cut house fettuccini, with anchovies and sardines topped with crispy breadcrumbs. The half chicken is roasted to golden perfection in a woodfire oven and is presented alongside a pool of savory chimichurri. The risotto, green with asparagus, and topped with a chunky pistachios gremolata is silky and sublime.
The desserts are elegant and artfully presented. The pavlova served with seasonal fruits, citrus cream and baked meringue is fluffy and decadent. The chocolate mousse comes with a healthy dollop of coffee cream, and is topped with blueberries and pecans. It is rich and wonderous. The Basque cheesecake, crustless and intentionally browned to make a bitter outer layer, is extra creamy inside, topped with a fresh strawberry confit and downright extraordinary.
The food served at the Lodge is locally sourced and is ever evolving with the seasonal availability of produce. The restaurant is open to the public, and meals can be enjoyed in the main dining room or outside on the deck, where diners can take in the natural landscape. Scrumptious breakfast pastries are freshly baked daily. Guests can partake in flaky croissants, buttery apple turnovers, and chiapas: small Argentinean cheese muffins that are likely to be habit forming. With the plums just ripening and the apples soon to follow, one can expect that Chef Juliana will be making delicious fruit galettes in the very near future.
There are several types of accommodations (total of 81) to choose from at Dawn Ranch: chalets, cottages, cabins, and bungalows, most of which consist of one bed and bath, with others offering two beds and two baths and some full kitchens.
Most of the accommodations at Dawn Ranch were built in the 1920s, and all have been newly renovated. During this process, great care was taken to retain the sense of history, integrity, and charm of the buildings, which have a woodsy camp feeling, but not in a kitschy way. The rooms are well appointed with tasteful furnishings, and the soft chambray quilt covered beds are an elegant touch. The linens are by Parachute, the bath towels are plush Frette, and for me, the icing on the amenity cake is the chic Le Labo toiletries.
Immersing oneself in nature reminds us to slow down and be mindful of the simple beauty around us. Naturalist John Muir, put it most succinctly: “Between every two pine trees is a door leading to a new way of life.” At Dawn Ranch, the trees are likely to be cedars or redwoods, but the message might well be the same. But unlike Muir’s rough-hewn campsites, Dawn Ranch provides a luxurious wellbeing destination in a natural setting of comforting serenity and exceptional beauty.
Dawn Ranch, 16467 California-116, Guerneville, Calif., (707) 869-0656, dawnranch.com
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