GARDEN RECOGNIZED AMONG MOST MAGNIFICENT IN NATION
Rancho Bernardo Inn’s guests welcome to visit
Visitors to the Rancho Bernardo Inn who take a stroll along the path between its spa and golf course can see where some of the herbs, vegetables and fruits used in recipes at the resort are grown.
The Chef ’s Garden spans about a half-acre on both sides of the golf cart path near the spa. What grows depends on the season, with an assortment of tomatoes, squash, mint, lavender, chamomile, white grapes, berries and fennel currently planted among flowers, fruit trees, artichokes, benches and even a tucked-away fairy garden.
“It is an English-style garden,” said Margaret Nolan Carvallo, the RB Inn’s executive pastry chef, who on Tuesday picked some mint and yellow yarrow and checked on the mulberry tree’s progress. When ripe, she said, the mulberries will be good in ice cream.
Carvallo and the inn’s other chefs can often be found in the garden around 6 a.m. picking items they will include in their recipes that day.
Last month, the Chef’s Garden made Historic Hotels of America’s list of the 25 most magnificent gardens for 2022.
“Discovering, exploring and experiencing the gardens of Historic Hotels of America should be on everyone’s bucket list,” said Lawrence Horwitz, executive director of Historic Hotels of America and Historic Hotels World
wide, in a news release. “Whether a guest wants to walk alone, take a romantic stroll with a loved one, enjoy a perfect setting for long uninterrupted conversations or just take a restful quiet stroll, these historic gardens are truly magnificent and create wonderful long-lasting memories guests will want to share.”
It’s the latest honor for the Rancho Bernardo Inn from Historic Hotels of America. It was previously
recognized for its golf course, its gingerbread house, being a romantic proposal venue, and its unique culinary heritage and traditions.
While the Rancho Bernardo Inn has had many gardens created throughout its grounds since opening in 1963, the Chef ’s Garden is a relatively recent addition.
Carvallo, who has worked at the RB Inn for a dozen years, has seen the garden grow from a few tomato plants 10 years ago to the abundance and wide variety it features now.
“It is always evolving,” she said, pointing out that most
plants are in the ground, raised beds or large terracotta or wine barrel pots.
“There are no galvanized buckets,” she said. “A lot of places try to have an herb garden in galvanized buckets, but this is different, more organic. The RB Inn is special for that . ... This is more set into nature.”
“It is all organic, no pesticides, so there are critters and bugs all around. We are guests in their environment.”
To encourage pollinators like bees and butterflies, an assortment of flowers have been planted throughout.
While some — like the potato bush (a vine with purple f lowers growing up an arched trellis) — are only there to attract pollinators, some flowers such as pansies are edible and can be added as a garnish for desserts, she said.
In a few months there will likely be more bees buzzing around the garden. The RB Inn staff is planning on getting beehives installed in an area farther from where guests frequent, Carvallo said.
The gardeners ask the chefs what they would like to see included, but the chefs let the garden guide them when it comes to cooking and baking, Carvallo said.
“We let the garden steer us to our menu,” she said, explaining that if they see a lot of squash or onions getting ripe they will feature these in dishes because the menus change seasonally.
“As chefs, we really respect the relationship between food and kitchen,” she said. “We honor the season and the product itself. The garden teaches us to be patient because everything has its time . ... It makes us better stewards of who and what we are.”
They also look for ways to use as much of the plant as possible. For example, zucchini is not limited to just its fruit; the chefs use its blossoms and stocks. When it comes to cilantro, she said they can use the stock for garnish — what most people would see at a grocery store — but they can also use the flowers, leaves and pods in recipes.
“We think outside the box,” she said.
Due to the quantities needed, most of what is grown makes it to the RB Inn’s Avant restaurant where there is “more concentrated plating,” she said. In contrast, the inn has to purchase most ingredients for foods served at its large events. But even then, some herbs or f lowers from the garden might be included in dishes.
Carvallo said she encourages garden visitors to run their hands among the white chamomile flowers so they can enjoy their fragrance. She said they can be used for tea, in some spa treatments and in dry form mixed into sugars for pastries. “It is calming and good for anti-inflammation.”
With the Chef’s Garden near the kitchen where Carvallo bakes, she sometimes takes a break to wander the garden.
“It is a peaceful reprieve, where you can get mud and dirt on your shoes,” she said. “I always enjoy the relation between the garden and kitchen.”
Carvallo said she is not the only one who enjoys wandering through and gaining inspiration from the Chef’s Garden.
“The guests really enjoy it,” she said. “A lot are not gardeners, but said they have been inspired to plant something (at home).”