WINTERS CHEF LOOKS TO STARS.
Seemingly on the edge of nowhere, in a small rural town that he had never set foot in before now, Scott Ostrander is gunning ambitiously for a Michelin star.
It would mark not only the first one for Winters (population 7,000), but also the first one for Yolo County.
At the Inn at Park Winters, enveloped by fields and the sounds of crickets and frogs at night, Ostrander came on board as executive chef late last year to create the first on-site restaurant. Not just any restaurant, but one that in January started serving what is believed to be the only finedining tasting menu in the county.
Ostrander, who grew up 40 minutes away in Sacramento, had never visited Winters, but he was lured by the opportunity to create a restaurant from scratch in an unlikely setting.
Joining Ostrander, who was a chef de partie at the Michelin three-starred Alinea in Chicago, are seven other chefs, including chef de cuisine Paul DiPierro, who worked at the Michelin three-starred Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena. Aaron Babcock, who came on board from Michelin three-starred Manresa in Los Gatos, oversees the wine program that eventually will grow to 500 selections, including Park Winters’ own Sauvignon Blanc and Zinfandel, made in partnership with Berryessa Gap Vineyards.
“The San Francisco Bay Area Michelin Guide does cover Wine Country, so it’s not inconceivable for them to cover our area,” Ostrander says. “Regardless, we will strive for that type of service and food. It’s the level we want to create here.’’
Dinner at the 70-seat reservation-only restaurant is served Wednesday through Sunday. There is just one menu offered each night, a prix fixe of $125 per person of about seven courses. An optional wine pairing is $85 per person more.
Inn owners John Martin and Rafael Galiano didn’t envision opening a restaurant when they bought the 1865 white Victorian in 2011 to transform into an intimate boutique hotel. When it first opened, they hired caterers to do the events. As the inn grew in popularity as a destination, though, it wasn’t long before they decided to push the bar higher — much higher.
“Why aim so high? Because we’re crazy,” Galiano says with a laugh. “But it’s been our lifelong dream to provide a one-of-a-kind experience. We want to feed people’s stomachs and souls in a luxurious country experience.”
They aim to do so in the 4,800-square-foot barn they built with a soaring ceiling dominated by massive wood crossbeams and a chandelier hanging from its center. Movable country-chic dividers decorated with foraged branches and seasonal greenery provide separation between tables.
“The challenging part will be in establishing what we are and who we are as a restaurant,” Ostrander says. “I want it to be hyper-local. Are we California cuisine? Are we luxury? Are we all of that?”
The goal is for all the ingredients to be sourced from Yolo County. Right now, it’s at about 85 percent, he says. Ostrander is proud that his agnolotti pasta — which gets a tableside shaving of smoked cured egg yolk over the top — is made with grains milled in the Capay Valley, and filled with locally raised rabbit and pork and morels foraged in nearby Lake County.
Much of the produce will soon come from the newly expanded 1½-acre culinary farm on the 10-acre property that is already graced with mature almond, fig, walnut, pear, orange, plum and pome- granate trees. A groundskeeper tends rows of favas, beets, snap peas, heirloom tomatoes, two types of chamomile, and salad burnet (a frilly herb that tastes of cucumber).
Is this farming community ready for food like this? Ostrander thinks so. In just two months, the restaurant already has attracted visitors from around Yolo County, including just about every farmer in the area, some Bay Area folks and loads of Winters officials — many for repeat visits. The restaurant also has a built-in clientele: the many brides and grooms who married at the inn and who have clamored to return for a meal, but couldn’t until now.
“I want people to be wowed here,” Ostrander says. “I think it will put Winters on the map more. It will open some eyes to what’s possible in one of the largest agricultural centers in the state.”
“We will strive for (Michelin-level) service and food.” Scott Ostrander, executive chef, Inn at Park Winters