112
winter
|
spring
generation Californian Alissa O’Briant, director of Sales & Marketing
at Bernardus, says she and her friends spent summer afternoons lazing
around and swimming when it was foggy and damp by the coast. This
pool is kept at a steady 80-degrees year ‘round and is technically open
24 hours a day “as long as everybody is behaving,” she laughs.
A Dutch gentleman by the name of Bernardus Pond purchased
the property and created what is now Bernardus Lodge & Spa in
1999, saving an adjacent nearby 10-acre plot to grow pinot noir and
Chardonnay grapes.
The current 57 rooms will grow to 71 with the addition of 12
suites and two 2-bedroom villas when their expansion project is
complete, probably as early as this coming summer. The property has
been under new ownership since December 2013, but most of the staff
and all of the hospitality remains in place.
The Restaurant
L
ucia, the resort’s new and post-modern restaurant is headed up
by the much-honored chef Cal Stamenov, who not only has been
in charge of the food since the restaurant first opened more than
16 years ago, but he also designed the kitchen. Color scheme here
features a soothing eucalyptus hue (Helen says it’s “beige”). The metal
chandeliers, white leather chairs, and tablemats, linen napkins, and
large communal table made of one giant but handsome piece of wood
– so heavy it took 11 men to carry it in and put it in place – announce
that Lucia is serious about its food.
So serious that in addition to tending a two-acre organic garden,
Chef Stamenov also oversees three bee hives, more than 150 fruit
trees, and collects eggs from his dozen or so chickens: free-ranging and
organically fed, of course.
The menu is adventurous and unusual. Wines (Bernardus has its
own label) run from $10 to $28 for white by the glass and $12 to $32
for red. Lucia’s Wine Spectator Award of Excellence wine list by the
bottle (25,000 of them!) extends for more than 20 pages. Northern
California really is a wine lover’s paradise.
My duck burger (I always order duck if it’s on a menu) came laden
with a large dollop of
foie gras
on top and slathered with black truffle
mustard. This turned out to be a manly meal, and it is quite the richest
WEEKEND GETAWAY
