MY FOOD STORY

I made my first culinary creation when I was about six years old. I pressed out a hamburger, put it in the oven, and for some unknown reason, poured Worcestershire sauce all over the top. Like...a lot. I was hooked.

Food was always a thing at our house because my mom was a great cook. Tuesdays were her baking day, and neighbors would come over for coffee cake or whatever she had made that week. I watched, learned, and even at that age, loved seeing how something she made could bring people together.

Then there was “big shopping.” My mom would announce that we were going big shopping, and I knew exactly what that meant — the refrigerator was about to be full again and, even better, we'd probably stop at the Hostess store where I got to pick out a treat. I loved opening that refrigerator afterward and seeing it packed with food.

LEARNING TO FEED PEOPLE

Fast forward to 19, and I was unexpectedly handed both a cooking job and my first leadership position.

I was in the California Conservation Corps, living and working with a crew of 10 men and women. On weekends, everyone took turns with kitchen duty and feeding the crew. Some did okay. Some were...not so good. Apparently, mine were all pretty damn good, because when it came time to choose our next Cook Specialist, my crew nominated me. It was a promotion — an extra $100 a month and another year in the Corps.

There was only one problem. I was 19 and suddenly had to figure out what the hell I was going to feed 10 people three times a day.

Luckily, my friend's mom, Mrs. O, was a Home Economics teacher. She armed me with some of her most popular recipes and basically saved the day. I still have every one of those recipes.

Before each month started, I had to create and post the menu for every breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the entire month. It couldn't just be something that filled everyone up, either. The CCC expected balanced meals, and there was a food-group chart hanging on the kitchen wall reminding me to stay in that lane. I also made the kitchen schedule, including rotating one crew member each night to help with dishes and cleanup.

And there was plenty of oversight. CCC leadership regularly checked in, and food-service leadership inspected the kitchen and facility to make sure I met their standards.

Then once a week came really big shopping. I'd head to the grocery store by myself and push 3–4 carts piled to the top with enough food to feed everyone for the week. “Big shopping” now had a whole new meaning for me.

Every morning I was up before the rest of the crew, getting breakfast going, then making lunches and packing the coolers we'd take into the field. I still did the Corps work right alongside everyone else — fighting fires and floods, cutting trails, building check dams and running fencing. I'd leave the field early, head back to the house, and get dinner going so it was ready when everyone returned around 5.

I'm kind of in awe of that 19-year-old today. But somewhere in all of that, I discovered how much I loved feeding people.

LEARNING TO COOK PROFESSIONALLY

After finishing my time with the Corps, I was hired as a line cook at Houlihan's Restaurant in Sausalito. This was a whole different level of cooking. I learned the broiler, sauté, and pantry lines, eventually mastering all three. To my amazement, I was named Employee of the Year — the first cook at our restaurant to receive the award. Woot!

At the start of the following year, I was asked to join the Assistant Chef program. I was the youngest person in the program and was asked to work at both the Sausalito and San Francisco locations. Now I wasn't just learning how to work a line. I learned Houlihan's corporate recipes, worked directly with each location’s Head Chef, and was given the freedom to create my own nightly specials — as long as I kept an eye on the cost per plate and didn't go crazy. And just to add a little more pressure, the Houlihan's corporate Head Chef would occasionally show up unannounced, sit at a table, and order food to make sure we were meeting the company's standards.

Because both restaurants sat right on the San Francisco Bay, we were very much a seafood house while still serving the typical Houlihan's menu. That opened up a whole new world for me. I learned about different species of fish and shellfish, how to prepare them, and how what you served with them could completely change the finished dish. I still use many of the skills I learned during those years in the kitchen today.

And of course, as an Assistant Chef, I was responsible for more than the food we were serving our guests. I managed inventory and learned how to lead — including hiring and, gulp...firing people. Oh, the stories I could tell…

By my early 20s, though, restaurant life was catching up with me. I was skinny as a rail, barely eating, split days off, and carrying a lot of responsibility for a 23-year-old. Those days off weren't always days off, either. If a line cook or another Assistant Chef didn't show up, I was often the one getting called in to cover. And let's just say the temptations of the restaurant business in the '80s didn't exactly help. I was at an inflection point - was this really what I wanted my life to look like?

I realized that some passions aren't always meant for employment — at least not in the classic way. So I left the restaurant business.

I NEVER STOPPED COOKING

Over the years I've collected recipe books and built binders full of recipes, organized by tabs and filled with the things that have earned a place at our table. Some are tried and true, some I've altered over the years, and some are completely my own. And yes, a couple of Mrs. O's recipes are still in heavy rotation — shout-out to her best lasagna recipe!

And now there’s binder #4 - SRV Culinary. Spices, hot sauce, Extreme Sour (coming soon!), and whatever creative rabbit hole I happen to be going down. And right outside is our huge seasonal vegetable garden. Depending on the time of year, it's like having another full fridge just outside the door. Hey mom…

When we're out eating, my family is constantly telling me, “You have to make this!” My taste buds immediately go to work. What am I tasting? What's creating that flavor? Why does this combo work so well together? I'm usually up for the challenge, and if it's a winner — into the binder it goes!

THEN I BECAME A WINEMAKER

I discovered that creating great wine taps into that same part of my brain — paying attention to the subtle notes on the nose and palate, putting a name to the flavors and aromas, and wondering how the wine will evolve over time. It's really not that different from what I've been doing with food most of my life. Trial and error have been some of my best teachers. And yes, especially early on, I poured out gallons of wine because it just wasn't good enough.
Eventually, bringing those two creative worlds together was pretty natural.

If you've been to one of our winemaker dinner parties, you already know you'll experience something new every time. I'm constantly playing with foods, flavors, and ingredients alongside our wines and seeing what happens when they come together.

And that's really where the culinary side of Stellar Ridge Vineyard came from. The spices, salts and sauces didn't start as products. They started in our kitchen, from our garden, at our table, and usually next to a bottle of our wine.

What comes next? Another spice? A sauce? Something I haven't even thought of yet? Who knows. That's part of the fun.