QUESTION 02What is your favorite autumn tradition?
The olive harvest at our ranch, which typically happens in October. We press the olives immediately after picking then celebrate the fresh olive oil with 150+ local friends and family.
QUESTION 02Tell us a bit about your neighborhood or city – what does an ideal day look like for you?
As a bicoastal chef, each week looks so different.
Brooklyn: We live down a block from three (THREE!) French bakeries. An ideal day includes a fresh baguette, hot coffee and developing recipes with my fiancé in our tiny kitchen.
Glen Ellen: My family’s ranch is pretty secluded, set in the wooded mountains. Our days usually entail waking up at the crack of dawn, feeding the farm animals, checking in on the olive trees, harvesting from the garden while the sun is low, then prepping for an event onsite.
QUESTION 04What is your favorite part of your home? How do you make your house feel like a home?
My kitchen, of course. In Brooklyn, it is a microscopic space with a 1990’s stovetop, but it works! We have tools hung on a pegboard, old cookbooks and lots of plants.
At the ranch, our kitchen features large glass doors that look out to the mountain. From the kitchen, you can see so much nature and observe the seasons change. All whilst your fingers are still covered in dough.
QUESTION 05What is your favorite Casa Picosa flavor? How will you be cooking with it this season?
“So Pepper” on our daily tacos.
QUESTION 06What are five things from the Casa de Suna shop that you’d love to add to your tablescape this season?
QUESTION 07What is inspiring you these days? An ingredient, an artist, a destination, something you’ve recently learned, anything…
Every edible “weed” at the ranch. There’s so much to uncover and experience. We call this the “edible wild”, finding ways to prepare plants that grow naturally around us and elevate them, as you would a cherished delicacy.
QUESTION 7What’s your go-to autumn dish that always impresses your guests?
Though we typically don't repeat a dish for our events, tamales come back into the fold every fall. We’ve started wrapping them in various edible leaves, like fig leaves and Hoja Santa.
QUESTION 9Favorite flowers for a tablescape?
Olive branches (I know, very on brand.)
