The garden dates back to 1978 when original owners Don and Sally Schmitt planted vegetable beds in the courtyard.
Some of my sweetest summer memories growing up on the East Coast came from speeding through garden rows picking strawberries at a nearby farm. Red-stained fingertips, stuffed cheeks and baskets brimming with berries, and the whipped-cream-topped shortcake that ensued. So when I was invited to join the new French Laundry Culinary Garden Tour experience, the only possible answer was, heck yeah.
While life as a working journalist doesn’t afford me the opportunity to dine at the French Laundry, strolling through the gardens and learning how its wares not only influence but drive the menu, was a top-notched second best. The garden dates back to 1978 when original owners Don and Sally Schmitt planted vegetable beds in the courtyard. The garden now consists of 3.5 acres, 1.5 located across the street from the famed restaurant. What struck me as I walked and hand-picked an item, a mokum carrot (sweet and fresh), was the tranquility of the experience. It melds a variety of interest points and will appeal to foodies, nature purists, hobby gardeners and anyone looking for an experience that goes beyond the wine bottle.
The gardens, which were closed to the public for a time, are now open by appointment for the 75-minute tour, which is offered Thursday to Monday, from May through October (price is $100). Next, we picked and tasted some Mara De Bois strawberries, which were the most fragrant, flavorful and beautiful berries I have ever tasted.
The garden is filled with more than 150 different types of fruits, vegetables and herbs, with 40 varieties of microgreens. There is also a woodland garden, cut and edible flowers, and perennial beds, all which flourish alongside heritage chickens and three bee colonies. The European honeybees ensure the garden thrives and the honey produced makes its way into the pastry kitchen and a variety of desserts. Chef Thomas Keller joined the tour toward the end and spoke about how they don’t look at “seasons” in the traditional sense, but more in terms of understanding what the season for each ingredient is and why the tours add value.
“For most restaurants across the country and world everything comes in the back door in a box or bag,” he said. “People don’t get that experience with where it comes from. And sometimes we become a bit wasteful or complacent about our food and more importantly about those who bring it to us. This [experience] helps everybody understand how important it is to be responsible to those who plant and harvest our foods… it’s extraordinary, and we should be appreciating that at a very high level.”
Closing the generational gaps
When I hit middle age, I vowed to end my concert-going, festival-crashing, lost-weekend ways. Squishing into throngs of 20-somethings clad in barely their outfits, reminding me that the glory days are gone is no place I need to be—until BottleRock landed. Though I was a fashionably late entrant to the party, attending for the first time three years ago, I learned that retirement is overrated, millennials shouldn’t have all the fun, and BottleRock continues to elevate the festival experience going to record levels. This year was only my second, but the wine and culinary experiences still stand out in between sets.
Being the aging punk and classic rocker who I will never let die, Green Day was a musical standout for this scribe. The band was so far from dialing it in, they hung up the phone on such notions the moment Billie Joe Armstrong opened his mouth and ripped his first of many iconic yet fresh guitar riffs. Only during Benson Boone’s Saturday night set, surrounded by hysterical tweeny-boppers, and droves of screaming Gen Zs, did I feel out of my age bracket and mind for allowing my kids to con me into getting close enough to see Boone sweat.
On Sunday white-hot up-and comer Grace Bowers, who performed with The Hodge Podge, shredded well beyond her 17 years, with an equally “sick” (tween- speak) voice. Newly minted 18-year-old Bella Rayne, who picked up her first guitar out of boredom during COVID, also demonstrated that, despite the current administration, girl power still rules. To watch my daughter and 57-year-old, music-obsessed brother—equally enthralled by different and similar acts throughout the fest—each discovering the merits of the other’s tastes (from music and gourmet grub to roller skating and merch styles) is what makes BottleRock sing in my book.
Though some may fight me on this point, I will stand by my original premise from a few years back, that BottleRock still has broad appeal, offers an economic boon to local businesses and appeals to all tastes and age brackets. Be it the Hendricks 3-story bar or Eco Sparkle Salon, punk versus pop, high-rollers or general admission enthusiasts—anything goes. While radical acceptance during these politically charged times might feel like a hard sell—but a cross-generational connection over a shared appreciation of wine, food, music and the valley that fosters it all is one type of acceptance I can get behind.
