My sources have mentioned that a new restaurant will open in St. Helena — potentially by this fall — on the property that is currently occupied by Whiting Nursery. The restaurant is rumored to be a farm-to-table concept, and will be backed by the folks who operate Long Meadow Ranch. From what I hear, the chef will be Sheamus Feeley, who has been long associated with the Rutherford Grill.
I will try to find out the restaurant’s name — if it even has a name yet — as soon as I can.
• • • For a March 2010 review of Farmstead, please click here • • •
Long Meadow Ranch Winery & Farmstead.
The restaurant’s name will be the “Farmstead Restaurant” according to Ted And Laddie Hall of LMR.
Here is the Article:
Long Meadow Ranch Receives
City Council Approval for ‘Farmstead’ Project
Sheamus Feeley named as Executive Chef
March 25, 2009 St. Helena, CA
Long Meadow Ranch announced today that it has received approval from the St. Helena City Council for its innovative ‘farmstead’ project.
The project’s approval is the final regulatory step in launching the wine, food, and agricultural center to be located on a 3-acre parcel at 738 Main Street near the southern entrance to St. Helena.
Also announced today, Sheamus Feeley will become executive chef of the Farmstead Restaurant, one of the project’s central features. The new eating establishment will be located in the property’s contemporary barn and will have indoor and outdoor seating for up to 160 guests. Feeley was most recently executive chef/research and development for Hillstone Restaurants where he had direct responsibility for Rutherford Grill, one of Napa Valley’s most successful restaurants.
To be known as Long Meadow Ranch Winery & Farmstead, the project will include the Farmstead Restaurant featuring distinctive farm-to-table dining, a wine and olive oil tasting room, a full organic nursery with farm supplies, demonstration gardens, and a seasonal outdoor farmer’s marketplace.
Ted, Laddie, and Chris Hall, proprietors of Long Meadow Ranch, have created the multi-use project’s vision and will oversee the historic property’s return to its agricultural roots. Kevin Twohey, the owner of Whiting Nursery which currently occupies the property, will operate the organic nursery and farm supply business.
Chef Feeley will bring his ingredient-driven cooking style to utilize the organic produce, grass-fed beef, eggs, and olive oils from Long Meadow Ranch and other local artisanal producers.
The Farmstead’s farm-to-table menu, which will include an exceptional children’s menu, will highlight fresh local and regional ingredients and will feature the sustainably produced wines from Long Meadow Ranch and other international artisanal winegrowers.
Feeley is from a multi-generational farming family and began working for his father, a classically trained chef, at age fifteen. By eighteen, his father encouraged Feeley to work for Milanese chef, Andrea Frizzi.
Following a stint in Peru and other culinary adventures, Feeley took a position with Wolfgang Puck and later opened Sacre Blue as the chef de cuisine with Don Gragg of Gramercy Tavern and Chez Panisse. He has also worked in France with Chef Michele de Mateis and was a chef/owner of Mateo Restaurant in Boulder, Colorado.
The project will break ground within the next few weeks starting with the renovation of the historic Logan/Ives residence. The classic Gothic architecture farmhouse is slated to serve as the Long Meadow Ranch Winery tasting room which is targeted to open in mid-October. Whiting Nursery will remain open for business throughout the project.
By summer, the first demonstration and educational gardens will be planted and the Farmstead Restaurant may open as early as late fall.