Solstice on CA’s Central Coast

Hello from Big Sur 💦

We are learning that tour is like planting little seeds all over the place. Even if you’re “playing” to an audience of 30 people, it’s worth it. It has a lasting effect. We added in a stop at Nikki‘s favorite place on Planet Earth, Big Sur, for her birthday, and popped up at our friend’s shop, Mother Botanical. We cooked our Cured (Ora King) Salmon recipe over fire the night before and served it with the Fresh & Whipped Ricotta recipe. It was divine. Be sure to check out Mother Botanical in Loma Vista Gardens next time you’re in Big Sur.

We started the tour with a quick stop in the Santa Ynez Valley in Solvang where we got married in 2015. We make an annual trip and this one landed us at Bell’s in Los Alamos for dinner and boy did we roll out of there. Claire’s dear friend and former college roommate, Emily Blackman, is the Wine Director and we were given the 💯 royal treatment.

Next, we went to SF and saw some dear friends, then did a cooking demo in the Google Kitchen! We made our Mushroom Toast, the Fresh Ricotta and showed everyone how to make Whipped Ricotta. Followed that up with a book talk at the legendary cookbook store, Omnivore, with Liz Pruett (Tartine) moderating. We were thrilled to talk with her (and Celia at Omnivore). Liz understands the inner workings of a restaurant, the work/life balance, and she recognized that all of the dishes on our menus and in our cookbook are designed for the equipment we have available in the restaurant, which is very limited and easy to recreate in a home. It was a fascinating discussion! Thanks to all who came.

Our two final stops on this West Coast tour is Santa Monica Farmers Market, and Pasadena for the LAist x JBF demo! After that… we get ONE day off and fly to Italy for 10 days where we’ll be cooking with Nancy Silverton for a fundraiser, then spending a week with Claire’s mom, Eileen and her partner Bill in Casperia. Can’t wait!

TOMORROW: Be sure to check out The Kelly Clarkson show 👯‍♀️ as well as Claire’s music on iTunes—Songs of La Copine or wherever you stream music (search C’est Claire) for the 2nd (Summer) EP out PLUS a feature in SPIN Magazine! Big day for La Copine.

Happy Solstice 💜

c&n