California Restaurant Farmhouse Opens Inside Descanso Gardens in La Cañada | Eater LA

"Opened May 30 by chef Rich Mead, this restaurant inside a 150-acre botanical garden in La Cañada-Flintridge serves seasonal California fare for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch (last table seated at 8:30 p.m.). Mead, who opened a similarly minded location at Roger’s Gardens in 2016, has brought on Adam Cherney (A.O.C., Pace, and Saltie Girl) to helm the kitchen. Menu examples emphasize local produce and specific preparations: a grilled grass-fed culotte steak with Weiser Farms potatoes, asparagus, and cipollini onions; coriander- and cumin-spiced carrots topped with burrata, pistachio, and mint; and seared salmon with ginger, leek, and Thai vinaigrette. Cocktails will employ ingredients from the adjacent gardens, and eventually the restaurant will host dinners using produce sourced directly from those gardens. The dining room—occupying a former meeting room—features a wraparound bar built by artisan William Stranger from fallen trees and a timeless indoor-outdoor vibe with views of the plantings. The botanical garden itself was established as a public space in 1953 after Elias Manchester Boddy sold the property to Los Angeles County (Walt Disney allegedly had considered it as a site for Disneyland) and today draws nearly a million visitors a year; there is a fee to enter or annual membership options for the garden, but neither is required to dine at the restaurant." - Matthew Kang