4 FLOURISH • FALL/WINTER 2014
CONTENTS
FEATURES
26
Home on the Range
A young family grows their
fourth-generation ranch into a booming
grass-fed meat enterprise.
By Karen Pavone
LIVE
8
Rooftop Wonders
Homes and businesses are
transforming empty roofs into living
ecosystems.
By Nancy Sands Johnson
14
Cork Couture
Cork becomes the hottest material
for sustainable products.
By Nancy Sands Johnson
EAT
19
Of Earth and Sea
Three North Bay Chef's share
their favorite dish of the season.
By Leslie Harlib
35
Contented to the Core
The growing thirst for hard apple
cider gets quenched by local brewers.
By Karen Pavone
BREATHE
41
3 Farm-Fresh Getaways
Go from harvesting your dinner
to sleeping in your luxury suite.
By Adrienne Shubin
57
Where Art and Wine Converge
Explore five local wineries with
tasty art collections on site.
By Nancy Sands Johnson
ON THE COVER
Chef Dustin Valette of Dry Creek Kitchen in Healdsburg
with a local harvest of ingredients to be used in his recipe
found on page 20. Photo by Stuart Lirette taken at Hotel
Healdsburg.
From the Editor
After a summer
break, we're glad
to be back. We've
been tasting,
reviewing, plan-
ning and collecting
ideas for this issue
for, what seems
like, a very long time. And we have some
great stories that are sure to inspire you
... or at least make your mouth water and
your mind wander.
Our feature story is about the Poncia
family who has run a cattle farm in West
Marin for four generations. Loren Poncia
and his wife Lisa have recently trans-
formed the ranch into an organic certified
one and earned themselves a top award
along the way.
This issue also explores different ways
of doing things. Like growing landscapes
on roof tops to reduce energy use and
using cork to make products like shoes,
handbags and hats so they are more sus-
tainable — and surprisingly durable.
In honor of the "harvest" season, we'll
talk to three local women who have given
up former careers to manage apple or-
chards and brew hand-crafted batches of
artisan hard cider.
Once you've had a taste of cider, we'll
move on to a three course spread of spec-
tacular recipes. Executive chefs from three
North Bay restaurants share their best
concepts of the season including Chilled
Asparagus Soup With Crab, Grilled Wild
Bodega Bay King Salmon and a delicate
dessert of Santa Rosa Plum Vacherin with
Thai Basil.
Finally, we have two escapes for your fall
excursions. The first is a round-up of three
luxury inns with onsite chef's gardens. The
next is our list of local wineries that also
happen to serve up world class art.
I hope you enjoy this issue of Flourish
and savor the harvest season in the beau-
tiful North Bay.
Cheers,
Dianne Provenzano
Editor, Flourish Magazine