New hires at The Carneros Inn intend to deliver even more rewarding culinary experiences to diners and visitors frequenting the distinct grapegrowing region planted between Napa and Sonoma known as Carneros.

Bringing a fresh perspective to the hospitality team at the relatively new romantic getaway resort is a quartet of professionals that includes executive chef Jeffrey Jake, Farm chef de cuisine Christophe Gerard, food and beverage director James Soule and Farm general manager Tom Blix.

A Bay Area native, Jake achieved national acclaim as executive chef at The Lodge at Pebble Beach in Monterey. Gerard is a familiar Napa face in that he was the opening chef at Angèle in downtown Napa. Soule and Blix worked together for the better part of a decade, serving as food and beverage director and maitre d’hotel at Auberge du Soleil, respectively.

We caught up with the chefs the other day in the extensive spic-and-span kitchens at Farm, the inviting farmhouse-styled restaurant in the first resort to be built in Carneros.

Join in this week's Recipe Talk

Overseeing menus at the informal Boon Fly Cafe, Farm and the resort’s private dining room, Hilltop Restaurant, Jake talked about his primary responsibility — securing what the culinary team needs from the Carneros region’s plentiful array of top quality produce, cattle ranches and first-rate cheese producers.

“I see as my main focus local products sustainably raised,” the soft-spoken Yountville resident declared over a satisfying crema-topped espresso.

“Another is seasonality — menus must reflect the seasons like they used to when we didn’t have produce flown in from South America in the dead of winter. Salmon has disappeared from our menus because we don’t use farm-raised. The asparagus season is over, so you’re not going to find fresh asparagus on the menu — simple as that.”

Jake also believes that communication is important as part of team building in any restaurant kitchen.

“In order for Christophe to do his job, there has to be good communication among the members of his team, and he has to instill in them a passion to do the job well.”

Jake maintained that cooks have a special association with those in their dining rooms, whether they intend it or not.

“People come to your restaurant for a great food experience — hopefully with service that matches — and everybody has to reminded of that. I remind (the staff) that people take what you make and put it in their bodies. We have to remember that we are given an incredible opportunity to have a unique relationship with 100 or more people every night.”

The resort’s new executive chef is sure everyone on his staff wants “satisfaction in their job. If your customers walk out of the dining satisfied, telling you how much they enjoyed their meal and the service, then it reflects on all of us. It’s a unique opportunity to gauge how well you are doing your job. And it’s an appraisal that’s pretty unique to us. You don’t get that kind of feedback when you’re fixing a car.”

A French accent

Addressing his counterpart, Jake says that chef de cuisine Gerard “is someone I can collaborate with. He may be French, but my training was in a French-oriented kitchen. And we are on the same page in that we both appreciate the importance of seasonality.”

“Refined dishes in a rustic setting” is how Jake describes the new Farm chef’s menus.

Chef Gerard says diners at Farm will see “more seasonal menus, lighter dishes using quality local fare. In reshaping the kitchen and menu, my focus is lightness, and always, simple dishes.”

For example, among the starters on the current dinner menu are roasted butternut squash soup with a garnish of Sonoma County apples and cinnamon sour cream, roasted red baby beets and mache salad with Point Reyes blue cheese and St. Helena lemon olive oil, Farm Market salad of heirloom tomatoes, sweet local corn, French beans, Sausalito watercress and Napa Valley olive oil.

Main courses include roasted Sonoma half chicken with sweet local corn, foraged chanterelles and fingerling potatoes; grilled Alaskan halibut with fennel stew, chorizo and red pepper broth; grilled Niman Ranch pork chop with Bonick Family figs and Swiss chard; pan-seared lamb sirloin

with savory butter bean ragout, lemon confit and bacon; plus pan-seared Tai snapper with baby bok choy, acacia honey/lime broth and petite licorice herb salad.

Gerard said he is willing to do a tasting menu for diners upon request. Lunch is served at Farm from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, dinner from 5:30 to 10 daily. A late night menu is

available in the intimate bar and outdoor firepit-appointed deck.

Boon Fly and more

Redoubling the resort’s program for baking just about all of the bread and pastries served at the three restaurants, Jake said diners at the Americana-themed Boon Fly Cafe will discover that the popular breakfast doughnuts — served with a bowl of chocolate sauce — are now offered throughout the day.

“We also have a new item that seems to be popular with our regulars — a deep dish chocolate chip cookie with a big mound of whipped cream,” Jake added.

Boon Fly Cafe serves breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.

Come Thanksgiving, regulars will find a traditional turkey dinner platter offered at Boon Fly, while a family style holiday meal, complete with dessert buffet, will be offered at two seatings at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Kitchen veterans

Prior to his arrival at The Carneros Inn, Jake spent a number of years as executive chef at The Lodge at Pebble Beach, where he supervised approximately 70 employees at five food and beverage outlets with total revenues of approximately $30 million annually. Jake also played an integral role in organizing and executing prestigious, high-profile events and gatherings that included the AT&T Pro Am Golf Tournament and the Concours d’ Elegance. He also served as chef de cuisine at Pebble Beach, Beach and Tennis Club, and the Sonoma Mission Inn. He launched his culinary career at Domaine Chandon and was a member of the culinary team at Udo Nechutnys’ Miramonte in St. Helena.

In addition to serving as opening chef at Angèle, Gerard has also worked at such fine dining establishments as The Café Pierre in New York’s Four Seasons Hotel and at the Tides Hotel in Miami Beach. Gerard spent his first years cooking in the United Stages under the talented Gray Kunz at Lespinasse Restaurant in New York’s St. Regis Hotel. He trained at the famed three-star Michelin French restaurant Taillevent under chef Claude Deligne. He began his culinary career with an apprenticeship at the Relais De Hussards in Coulombs, France.

Teaming up with Gerard in the Farm kitchens are sous chefs Joseph Hatch and Xavier Camacho.