Before fall menus bring root vegetables and spices of the pumpkin variety to the table, head to Harvest at the Ranch in Laguna Beach for an end-of-summer menu that will help you bid adieu to summer’s ultraviolet wrath.
Executive chef Kyle St. John‘s menu includes Harvest farm salad featuring garden lettuce, quinoa, farm vegetables, pickled red onions, roasted sweet corn, ricotta salata and chipotle lime vinaigrette; honey harissa roasted peaches with mozzarella and arugula; gnocchi pomodoro with blistered baby heirloom tomatoes and Calabrian chili; grilled marinated ranchera steak with sweet corn succotash and crispy fingerling potatoes; sweet tea-brined bone-in pork chop with red bliss whipped potatoes, smoked bacon and peach braised kale; crispy brussels sprouts with toasted pecans and stone fruit; and key lime cheesecake with dragon fruit and toasted coconut.
ALSO READ: The Ranch at Laguna Beach was California’s first ‘Ocean Friendly Hotel’ designation
Also of note are the new ceramics Harvest recently unveiled, featuring the work of Laguna Beach-based ceramist Isa Carr. (Fans of East Fork Pottery or Heath Ceramics should put her work on your radar!)
In addition to enjoying such summer fare, this menu, which lasts until the end of September, offers non-hotel guests the chance to check out the 87-acre property in Aliso Canyon. Noted as California’s first “Ocean Friendly Hotel” as designated by the Surfrider Foundation in 2024, the half-acre Harvest Farm grows food for the hotel’s dedicated restaurant. (Free farm tours for hotel guests and the public are available.)
Reservations can be made at theranchlb.com and OpenTable or by calling 888-316-0959.
Find it: 31106 Coast Highway, Laguna Beach