Less than a mile from Los Olivos Café lies our 4-acre CCOF Certified Organic Café Farm, sitting adjacent to our 4-acre Bernat Vineyard, where we produce our estate wines. Field to fork and vine to glass — all within walking distance of your table.

But this farm is more than a food source — it's a living, breathing ecosystem where everything is in harmony. Bees drift lazily between blooms, birds play in the sunflowers, and the flowers we plant throughout the season do the quiet work of welcoming beneficial insects that naturally keep the harmful ones in check. No shortcuts, just nature doing what it does best when you give it the space to.

And our guests? They taste the difference. Every time.

We are truly blessed that California's Central Coast climate allows us to grow year-round staples like lettuce, carrots, radishes, and beets. But it's the seasonal harvests that keep our menu fresh and exciting. Sweet summer corn and sun-ripened tomatoes, butternut squash as the days cool, fresh herbs like basil, parsley, and dill at their most fragrant. And then there are the snap peas, zucchini, cucumbers, fennel, cauliflower, onions, and so much more — each enjoyed at peak ripeness, which on the Central Coast tends to last a little longer than anywhere else.

Our 10-acre property was once mostly flat dirt with a house on it. Sam, already experienced in winemaking, bought the land knowing he wanted to plant a vineyard but he didn't want it entirely in grapes. The rest of it held unfulfilled potential, and that bothered us.

For years, we leased the remaining acreage to local organic farmers, watching and learning as they worked the soil. We loved what they were doing but the Café never saw the harvest. It all went to farmers markets. So eventually, we decided to do it ourselves.

With the guidance of mentors Debby and Shu Takikawa, Sam and Shawnda launched the Café Farm in 2016. It has been one of the best decisions we've ever made.