CleverRoot

6 | t h e c l e v e r r o o t D G THIS She escorts us to the garden, where she harvests herbs, leeks and agretti for today's lunch. Meanwhile, the wood grill is heating up; the leg of lamb is immersed in a classic Roman marinade of herbs, lemon and olive oil. Chef Gia explains that her recipes are inspired by the present, "Because I'm not going to force it. I found these new little leeks and thought for the grill—beautiful!" They had recently tipped the basil to increase production, hence the pesto. A young spring lamb has just been harvested from Williams Ranch in Sonoma County, along with baby zucchini from one of their main farmers. "It all sort of just hap- pened," she says. Passalacqua is an expert on the grill, casually discussing her family's history and experience while managing the flame with a calm, skilled hand. "I took over the grill for my dad when I was very young, probably nine," she tells me. In college, Chef Gia travelled to Florence, where fresh produce and meat are the staples of local cooking. "I spent every moment I could just shopping in the markets, just learning about their food and tradition," she says. As Chef Gia prepares lunch, we're seated with Scott Johnson, winegrower for Frei Broth- ers Sonoma Reserve. Johnson is a fourth-gen- eration Californian, whose talents as a colle- giate runner led him on a path to grapegrowing at the University of California, Davis. Growing up, Johnson found his green thumb helping in his family's small backyard garden. While at Davis exploring possible majors, he enrolled in "Intro to Winemaking" classes, which captured his attention. Johnson spent a few harvests in Napa and had the opportunity to travel to France. There, he interned at a small, family- owned vineyard across the river from the Médoc. "I think that's when I really fell in love with this," Johnson shares. "Letting the ground dictate what we're doing and serving the ground rather than telling it what to do. Letting mother nature express her own characteristics in the product that we're making." Johnson moved back to California in 2002 af- ter accepting an internship with Frei Brothers. "When I got here, I decided this was home. For me, it's where the redwoods meet the golden rolling hills," explains the former SoCal native, who met his wife on the job in 2006. Since the Frei Brothers' property lies only a mile down the road from the Dry Creek Gen- eral Store, Johnson is a frequent visitor. "Gia's It's easy to imagine the stories the Dry Creek General Store might have witnessed over the years. Historically, it was a gathering place for locals, who shared a whiskey in the bar before picking up their wares and heading home. Today, there is a constant ebb and flow of locals and visitors stopping in for a great bite by Chef Gia Passalacqua. Together, the dishes were swoon-worthy, but the salsa verde really took me by surprise. The unassuming condiment is composed of capers, garlic, parsley, oregano, olive oil, anchovies and white balsamic. If Chef Gia's philosophy could be highlighted in a single dish, to me, it would be that salsa verde, a seemingly simple blend of ingredients that together create an explosion of flavors. Agretti is an up-and-coming green, grassy and delicate in flavor. Chef Gia grows it on the property, adding, "I don't know anyone else growing it." When tasting, I immedi- ately think of the succulent purslane, since the flavors are spinach-like, but slightly briny and firm. With a little research, I learned it's also called "salt wort," and its scarcity is known to cause a frenzy in some European markets.

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