When it comes to farm-to-table dining, most of the time the farm and table in question are miles (upon miles) apart. Not so at Castle Hot Springs. Here, mere feet separate the one-acre organic farm, verdant greenhouse and tables at Harvest Restaurant. And while that is certainly noteworthy, what makes things even more special is the relationship between the kitchen and the farm: While many chefs have personal relationships with their suppliers, very few work in tandem with them to design menus, select seeds, create new recipes and plan for the future.
Such is the case between Harvest chefs John Amann and Chris Schuetta, and resident agronomist Ian Beger. Together, they all strive to find the synthesis between every fruit, vegetable, herb and flower that finds its way from the Sonoran Desert soil to guests’ plates.
“As far as collaboration goes, we are aware not only of what’s in the ground right now, but also what’s going to be coming up next,” says John. “It’s incredible how open Ian is; this is the first time I’ve worked with a farmer directly, and Ian’s first time working with chefs directly. The actual process is literally us three guys sitting down in Ian’s little office and looking over his seed catalogs and ordering different seeds together.”
Chris concurs. “John and I have a lot of ideas about what we’d like to grow or try to do, but Ian is the one who actually knows what will grow well,” he says. “We’ll go back and forth until we figure out a plan we’re all happy with. We’re still really young, too, so there’s a ton of room for growth; so much potential.”
When it comes to choosing which crops will be in rotation, there are a few factors that come into play: the limitations and benefits of the desert environment, selecting specialized varieties rather than commonplace ones and, above all, flavor.
“We seek to grow things that no one else grows,” Ian says. “That’s our niche. We choose flavor and uniqueness first, and really pride ourselves on cultivating delicious produce.”
One the major success stories of that approach is Ian’s hybrid tomatoes, now in their fourth generation. “It’s really interesting to see what a great-grandpa, grandpa, father and son of the same strain of tomato taste like,” John says “Each generation has different flavor profiles, so come season five or 10 or 12, we’re going to have that many generations to play with. I offer a tomato flight so guests can taste all of the generations. It’s fun for us and for them.”
Another star of the produce show: Mokum carrots. “I never liked carrots before, but I absolutely love these,” says Chris. “They have a very subtle flavor and are delicate, crispy, and sweet. We try to use them as much as possible on the menu—in our carrot cake, soups, with steak dishes: wherever we can.”
After four growing seasons, the produce selection at Castle Hot Springs has flourished thanks to Ian’s decade-plus of farming expertise. Last season John and Chris had 27 pepper varieties to play with (“I’ll admit it was cool, but also not quite necessary,” John laughs. “But now we can choose which grew best and go from there.”), plus several types of cucumbers, carrots, greens, herbs and more.
“My goal is that we never have to buy greens,” says Ian. “We should always be able to produce enough on property to be able to have salads and everything else. That, plus I’ve learned we can never have enough carrots, and I plan the rest of the crop plan around that in terms of space.”
Not all the experimental crops work out, though. Once, they had been planning a menu selection centered around heritage corn varieties that were planted and, as the dinner approached, all the plants were looking lush and healthy. Then, just one week later, the crop failed due to the unavoidable effects of Mother Nature—in this case, hot weather causing the kernels to die, likely due to pollination disruption.
Another element of Castle Hot Springs’ set-up that provides guests with an unparalleled dining experience is the opportunity for them to tour the farm with Ian. The opportunity to see the crops and taste them prior to having them served at breakfast, lunch or dinner adds a layer to meals that would otherwise not exist.
“There’s a psychological aspect that we’re tapping into on tours, allowing people to see what they’re going to be eating before they see it prepared,” says Ian. “That’s something that’s so often lost in today’s society; it used to be common practice for people to harvest their own food, but not anymore. Showing you what that vegetable looks like in the ground is going to make the carrot coconut bisque taste that much better because you’ve formed an attachment to that carrot.”
John and Chris second that sentiment. “I always recommend to guests to take a farm tour as soon as they arrive,” John says. “Then, later on I hear them saying not only that this is some of the best food they’ve ever had in life, but that it’s about the full experience. ‘Oh my gosh, that carrot was I tasted that out of the ground, and now that’s our soup!’ It’s so common to hear guests just blown away by what we’re doing, how fresh the product is and and that we’ve manipulated in a way that’s respectful to the crop, and how the overall flavor is awesome. It’s truly a chef’s dream out here.”