Lunch under the olive trees
A server puts the finishing touches on the table at the first in a series of lunch-salons at Sandy Hill’s Los Olivos Ranch, Rancho La Zaca. Old olive trees arch overhead. (Coral Von Zumwalt / For The Times)
Guests are offered fresh peach coolers -- made with honey from chef Stephanie Valentine’s own hive -- in silver-rimmed glasses with glass straws. (Coral Von Zumwalt / For The Times)
Landscape designer Art Luna arranges succulents for the table. (Coral Von Zumwalt / For The Times)
A handwritten menu card details lunch, prepared by chef Stephanie Valentine. Eighteen of Hill’s extravagant gatherings are chronicled in her cookbook, “Fandango,” with recipes by Valentine. (Elizabeth Khuri / Los Angeles Times)
“Guests are always the main impetus for a party,” Hill says. To create the right dynamic at the table, she uses a 1920s leather Hermes hostess seating planner to arrange the guests. “I like to make pairings that create a spontaneous combustion,” she says. (Elizabeth Khuri / Los Angeles Times)
Chef Stephanie Valentine serves “Death in the Afternoon” in sugar-rimmed flutes. The aperitif -- Champagne and absinthe -- was dreamed up by Ernest Hemingway and a few sailor friends. (Elizabeth Khuri / Los Angeles Times)
Choreographer Mark Morris is the first speaker at Hill’s series of Sunday salon-lunches. Nevermind that it’s Wednesday -- plans have a way of bending to Morris’ schedule. (Coral Von Zumwalt / For The Times)
Sandy Hill’s Rancho La Zaca, the Santa Ynez setting for her fetes, is a former Spanish land grant nestled in a rolling savanna of oaks and golden grasses. (Coral Von Zumwalt / For The Times)
Within sight of the table under the allee of olive trees, three larger-than-life fiberglass snail sculptures by Tony Duquette navigate a bed of decomposed granite. (Elizabeth Khuri / Los Angeles Times)
Chef Stephanie Valentine’s chilled tomato soup with bacon croutons is made with ripe heirlooms. The simple starter gets a kick from crumbled Point Reyes Blue cheese. (Coral Von Zumwalt / For The Times)
Paillards of pork tenderloin grilled over oak are topped with a farmers market herb salad. They’re served with roast fingerling potatoes and a summery salad of French green beans, young wax beans and Romano beans with shallots and lots of tarragon. (Coral Von Zumwalt / For The Times)
For dessert, slices of sugared almond cake topped with poached apricots and sour cream ice cream. (Coral Von Zumwalt / For The Times)
Guests raise glasses as Hill offers a toast. (Elizabeth Khuri / Los Angeles Times)
A view of Rancho La Zaca. The property also includes 30 acres of vineyards, planted in Chardonnay, Syrah, Viognier, Sangiovese and Tempranillo. Hill won’t disclose the size of her property. “Never ask a rancher the size of his spread,” she says. (Elizabeth Khuri / Los Angeles Times)
