Ulises Valdez, Bartolomei Ranch Vineyard Manager

Ulises, our vineyard manager, who happens to be one of the most respected guys in the Russian River Valley, showed up too (which doesn’t usually happen during our harvest).  When Rod asked him why he’d shown up and why he was picking grapes (again, doesn’t happen), he said, “It’s the first day of harvest for us and we’re celebrating”, Rod and I celebrate everything.  Any chance for some champagne, a great dinner with the kids, a cake….  Rod said, “Oh, how are you celebrating?”.   Ulises said, “Man I’m PICKING GRAPES”.  Oh, that kind of celebrating…

 The weather was gorgeous, the kind of crystalline sunshine that makes everything gleam and photograph perfectly.

Megan, me and my husband Rod, sorting our Russian River Valley pinot noir at harvest

My kids, Rocco and Helen doing the real work- picking! Oh, wait, eating...

Megan, our Farmhouse sommelier, and No Name Winery (no,not the name of the winery) Winemaker, had already arrived with her Dad.  As an aside, I’d never met her dad, Ted, before- it was great to have him there with us!  If you read my first entry on our little project, you might remember that Megan comes from a restaurant family, her dad’s the chef/owner of Passionfish in Pacific Grove.  As another aside, if you did read that, would it have killed you to comment?  Anyway…

The weather was amazing, the crew was in action and the fruit flew off  the vines and into the bins, all gorgeous and purple and with very little sun damage (we’d worried that there was more).

Russian River Valley Pinot Noir, Clone 16, Jackson Clone

We only picked a ton (enough for about 60 cases of finished wine), so of course it wasn’t going to take long.   As the fruit came in, we sorted out any M.O.G (matter other than grapes) and the few clusters that did have sun damage, or sun burn, from a nasty heat spike a couple of weeks ago.  Once all of the fruit was into the half-ton picking bins, the crew loaded them up and hauled them over to C. Donatiello Winery, where we’re going to use their facility to make our wine.

Winemaker, Megan Glaab, sorting fruit

They spent the night in cold storage- just to make sure they were good and cold when it was time to process them.  Then, early Tuesday morning, the crew got back together, over at the winery, and the grapes were de-stemmed, sorted (to make sure nothing but pristine fruit went into the fermentation bin) and tucked into bins to cold soak.  The grapes will spend 5-7 days, just gently resting , while temperature control is used to hold off fermentation.   A juice panel went off to Vinquiry for analysis of acid and sugar, and so far, it’s all looking great.  Next step: Fermentation!

One of the best things about owning Farmhouse is our amazing team.  From top to bottom, each individual is not just capable and qualified- they’re entreprenurial, bright and visionary.  Joe and I have the incredible fortune to share our vision with each and every member of our team.   To a person, they not only get it, they drive it.  And the coolest part is that most of them come on board, grow with us, and stay put.  We’ve had Farmhouse almost ten years, and most of the original team is still here, (minus some very scary housekeepers and dishwashers, but that’s another story).  The team has grown and grown, but very few have left.  And those who have gone have moved on to such exciting ventures!

The two most recent are Andreas Willausch and Matt Stamp.  Andreas was our Restaurant Manager and Maitre d’.  He was an incredible asset to us- urbane, sophistocated, well traveled and great at a party (that’s important to us…).   Andreas left two years to pursue his own venture in San Francisco.  And, as of Monday, his vision is open for business!  Bar Agricole is an incredible concept- Leed Platinum certification in the works, superstar Thad Vogler behind the bar and concept and Brandon Jew (from our favorite Quince Restaurant) in the kitchen.  Andreas has the front of the house.  

The Soon-to-Be Leed Platinum Certified Bar Agricole

 Already a favorite with the SoMa (South of Market) crowd and we couldn’t be happier for Andreas!

Matt Stamp, who moved out to Russian River Valley Wine Country, from Omaha Nebraska, last year, recently left us to join the famed, Michelin THREE star,  French Laundry over in the Napa Valley. 

TopSomm 2010, Matt Stamp (the tallest gentleman)

Matt’s wine knowledge, genial disposition and poise made him a tremendous asset to the Farmhouse team.  Matt was recently honored with the title of US 2010 TopSomm, during the innagural US Sommelier Championships.  Competing against nine of the best sommeliers in the United States, in a “grueling” contest of both tasting and service, Matt took the title.  Number one in the whole US.  Said Guild of Sommeliers President Fred Dame, MS.  “Mr. Stamp is one of the most gifted sommeliers I have ever encountered.  He beat the best of the best in the United States and is truly deserving of winning the inaugural U.S. Sommelier Championship and the title of TOP|SOMM.”  Go Matt!

While we never like it when they leave- we do love it when they thrive and achieve new successes.  And, we like it best, when we get to visit them in their great new diggs!

The Grape to Glass event is in its fifteenth year.  It’s really a unique event, showcasing not just our absolutely spectacular wineries and vineyards, but also our incredible farms, ranches and geography.  It’s a collaboration between all of our multi-generational farming and wine making  families, our local schools and farms and all of those who’ve more recently joined our community.  And it really is an incredible event.  So, you might be asking what I had to complain about?   I just think that sometimes an event needs some fresh eyes.  What’s worked for years can get a little tired and need some attention.  And, boy did this event get some fresh eyes this year!

This year's new Grape to Glass Logo

So, first thing after last year’s event, the Board of Directors decided to look for some fresh energy to get behind the whole event.  (No, I’m not on the board).  The super-creative team of Creative Furnace was brought on board to produce the Grape to Glass 2010.  They have a fantastic background, having worked with groups like Wine Brats to create really cutting edge, fun and sophisticated events. 

I won’t go into all of the details about what’s gone and what’s stayed, but I’ll tell you that I’m attending every bit of this weekend event this year.  Historically, the event has had a Friday night component.  It’s now an al fresco wine tasting and live outdoor concert by Nick Palance (If you haven’t heard of him, click the link and check him out- he’s being compared to Andrea Bocelli). 

Nick Palance, who will be preforming Friday evening

 Saturday’s events include a morning Kayak tour led by Guy Davis of Davis Family Winery and starting where the Russian River meets his vineyard, or a bike tour around the Russian River Valley, all leading to the famous Hog In the Fog BBQ.  The weekend ends with a fantastic vineyard brunch on Sunday. John and Duskie of Bovolo and Zazu Restaurant fame (can you say best salumi in the Russian River Valley- probably all of Sonoma and Napa Wine Countries) are now supplying the farm-fresh lunches those hungry athletes.  But, the Hog in the Fog event is what’s got me most interested.  Because now I”m behind the scenes. 

Chef/Owners Duskie Estes and John Stewart of Bovolo and Zazu

 The Hog in the Fog has always been about bringing guests in, from all over the US, to experience a real Russian River Valley Community BBQ.  It’s cooked and served by actual members of our community, who share their produce, time and family recipes.  Most of them are growers or winemakers and everyone brings out special bottles of their most prized wines to share.  Steve Dutton of Dutton Ranch and Dutton-Goldfield Winery is in charge of the NY Strip station- he provides the meat and his popular Dutton Family recipe.  Dutton Ranch also donates the organic Gravenstin apples for Pam Martinelli’s, of Martinelli Winery, famous Gravenstein apple pies (the Gravenstein is what the RRV is known for.  We’ve all grown them for generations and they’re just delicious).  Armand Azevedo, a prominent local grower, heads up the rest of the grill stations.   One change that we are making this year is a commitment to locally grown meat.  The pulled pork is coming from Gleason Ranch (theirs is a really great story of a family who is working to save the family farm and stay in agriculture), the grilled chicken is coming from Fulton Valley Farms and the beef is locally raised.  Another great change is that Mateo Granados (I could go on and on about him and his incredible farm-fresh Yucatan Cooking and secret restaurants…) is going to prepare all of the salads and side dishes for us.  He’s making a Yucatan-style bread salad and a bean and squash salad with a Meyer Lemon vinaigrette, which will be served family-style alongside a melon salad and some incredible sauces – Romesco and Roasted Tomato.  I’ve been in charge of sourcing the incredible list of produce that Mateo needs.  

Here’s the list of the organic produce we’re sourcing from our astounding neighbors:

200 pounds of heirloom tomatoes from Kelley Parsons

60 pounds of Romano Beans, 40 pounds of summer squash and 5 pounds of basil from Tierra Vegetables

20 pounds each of cucumbers, squash, carrots and beets from Summerfield Waldorf School and Farm (it’s my kids school and is probably the coolest school in the world.  Check it out)

10 pounds of red torpedo onions, cherry tomatoes, strawberries and herbs from Quivira Winery

50 pounds of eggplant and 20 pounds of beans from MIX Garden (Mick farms for Farmhouse, and some of this is coming off our ranch)

100 pounds of assorted melons from Love Farms

Artisan olive oil and pomegranate vinegar from The Dry Creek Olive Company

Doesn’t that just make you want to jump up and come out for the weekend?  Farmhouse is full (sorry).  But there are still tickets available for the event click here for a link to purchase tickets and find participating lodging.

The Wine Country Shipping Van, All Refrigerated and Ready

You visit the wineries, purchase a bottle here and there, a case here and there, whatever you like.  You bring them back to Farmhouse, fill out a little form, and voila.  A whole future of memorable evenings is on the way to your door. 

Our guests put together such fun combinations (we always peek, I have to admit that).  We have people that have a theme- all pinot noir from small producers for example.  We’ll see twelve different bottles from twelve different wineries (Copain, Lynmar, Porter Creek and Hartford Court seem to be some big Farmhouse guest favorites- this week anyway).  Some go with all white or all big heavy reds…  I’ve been seeing a lot of that fantastic Martinelli Zinfandel… Or visit each of our eleven Winery Partners and have one slot to spare…Some guests want to make sure they won’t run out of that tiny production wine they’ve fallen in love with- they’ll ship home a case or two of each.

And, if guests want to mix the Wine Country Take Home up just a little- they can even include olive oil, jams and other non-wine memories… They tuck right into those fabulous- eco-friendly, recyclable shippers!  No extra cost to mix it up a little.  We love Preston Olive Oil, Kozlowski Jams and absolutely everything up at Quivira! 

Kozlowski Farms Jams, Russian River Valley Wine Country

You purchase it, leave it with us, and they pick it up and do the rest for you.  They’ll hold it for you if you’re not headed home right away (they’re holding some for guests who won’t be home unitl October).  They package it and they ship it to you under perfectly controlled conditions.  Oh, for those of you on Horizon Air, you can carry one case back with you for free.  Then Wine Counry Shipping willl ship the rest for you…

When you get here, don’t hesitate to ask me or my brother or our fabulous concierge team for recommendations for your own specialized take home box.  We love to help create fun, exciting vacations followed by really wonderful (and tasty) evenings at home.

While Catherine’s on a romantic getaway with her hubby, I’ll be manning the helm of the blog machine this week – stand back…  Chatting with our guests each morning at breakfast about their many adventures exploring Northern California, I can’t help but notice that I’m hearing so many of our guests rave about so many of the same activities.  And, not just adventures here in the Russian River Valley, but out on the Sonoma Coast, in the towns of Healdsburg and Sebstopol, up in the Dry Creek Valley and Alexander Valley, and even over in the Napa Valley – all easy drives from us and all chocked-full of great discoveries.  Now, here’s the catch, everyone knows about our fabulous wines, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah… but did you know that there is so much more to do than drink wine in wine country?  Of course, you can’t come to the Sonoma Wine County without drinking some wine, and in no way am I suggesting you skip the wine.  I’m just saying there’re lots of great finds in addition to tasting all of our fantastic wines!   So, I’ve polled our guests and I’ve polled our concierge team and – are you ready? –  we’ve come up with a list of the Top 10 Things to Do in California Wine Country (imagine reading this with a drum roll in the back ground!) other than WINE TASTING (gasp!)!  Here goes…

1. Blackberries – It’s blackberry season.  They grow everywhere and they taste so good.  Pull over on the side of the road and pick a few handfuls.  You won’t be sorry.  They taste like summer. 
2. Live Music Sundays at C. Donatiello Winery – Yes it’s a winery and yes you can drink wine.  But, in addition to their stellar portfolio of wines, they manage to pull in some of the best acts in wine country for their FREE summer concert series. 
3. Zip-lining through the Redwoods – They’re big, they’re beautiful and you can see them from an all new vantage point – 100 feet up in the air!
   

   Zipping through the Redwood Trees

4. Overlook at Lake Sonoma – Take in one of the most majestic views in all of wine country form the overlook at Lake Sonoma located a the north end of the Dry Creek Valley.  And, if you happen to be there on a Sunday morning, enjoy a Ranger led bird walk.
5. Olive oil tasting at Dry Creek Olive Company – Some of the best olive oil to be found, no designated driver required!
6. Walk the lakes at Riverfront Park – Just a few miles down the road from us, this park is a nesting site for the great blue heron, North America’s largest wading water bird.  Their nests can be spotted high in the trees.
7. Windsor’s Thursday Music on the Green and Farmers Market – Great local produce and great bands.  Bring a famous Farmhouse picnic or pick something up from one of the many vendors.
8. Safari West – Home to over 400 wild and exotic animals. This 400-acre wildlife preserve is part zoo and part jeep safari adventure. Get up close and personal with a giraffe or cheetah.
   

   Getting up close and personal with a giraffe!

9. Segway Tours of Healdsburg – Great itineraries and a travel speed where you can really enjoy the scenery.  Added bonus, you get to brag to all your friends back home that you segwayed your way through wine country!
10. Oysters Hog Island – Have an oyster picnic at a real live oyster farm.  Never mind the fact that these are some of the best oysters to be found anywhere and the view is amazing! 
    

    Have an oyster feed along the water's edge.

Have a great adventure! 

Post by Joe Bartolomei

On our ranch, where we’ve farmed for five generations, we have chickens for eggs and meat, antique apple trees, vegetable gardens, bee hives for honey and polination, prunes, plums, cherries, peaches and berries scattered about the property and lovely creeks with riparian habitats.   

Lettuces and Heirloom Shelling Beans

This kind of farming is wonderful, because it’s year-round.  We have produce, eggs and meat every month of the year.  But, I have to admit that this month and the next few months are just amazing and so incredibly bountiful! 

An heirloom squash and its delicious blossoms

Many of our mid-summer flowers are in their full glory now, and we are all enjoying the mild weather.  We are seeing many kinds of Butterflies:  Swallowtails, California Sisters, and I’m hoping for some Monarchs, now that we have our Milkweeds for their dining pleasure.  Some Butterflies, such as the Swallowtails and Monarchs, are very specific about which plants are suitable for their ‘children’;  Monarch larvae can only feed upon Milkweed (Asclepias sp.), and the Pipevine Swallowtail larvae can only feed upon the native California Dutchman’s Pipe, which is growing happily inside the large yellow-flowering St. John’s Wort (Hypericum sp.) shrub on the West side of the Restaurant.   If you are lucky, you may see the striking Blue-Black caterpillars with bright red spikes….but they are elusive, and like to stay in the shade. 

The Tiger Swallowtails prefer plants in the Parsley (Umbelliferae) family; I am leaving many of the Parsley plants in the Culinary garden to go to flower and seed; the flowers attract dozens of kinds of beneficial insects, and the seeds are medicinal; and perhaps the Swallowtails will lay their eggs there and we will be able to see the stunning black/white/yellow/green striped caterpillars.

California Sister host plants are the various local Oak (Quercus sp.); Coast Live Oak, Valley Oak, and Black Oak are present on the Farmhouse Inn property.

West Coast Lady, Red Admiral, Lorquin’s Admiral, Mourning Cloak, Buckeye, and some Skippers have been seen in our Habitat Garden. Their palates are much more varied, as their larvae can feed on many kinds of both native and ornamental plants.

Of course our Hummingbirds think they are the ‘bosses’ of all the flowers in the garden….and they very generously share their territory with the Butterflies and other Pollinators.   It takes a lot of variety to keep everyone happy.  

It is a sad task to have to take out the ’spent’ Sweet Peas, that perfumed the air for 4 or more months…….but happily the Summer Vines are blooming and will continue to bloom until the frost.   On the West Pool fence, the Scarlet Runner Beans are already providing nectar for the Hummers and other pollinators, and the Honeysuckle(Lonicera sp.) Black-eyed Susan (Thunbergia sp.), Morning Glory (Ipomoea sp.),  and Purple Hyacinth Bean (Dolichos sp.) are all making their way up the fence for privacy and beauty.

Come and sit for a while in the Habitat Garden, and see how many kinds of flying gems will keep you company!

Here are a few of my favorite resources for this time of year:

The Natural Gardening Company will ship organic seeds from Sonoma County to you.

Creating an Organic Hummingbird habitat can be fun and easy with a little know-how.

The Halberg Butterfly Gardens are the perfect place to learn more about butterfly gardens, and you can visit when you’re in Sonooma County.

The folks at Beekind keep the bees on the Bartolomei’s Ranch.  But their site has a wealth of information about bees, habitats and organic practices.

For some time now, I’ve been asking our fabulous team of chefs to come up with the “Perfect Wine Country Picnic”.  Which, now that I look back, is sort of a lot of pressure.  Not just the “Ok” or “Fine Wine Country Picnic”, but perfect.  Definitive.  A brown tote bag filled with a lovely selection of delectable foods, all prepared by us or our friends.   And, easy to prepare, maintain, tote and enjoy.  So, ok, a little pressure.

We’ll they’ve finally pulled it together.  We offered our first picnics to guests about two weeks ago.  And, the feedback’s been worth the wait.  I’ve even packed one off to the beach myself- and loved it!  The picnic changes with the whims of the chef, but always includes salumi, olives, local cheese, house-made hummus or something similar, fresh greens and a vinaigrette, seasonal fruit from our ranch or a neighbor, flatbread and the most amazing desserts from Patti (right now it’s a decadent chocolate brownie).  We offer some great wines that you can purchase to take along, or, if you’ll be picnicking at a winery, pick up wine there.

Copain Winery

Our concierge team is equipped with a list of our very favorite spots.  From Copain Winery, up on a hill overlooking the Russian River Valley, to Quivira Winery, deep in Dry Creek Valley, where you can picnic in the biodynamic vegetable garden overlooking their vineyards, to the Armstrong Redwood Forest

Armstrong Woods, Redwood Forest

or, my favorite, out on the Sonoma Coast… we can send you in a million great directions.  Oh, last Monday, we packed up and headed down to Marshall to Hog Island Oyster Company where we added briny, fresh sweet water oysters to the mix. 

Oysters at Hog Island

 (If you visit their website, download their clam chowder recipe.  I brought home 5# of clams and made their chowder with carrots and celery from my garden….So crazy good!  But that’s another post…) 

Summer’s heating up, the produce coming in from our farm is incredible, the winery gardens are in full bloom or full swing, and, doesn’t a picnic just evoke magical images of timeless, laid back, romance and good old fashioned fun? 

I’d love to know some of your favorite picnic ideas and locations- around here, where you are now, or around the world. 

I love that about this place!  Almost ten years into Farmhouse and the guest experience gets better every single day.  Our newest, and perhaps most exciting, program has just launched.  So far, the feedback is incredible. You know how we’re always talking about a Farmhouse stay being “experiental”?  Well this new program really speaks to that goal.

We call it our “Winery Friends” program.  Clever, huh?  We’ll, if you have a better name, send it our way…  But, here’s how it works.  We’ve collected information, over the last year or so, on the Russian River Valley wineries that our guests just rave about.  Then, we polled Geoff, our MS, and Megan, our sommelier, on their favorite local wines.  Then Joe and I sat down and thought about the actual people that we like the best at the tons of wineries around us.  Where all of those criteria converged- great experience, great wine, great people- we circled the winery.  Then, we made a bunch of calls. 

Basically, the premise was simple.  When Joe and I and our staff show up in your tasting room, you roll out the red carpet.  We want you to do the same for our guests.  That reserve wine you open for us, open for them.  That impromptu tour, or grape tasting, or sample from the barrel, offer it to them.  And, just about everyone we approached was incredibly enthusiastic.  So, you might be asking, “What do the wineries get in return?”.   Ha! Another win, win.  They get to come over a couple of times a year and have their wines featured during a private tasting for our guests.  Plus, we promote their events and promotions to our guests.  So, we send them our fabulous guests to taste and maybe buy their wine, and then they get to come over to Farmhouse to meet them again. 

These wineries are all open to the public.  No appointments required (that was another critical point in being chosen to participate)  They’re all nearby.  And they’re all treating Farmhouse guests like old friends.  Just like we think it oughta’ be. 

Here’s the list of wineries.  You night like to peruse them before you visit.  Some are little,  some are bigger, some are in their second or third generation, some are quite new, but they’re all really  special. 

Arista… C. Donatiello…Copain… Hartford Winery…Iron Horse… J Vineyards… Lynmar…Porter Creek… Russian Hill Estate…Thomas George… Woodenhead

While construction and interior remodel during a recession was truly an excellent experience (the contractors and designers were both on time and under budget… )  selling that new room inventory was a whole different ball of string.  Joe, I and our team, have had to really adjust our thinking to move from a high-end inn to a small hotel (which has actually been unbelievably fun!).  Instead of just sitting back and waiting for the phone to ring (which is what we always did), we had to come up with strategies to get Farmhouse out to new markets and create and expand a new guest/customer base.  We’ve historically been really fortunate with the press and accolades that we’ve gotten, and that’s just driven people to us- oh, and it doesn’t hurt that we’re smack in the middle of the Russian River Valley… Then we could just concentrate on providing an excellent experience for them once they got here…  But at eighteen rooms, rather than just ten, and in a recession to boot, some tactical changes needed to happen. 

So this past year has been truly event filled.  We’ve tried some new things that have been aces and we’ve come up with some really bad ideas (oh well!) We’ve taken our reputation on the road and introduced Farmhouse to some incredible new people-

We’ve reached out to new markets through donations to and participation in various charitable events around the country.  Just last weekend Joe and I attended both the Croquet Tournament for Make a Wish, held at Sonoma Cutrer winery and the Gala for Meals on Wheels at the Fort Mason in San Francisco.  We donated weekend packages to the auctions and our chefs participated in preparing the incredible food served.  We had a great time, met some amazing people and got the word out about Farmhouse to a brand new group of folks. We’ve been getting out and doing a lot more of that sort of thing- turns out it’s nice to get out now and then…

Our trip to New York was insanely cool- we’ve gotten such amazing response from editors.  Just about everyone we met with has committed to a story over the next six months!  I’ll keep you in the loop, but we did get a little  spa story in the May Vogue Magazine already!

Farmhouse in Vogue, May 2010.

We’ve learned, through our new and wonderful friends at Kurtz-Ahlers and Associates that the travel agencies are alive and thriving- if you can connect with the right ones!  We’ve travelled to LA, where we met an extraordinary group of Virtuoso and American Express Centurian Agents.  Talk about incredible knowledge- these agents plan the most exotic and complicated trips for people who really know how to travel!  Luckily they’ve been interested in us and many have visited and are now sending clients our way!  Joe and I are off to Dallas next week to meet with agencies there!

Social Media is King (or Queen, or something).  We’re still totally clueless about how it really works (thank you almost 1200 Facebook Fans for bearing with our lame posts) but we’ve hired an Expert to come in and set us straight (fingers crossed!).

And that all just scratches the surface of our new initiatives and ideas.  We’ve also done something that we’re VERY excited about.  We’ve promoted our amazing Guest Services Manager, Meilani Naranjo into a brand new Revenue Manager position and we’ve hired Tamera Shaw as our  new Guest Services Manager.  Tamera is charged with implementing a host of new programs, all designed to better serve you.  She’s already got a Bell Team in place so we will now offer Bell Service, Room Orientation and Turn Down (starting early June!), She’s expanding retail to offer picnics and a host of cool Farmhouse-style retail items for you and she’s working with our team to bump or level of service to the next level (stuff like this is what I live for!)

The home ranch continues to expand.  We’ve budded some pinot noir grapes to an interesting varietal called trousseau and will be selling that to one of our very favorite wineries, Arnot-Roberts- we’re looking forward to seeing that on Farmhouse’s wine list one day!  We’ve expanded our garden from one acre to two- and have added a whole slew of new vegetables and fruits, all of which will end up on our guests plates.  Our flock of chickens has expanded from 10 to 250.  Yes, that’s a big jump!  We have a good friend, Marc Felton of Felton Acres, who’s brought his flock of Heirloom Breed layers to our orchard.  They’re happily munching grasses, bugs and whatever else they’re finding out there, and the eggs are fabulous!  They’re also nicely fertilizing our apple orchard…

And the very best news it that naive but lucky, we’ve come out of our first year as a grown-up “hotel” stronger, more polished and better than ever.  And, shockng, but true, we had a great time figuring it all out.  Farmhouse has always been, and continues to be, one fantastic adventure.   Joe and I come in every day, excited and enthusiastic about what the day will bring.   And we’re rarely disappointed.  Farmhouse is such an exciting collaboration between our extraordinary team and the new mix of guests that every day brings- It’s a continually evolving entity, and sitting at the helm of the whole thing is one fantastic place to be!