Taking Root at Rincon Hill Farm

There are places where you immediately sense that something important is being built, even before a single dish is served. On a clear Friday afternoon in Carpinteria, I walked the fields of Rincon Hill Farm as lettuces unfurled in jewel-toned rows, avocado trees punctuated the landscape, and pollinators traced quiet patterns through the air. The Santa Ynez Mountains rose behind it all, giving the scene a distinctly Californian sense of purpose.

I was there for An Afternoon at Rincon Hill Farm, hosted by Endwell Hospitality, the team behind One White Street, the Michelin starred, farm-driven restaurant housed in a historic townhouse in Tribeca, New York City. The occasion also marked a first glimpse of the group’s West Coast evolution, Monte’s, opening March 2026 on Coast Village Road in Montecito.

Rather than a traditional restaurant preview, the afternoon unfolded as something more revealing. Guests wandered the farm, spoke directly with growers, and tasted food prepared almost entirely from what had been harvested that morning. For someone who spends her professional life exploring the relationship between food, wine, and place, it was immediately apparent that Monte’s is being shaped from more than concept alone, but by the very land itself.

Cooking from the Farm Outward

Chef Daniel Kim worked in the open air beside the farm’s newly built event space, cooking in rhythm with the afternoon. Multiple dishes came together at once. Mushrooms were fire torched until their edges charred and crisped. Salads were assembled straight from the fields. Fresh juices were poured, bright and alive. Inside the covered space, guests wandered between long tables, pausing to admire piles of just harvested produce on one and an abundant display of mushrooms on the other. The atmosphere was relaxed and generous, shaped by sunshine, appetite, and the simple pleasure of tasting ingredients at their peak.

When I asked Kim about the opportunity to cook so closely with the farm, his enthusiasm was immediate. “I’m really excited to show what we’re growing here on the farm and bring that directly to Montecito,” he said. For Kim, sourcing is not a talking point. It is the foundation. “The produce we use at Monte’s will come from Rincon Hill Farm. It will all be freshly grown and harvested here at the farm.”

That clarity of purpose carried through on the plate. Lettuce tasted vibrant and alive. Citrus was floral and precise. Avocados were rich and clean, served with restraint rather than embellishment. There was no need for excess. The ingredients carried their own authority.

Reimagining a Proven for Montecito

For Ryan Sohn, managing partner at Endwell Hospitality, Monte’s represents a natural evolution of a model the group has already refined in New York.

“We’re excited to bring a true farm-to-table restaurant to Montecito,” Sohn told me.

At One White Street in Tribeca, a close relationship between an urban dining room and a dedicated farm has earned critical acclaim and a Michelin star. At Monte’s, that philosophy is being reinterpreted through a distinctly Californian lens. “The style and concept are very similar in that they’re both farm-driven,” Sohn said. “One White Street is a bit more upscale, while Monte’s is meant to feel more relaxed.” Monte’s, he emphasized, is designed to belong to its surroundings. “It’s meant to be a gathering place for the community,” Sohn said. “A lively bar, happy hours, and approachable food that people can enjoy regularly.”

It is a vision of luxury that feels particularly suited to Montecito; sun-soaked refinement, rooted in quality.

The Mushroom Table

If the vegetables set the rhythm of the afternoon, the mushrooms provided its most arresting moment.

Laid out across a long wooden table were pioppino, maitake, king trumpet, lion’s mane, oyster, chestnut, and shiitake mushrooms, cultivated on outdoor logs just beyond the fields. Each variety carried its own character, from the feathery delicacy of lion’s mane to the dense, grounding presence of maitake.

Tim King, the farm’s mushroom farmer, spoke about them not as ingredients, but as living expressions of time and care. “Mushrooms are essentially the fruit of the organism,” he explained. “They’re like the apple on an apple tree.” Some varieties arrive quickly, others slowly. “Lion’s mane can take about ten to fourteen days,” he said. “Maitake, on the other hand, can take two to three months.”

For certain mushrooms, quality peaks after two flushes, a balance point where texture and flavor are at their best. At Monte’s, these mushrooms will anchor dishes with depth, umami, and a sense of place that feels unmistakably Californian.

A Living System, Not a Controlled One

Rincon Hill Farm operates on balance, with flowering plants attracting beneficial insects and predators managing pests. The ecosystem is allowed to regulate itself naturally.

“The goal is to create a habitat that supports its own balance,” King said. “When everything works together, the system takes care of itself.” Even setbacks are part of that philosophy. “That’s part of the ecosystem too,” he added.

The approach feels less like agricultural production and more like stewardship, a living system designed to endure.

As the afternoon came to a close, Sohn gathered the group to reflect on what the farm represents.

“We’re finally at a point where we can share the farm with the community,” he said. “We hope it becomes a place where people can gather, learn, and really connect to what’s happening here.”

Monte’s will arrive in Montecito with the quiet confidence of Endwell Hospitality’s New York pedigree, but its identity is already firmly rooted in this soil.

When the restaurant opens in March 2026, the food will tell a story that began long before the first guest walks through the door. And having walked the farm, tasted from the fields, and spoken directly with the people shaping it, that story feels not only grounded, but inevitable.