I have talked a few times about how much we like Thomas Keller’s restaurants.
One aspect I really love about Keller’s California properties are their gorgeous showcase gardens. Walking through them is an event in itself, seeing where the menu’s food comes from and appreciating Keller’s passion for sustainability.
The French Laundry Garden is the most famous, located across the street from the restaurant. TFL garden is three acres, and supplies Keller’s three restaurants in the area with just-picked produce. Some of the ingredients in our Ad Hoc dinner were in TFL garden that morning.
Much smaller but equally beautiful, the Ad Hoc Garden sits directly behind the restaurant. After our dinner we enjoyed a warm early evening garden walk.
We walked through rows of vegetables.
Beautiful lettuces!
“Bright Lights” swiss chard – Beta Vulgaris.
Strawberries.
An abundance of mint.
Grapes on the vine…
Beautiful, fresh and green!
Among the veggies we found things vibrant and bright:
The first roses Jason ever gave me were yellow…
Later there were red ones…
Pinks
and purples
all vibrant and bright.
Walking out of the garden, I spotted one of my favorite trees:
Sustainable meets function meets artistic beauty. A visual feast equal to the delectable feast inside…
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
yes we are sooo spoiled here in CA with our year round gardens. This looks like my neighborhood (yes, spoiled!) but im so glad you were able to see it! it’s gorgeous!
Averie I am ALWAYS jealous of your photos of the flowers and (especially!) palm trees… I love our seasons here, but having a year round garden would be SO WONDERFUL!! another reason to eventually move to Napa…
hope your Sunday is going great!
Stunnnnnning photos… it looks like such a peaceful, magical place! <3
it really was… we had a nice dinner and then just walked around and sat on the benches a while… perfect ending to our Ad Hoc experience!
I love it. How incredible. What gorgeous colors and textures going on. I am a huge fan of roses.
I am too – so pretty! the garden was great!
These are gorgeous pictures, especially the first ones! I love the vibrant colors.
thank you, Claire! those first two are my favorites, too…
Happy Sunday!
I want that garden!!!! So beautiful
I know, I want it too, AND the time to work in it – it’s just perfect!
sustainable meets function is right~!!! this is so epic – more of a reason I need to move there!!!!! I wish the USMC saw it my way
They gave our Calli slot to a pilot who’s practically failing out. bitter wife, yes I am! haha
gorgeous photos. you know i’ll be bugging you for camera advice this holiday season when I finally ask for my first ever upgrade! <3 mwah!
gaah – sorry about that, I would love to have you closer and on this coast!
maybe someday! oooh, I look forward to your upgrade… it’s so fun learning a new camera! XXO! happy Sunday, my friend!
WOW!!!!! SUCH gorgeous photos!!!!!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
you are welcome, Roz! thank you again for reading!
Wow, these are the most beautiful garden pictures! I especially love the first two pictures
, the roses are so pretty, and there’s so much beauty in the background you can just assume …
Now I want a dslr.
those two were my favorites too…
Okay, let’s just say we both have an eye for artwork and share the same brain.
INDEED !!
*Actually*, I wanted one before, but now even more!
I so would love a garden like that! Too bad I wouldn’t know how to take care of almost all of those items!
wouldn’t it be wonderful? I love being able to just walk outside while cooking and grab fresh ingredients…
Wow, so beautiful!
isn’t it? we walked around and sat on the benches of this little garden for quite a while.
I could just stare at your gorgeous pics for forever. I can’t say enough how great you’ve gotten with the pictures!
THANK YOU, Tina!
your compliment really means a great deal – I have loved getting to know my camera. It also helps when I have such a gorgeous subject like this garden… 
Happy Sunday, my friend!
So awesome! What a great place !
Kristina this is a beautifully written post!! Thank you for sharing more of your Napa experience!
Thank you, Val!
I know you’ve been asking for more 
this was a fun post for me to write!
Visual Feast—the perfect description!
Love the pics, and the idea of the garden with a restaurant…
isn’t it a great idea? you should see the French Laundry Gardens – HUGE! it’s a wonderful thing. we have restaurants here in Portland with chefs that believe in sustainability and using local, and some have their own gardens. I love it!
The garden is AMAZING! Gosh , nature is beautiful! Your photography is beautiful!
AND I loved your comment on my post about not comparing, I love that you keep true and are real : ) I think its so important! Some people can drive themselves crazy , and I agree, I love the blog world, so many amazing people like you , I have become friends with through my blog!
Love you!
Basil I am so glad I got to know too ; ) can’t forget him!!
thank you Katie!! I feel the very same way, there are SO many amazing people to connect with in this community! I’m happy I found your blog recently! XXO and Basil says hello too *wags*
What gorgeous photos and the garden is just beautiful.
Absolutely gorgeous photos! I love Dutch iris (at least that’s what they look like). And who can resist all those roses and the real food right there for the picking?
xo,
Shirley
What gorgeous pics!
sooo gorgeous!
isn’t it? I so want to go back…