Crocodile Gardens

This kitchen is truly farm to table

by JuLIA mChugh • Photos by Carl Perry

Scott Perry, owner of Lemon Tree and the Orange Tree inns, comes from a family of farmers. His grandfather, father, and uncle were fruit growers in Washington state before his father, the late Richard Perry, moved to Santa Barbara and purchased a lemon and orange groves. Richard later bought the Mountain View Auto Court on the corner of State and Alamar streets, where he built the original Lemon Tree Motor Hotel in 1960.

Those two passions—hospitality and farming—are now combined. Perry has turned 1.5 acres of a Hope Ranch property into a flourishing garden which now provides much of the produce for dishes at Crocodile, the restaurant at Lemon Tree Inn. He couldn’t be happier.

“I’ve always had a little garden going,” he says with a grin, sitting at one of the Crocodile’s recently installed banquettes. Relaxed and affable, he’s at ease in the elegant eatery, with its dark painted walls, crisp white tablecloths, and gleaming mirrors.

It’s hard to imagine him on his knees in the dirt, vacuuming beetles off squash plants. But there he was just last week, according to son Conrad, the restaurant manager.

“Cucumber beetles,” hisses Scott. “How can an insect be so evil? They suck the life right out of the plants.”

Perry adheres to organic farming practices and refuses to use pesticides, so his options are limited. Thus the vacuum cleaner to remove the pests. “The Farm,” as he calls it, is not yet certi- fied organic, but he may pursue that designation at some point.

Each week, Chef Jilberto Lazaro and Perry discuss what is ripe and ready for use in a special dish. Seasonal bounty also supplements the produce in dishes already on the menu, and provides garnish for both the restaurant and the bar.

The Farm is on a sloping hillside on a double lot that also contains the family home, where Conrad and his older brother Carl, who handles the hotel and restaurant marketing, were raised.

Landscape designer Eric Nagelmann conceptualized “The Farm”—he also designed the Lemon Tree Inn’s landscapes, which include exotic and unusual succulents, colorful birds of paradise, towering palms, and more than 50 lemon trees.

Oscar Carmona of Healing Grounds Nursery provided advice and seedlings (see sidebar), and The Farm now grows:

• Greens such as arugula, kale, collard greens, watercress, bok choy, and many varieties of lettuce

• Herbs such as dill, cilantro, sage, thyme, mint, chives, parsley, and three kinds of basil (including the hotel’s namesake -- lemon basil)

• 10 varieties of tomatoes

• Bell peppers, eggplants, squashes, cucumbers, celery and many kinds of chilies

• Rosemary, catnip and lavender, planted to encourage bees to take up residence

• Mandarin and Valencia oranges, lime, avocado, three kinds of lemons, loquat, feijoa (pineapple guava), and others

• Grapes, with plans for more to come, perhaps for winemaking

“This is what happens when you shop at the local Farmers Markets for 20 years,” Scott says. “You learn what grows here and how to use it.”

Now, Crocodile diners enjoy good food that couldn’t be more locally sourced, and produce that was usually picked that same day.

Crocodile’s menu is “Santa Barbara style Italian,” according to Scott, and has been adapted to appeal to both locals and travelers.

Pastas, sauces, reductions, and salad dressings are all made in-house. A pizza oven churns out a variety of pies, including a vegetarian pizza, which boasts zucchini and peppers grown at The Farm, as are the margherita tomatoes and basil. All the salads feature Farm-fresh greens.

“We’re testing what grows well and where on-site,” he adds. “We are getting a good feeling for the volume of what we use.” It is, after all, the garden’s first full year.

“Growing fresh, pesticide-free food makes sense,” Scott notes. “Fresh is more than just looking good. It’s about reducing our imports, not trucking produce across the state. It’s about growing it in the a.m., and having it on the table in the p.m.”

He recalls that his parents were proponents of buying organic food from the farmers. “In the 1960s, we’d drive to Carpinteria and load up on fresh produce,” he recalls.

Now, with sons Conrad and Carl, the Perry family has gone back to farming, albeit on a small scale.

“Dad’s out there harvesting everything himself,” says Conrad. “At some point, we’ll have to get some help with the maintenance,” he teases his father, who doesn’t take the bait.

“We want to keep our customers alive,” intones Scott. “Live food. Live people. It makes perfect sense.” He walks out into the sunlit patio, where diners eat al fresco on food he harvested with his own hands. He’s still a farmer.

Crocodile Restaurant at the Lemon Tree Inn, 2819 State Street, 687-6444, www.crocsb.com

From the seed...

BeforeScott Perry put a plant in the ground of his new garden, he contacted Oscar Carmona to supply the seedlings. They knew each other from the Farmers Market, and their new collaboration on Perry’s garden has been literally… fruitful.

“We have a great connection,” says Carmona whose Healing Grounds Nursery (www. healinggroundsnursery.com) was one of the first certified organic nurseries on the Central Coast. He also teaches Sustainable Landscaping courses at Santa Barbara City College.

“I consult with him on soil fertility, microbiology, and plant selection,” Carmona adds, “It’s ongoing. He listens, and I listen. Then he translates what is going on in the garden to his kitchen staff.”

The garden’s bounty is particularly delicious, notes Oscar, due to “green” gardening practices. “Some of our delicate greens you just can’t pay for, as they can’t be shipped” he adds. “But it’s easy for Scott to harvest and get them to the kitchen that day.” --JM

1012 State Street • 805 965-4351