Ghost Ranch’s Valentine’s Day weekend package for two includes two nights lodging, meals starting with check-in and dinner Friday, Feb. 11; includes meals through breakfast Sunday, Feb. 13: a special Valentine’s dinner with live music Saturday Feb. 12. From more information, click here. Courtesy image
Ghost Ranch News:
ABIQUIU –– Ghost Ranch Education & Retreat Center announced this week that expert chef and first-level sommelier Patrick Gharrity has joined the team to oversee Ghost Ranch’s kitchen and foodservice operation.
Gharrity comes from Santa Fe’s award-winning restaurant, La Casa Sena, and plans to bring his love of fresh ingredients and Southwestern and Asian flavors to the ranch’s dining experience.
Ghost Ranch serves more than 100,000 meals a year to retreat guests who come to learn while experiencing the majesty of the red rock landscape made famous by artist Georgia O’Keeffe.
“We brought Patrick on board to help us elevate the Ghost Ranch dining experience, to serve the diverse nutritional needs of our guests. We are working with Patrick to include food wellness to feed body and spirit,” Ghost Ranch Executive Director Paul Fogg said.
Gharrity’s food philosophy includes starting with quality ingredients and letting their natural flavors shine.
“If you get good ingredients there’s not much you can do to make it better than it is,” he said.
Gharrity’s interest in working with fresh ingredients will lead to more vegan and gluten-free menu items, too.
“We want to take good care of people,” he said.
At the start of the pandemic, Gharrity grew a quarter-acre garden in Arroyo Seco, filled with varieties of tomatoes, lettuces, radishes and kale. While at the ranch, Gharrity hopes to increase the variety of menu offerings and continue the ranch’s tradition of good stewardship by supporting local vendors whenever possible and eliminating waste.
Gharrity first came to the ranch with a group of chefs to do a multi-course dinner for the Museum. However, Gharrity has had New Mexico as a dream destination since a family vacation when he was 10.
“My parents let me go to the Santa Fe Plaza on my own with some money and I bought a hat,” Gharrity said. “And I thought this was the coolest place ever.”
After 22 years in the Land of Enchantment, Gharrity is living on the ranch and will be joined by his two children, son Marley, 16, and daughter, Meliya, 14, whenever possible. They are looking forward to exploring the ranch as a family.
Gharrity spoke of blending his experience with the kitchen’s potential to expand into areas on the ranch that have previously been handled by caterers.
“I’ve worked in fine dining for most of my career,” Gharrity said, adding that he looks forward to the challenge and opportunity of bringing his skills to the Ghost Ranch kitchen and sharing quality food with the guests.
Gharrity began his career in Ohio during college when he worked as a dishwasher while completing a Fine Arts degree at Ohio Wesleyan. Gharrity said watching the chefs ignited his passion for cooking and restaurant work.
“After six months, I was hooked,” he said.
Instead of culinary school, Gharrity opted for on-the-job training, spending 13 years with the 55 Restaurant Group in Columbia before moving to Santa Fe to learn and grow in the city’s expansive restaurant scene.
At La Casa Sena, Gharrity started as a pastry chef. He moved from pastry chef to sous chef and then took over from a departing head chef. Gharrity also ran a food truck for Dr. Field Goods, a farm-to-table restaurant in Santa Fe. The gamut of Gharrity’s experience also includes working in high concept gastronomy, but his overall focus is natural ingredients and authentic flavor.
“I’ve played with the powders and made the spheres and I’ve eaten a 24-course meal. But those folks aren’t inventing flavors,” he said.
Gharrity said that he is really enjoying working with the kitchen team already on the ranch and is excited to learn from them and share his experiences. In his first months on the ranch, he’s been focused on “getting to know the staff and working on creating a solid base of kitchen organization.”
Ultimately, while Gharrity has worked in fine dining for most of his career, he said he is most excited to become part of the ranch community that blends art, spirituality, education and a deep appreciation for the beauty of the natural world.
“These are real people,” he said of the staff and guests at the ranch. “People I can relate to.”
After serving several months of buffet-style menus at Ghost Ranch, a culinary experience weekend package for the pre-Valentine’s Day Weekend featuring a special Patrick Gharrity five-course menu is open to a limited number of guests.
Event link: https://www.ghostranch.org/events/valentines-day-weekend-packageg220231
