The Farmer and the Cook cookbook is the story of a restaurant told through its recipes. What began as a little organic grocery store-café on the 'wrong side of town' has become one of Ojai's most beloved gathering places — a kitchen where Mexican traditions, Colombian roots, and the cuisines of a core crew of immigrant chefs come together in dishes that feel like they should be secret.
Inside you'll find the recipes that have built a cult following over two decades: the omnivore-converting vegan Caesar dressing, the beet chocolate cake twice as big as your head, the best veggie burger you've ever had, and Lupe's mole. Each one nourishing, gorgeous, and drawn from ingredients grown on the farm down the road.
This is a book about what happens when local food meets global imagination — when cooks from around the world find themselves in the same kitchen, and the sharing that happens there ends up on your plate.
These recipes will feed your belly and your soul.
— Liz O.
Inside the Book
What you'll find inside
206 pages of organic, farm-to-table recipes from Ojai.
The Farmer and the Cook cookbook gathers the dishes that have defined the restaurant for over twenty years — from the Mexican café menu that anchors the kitchen to the salads, soups, and baked goods that change with the seasons. Paired with farm stories and the voices of the people who make it all happen.
Inside you'll find breakfast staples and hearty entrées, vibrant salads and handmade tortillas, salsas and sauces, cakes and cookies — all organic, many vegan and gluten-free.
By Olivia Chase, with photography by Justin Bastien and Ian Hughes.
Farmer and the Cook's dishes themselves burst with color and equally vibrant flavor. The main cafe menu is Mexican. Other recipes featured here draw on Olivia's Colombian roots and the cuisines of a core crew of tenured immigrant chefs at the heart of the kitchen, almost entirely women. This food has won a cult following that exceeds its base of local regulars. These recipes feel like they should be secret. They are nourishing, gorgeous, and often iconic.
Maybe it was twenty years ago when this little organic grocery store-cafe opened at the end of my street. I decided to support them, even though they opened the store on the 'wrong side of town'. The fridge was blinking, but right from the start, I was rooting for them and kept coming back. Little did I know, that today it would become my favorite place to eat without a doubt. These recipes will feed your belly and your soul.
At the core of these recipes is that it is truly delicious to have food that comes from local sources but is informed by global imagination. These influences cross borders and reflect the sharing that occurs when cooks from around the world find themselves in the same kitchen. 'Farm to Table' has become a cliché but, well before it was such a well-known phrase, this is how we ate.
Book Details
- Format
- Hardcover
- Dimensions
- 8" × 10"
- Pages
- 206
- ISBN
- 979-8-218-27088-9
- Published
- 2025
Bring the kitchen home
The recipes, the farm stories, and the spirit of Ojai — all in one hardcover collection.
$36.00
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