Malibu Farm ~ Part 1

The Malibu Farm is a culmination of all the wonderful things about our fair city. The location is on the old Malibu Pier, the decor is a clean California design mixed with touches of Swedish chic by Vanessa Alexander, and the delicious farm to table food is prepared by Helene Henderson. The recent renovations of the Malibu Pier have brought this old relic up to speed, and make this a perfect weekend excursion. You can fish at the end of the pier after having a delicious brunch or lunch at the Farm. My mother went into labor with me just a block away from the pier, so for me Malibu will always be home away from home. Now with the organic food movement taking roots here so beautifully with places like One Gun Ranch and Malibu Farm, we all have options for a weekend day trip. In part 2 we will have the recipes from Helene’s delicious cafe and a surprise visit with one of my favorite families we ran into there.

For more organic recipes, hand crafted foods and local restaurants, see The Local Rose.

1) What inspired you to open Malibu Farms? I did not open Malibu Farm – it just grew….organically. I was working in private chef work and started teaching cooking classes just for fun. Someone suggested I start a blog to post the class recipes and everything just grew from there. The classes let to a dinner, and then more and more dinners and then there was a pop up cafe, which was first going to be 3 days, that kept getting extended.

2) Does your Swedish upbringing come through the decor or recipes at the restaurant?
Vanessa Alexander did the interior design. As far as the food goes, the swedish part of me always wants a “smorgasbord”, which is a selection of small dishes. I can not eat just one things on my plate – so all our dishes come with a small arugula side salad, and either baby potatoes, broccoli mashed potatoes or black and white rice. As a swede I LOVE LOVE LOVE potatoes.

3) You always get your produce directly from local farmers. Does this influence what’s on the menu? We get arugula from Maggies farm, which we use masses of. Right now we get oranges and strawberries from Larry Thorne, but in the summer he will have tomatoes, and kale as well. From One gun ranch we get passion fruits, and from Weiser farm we get potatoes. I am super excited for spring and summer to come as the local offerings will increase and we will definitely change the menu then to incorporate. From our own farm we have eggs, citrus, grapes, raspberries, lots and lots of fruits, persimmon, peaches, apricots, avocados as well as carrots, beets, and chard.

4) Do you have a Swedish beauty secret? – haha – i have no beauty secrets or tips, other than:
good sleep + no smoking + very little drinking + healthy foods + some exercise =  love the way you are
I almost never wear make up, my hair is pretty much always in a pony tail, and I am not very fashionable, I basically wear a “uniform” every day, jeans, t-shirt and converse. Sadly, standing on my feet all day, I now have to wear more sturdy hiking boots – not very attractive.
I hate cloth shopping and wish I had a secret fairy stylist that would shop for me and arrange my wardrobe. I totally appreciate fashion and beauty and aspire to to one day pay more attention to my looks.

5) What or where is your favorite meal? – I am all about simplicity, salt, oil and lemon are all the seasonings I need. I don’t like fussy restaurant meals. My favorite meal is at home, just picking something simple from the garden, and seasoning it very lightly. I love to eat outdoors in a garden, which makes every meal magical.

6) What can you tell people who feel eating organically is more challenging?Growing some of your own food, at least once, is a great experience. I used to think that farmers market produce was expensive. Now when I know how much work is involved, especially in harvesting, which is the most challenging part for me – now i think the farmers market it is soooo cheap, so back yard farming definitely changes your perspective.

I think for most families it is probably not economically feasible to eat all organics, and I don’t think there is a reason to be totally hysterical about it either. As a general we are so blessed to live a life where a discussion about organics vs organics is even taking place, and we should feel good about whatever amount of organic products we are able to include in our lives.

7) What is your dream vacation? Hmmmm, I love the hustle and bustle of Asia. We went to Vietnam a few years back, I love it there and I am always in a fantasy I will get to go back there and live there for 6 months. I also love snow, which reminds me of Sweden, so anywhere it is snowing is a great vacation.

8) Are you a mermaid or forest fairy? Most definitely a forest fairy. I Love the forest, the sea not so much, so it is rather funny that I now find myself on a pier.