Dining at the Ravens: Over 150 Nourishing Vegan Recipes from the Stanford Inn by the Sea

Until this cookbook, I had not heard of The Ravens, a restaurant at America's only vegan resort. Now, I'm very much aware, and would welcome a visit. These recipes take a big step beyond basic: they are thoughtfully put together, thinking not only of taste but of presentation as well. This isn't a run-of-the-mill vegan cookbook; this will be a great book to bring out for special events, as the recipes are a little lux. (Featured Cookbook, "On the Table") Recommended By Tracey T., Powells.com

At The Ravens, dinner is more than just a meal. It’s a feast for your spirit.

Located on the Mendocino coast at the only vegan resort in the United States, The Ravens Restaurant at the Stanford Inn by the Sea embodies a mindful, compassionate, and sustainable dining experience in an enchanting and unforgettable setting. Now in Dining at The Ravens, Jeff and Joan Stanford, the Inn and restaurant founders, bring the Ravens culinary experience into your home.

Teeming with beautiful photographs, Dining at The Ravens features more than 150 delicious vegan recipes and shares the charming history of the Inn and restaurant, cooking tips for perfect recipe execution, and even inspiration for creating your own garden.

Discover one of the restaurant’s most popular breakfast dishes, Citrus Polenta with Braised Garden Greens and a Creamy Toasted Cashew Sauce, and many others, such as:

Ravens Sea Palm Strudel
Indian-Spiced Polenta Napoleon
Mushroom Pesto and Sun-Dried Tomato Burger
Ravens Spicy Peanut Curry Sea Palm
Sweet Summer Corn Bisque
Peach Huckleberry Cobbler

Pull up a seat and find out why vegans and non-vegans alike flock to The Ravens for an extraordinary dining experience.

"There is no place like the Stanford Inn. Jeff and Joan have built an amazing business rooted in compassion, sustainability, and wellness, and I absolutely love visiting. This book is an extension of their ideals and vegan lifestyle, and the delicious recipes show that living this way is enjoyable and enriching." Gene Baur, president and cofounder of Farm Sanctuary

"The recipes in Dining at The Ravens are a perfect mirror to the experience of staying at Stanford Inn: comforting, familiar, magical, and delightfully surprising. The tantalizing array of tastes showcased in this book are diverse enough to seduce the most seasoned gourmand, yet simple and approachable enough to be enjoyed by new fans of plant-based cuisine. If you can’t make the life-changing trip to visit the inn in Mendocino, this book gives you a beautiful glimpse of the culinary genius and natural beauty there!" Jason Wrobel, celebrity vegan chef and host of How to Live to 100 on Cooking Channel

"Finally, something different in the world of vegan cookbooks! While 30-minute weeknight meals have their place, sometimes you just want to roll up your sleeves and cook the comforting, delicious kind of food you’d get at a bed-and-breakfast. For that, Dining at The Ravens delivers—from homemade breads, to luxurious sauces and mains, to brunches you’ll want to share with friends—it’s all here. And it’s all healthy, whole, and compassionate. This is the kind of cooking I thought I’d never get to do again." Matt Frazier, vegan ultramarathoner and author of No Meat Athlete

"Jeff and Joan are true visionaries with the creation of The Stanford Inn and Ravens Restaurant. Their fine establishment embodies sustainable, compassionate and responsible living. The inspired recipes within these pages showcase how accessible and sumptuous plant-based eating can be. And now you can bring the sublime experience of dining at The Stanford Inn into your own kitchen. From inspired gourmet dishes to wholesome comfort food, there’s something here for everyone—and it’s all amazingly delicious and cruelty-free!" Jenny Brown, co-founder & executive director of Woodstock Farm Sanctuary and author of The Lucky Ones: My Passionate Fight for Farm Animals

Jeff and Joan Stanford came west to Carmel, California to find careers in education, agreeing to help manage a small inn while looking for work. Jobs were scarce, the United States was in recession, and they found themselves enjoying their guests and rehabilitating the property they managed. Looking to the future, they chose to continue inn-keeping, and by 1980 they were in Mendocino starting a family. Joan ran the front, while Jeff remodeled the inn and created their certified organic farm on the site of what had been known as the China Gardens during Mendocino’s logging era.

Understanding that their Inn was a destination, Jeff and Joan wanted to provide the highest quality food to their guests, which Jeff began cooking in the early 1990s. The restaurant followed their philosophy serving a whole food, plant based dishes designed to rival the cuisine found at the highest rated restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area. They discovered that many cooks can create great food, and they created a co-creative kitchen where all are invited to comment and tweak dishes. The final arbiter is Jeff, but the process is dynamic and assures that each person in the kitchen can express their creativity.