Book Information: My Nepenthe
My Nepenthe
Bohemian Tales of Food, Family, and Big Sur
by Romney Steele
Price: $35.00
ISBN-13: 978-0-7407-7914-5
ISBN-10: 0-7407-7914-1
Format: Hardcover
Size: 7 3/8 X 9 5/8 in.
Page Count: 352 pages
My Nepenthe Reviews
“[My Nepenthe is] the memoir of a very special place, Nepenthe, a restaurant perched on a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in California’s Big Sur area. It’s also a cookbook, with recipes from the restaurant and the family of author Romney Steele, whose grandparents opened the restaurant in 1949 and ran it until their deaths in the 1980s, when their children and grandchildren took it over. … With its fabulous stories and fun recipes, I promise that you will be enchanted.” ––Canning Across America http://bit.ly/a98E2z
“There are many famous restaurants in California but Nepenthe which is perched on the majestic cliffs of Big Sur is somehow even more special. … Then as now, it was a favorite gathering place for writers, travelers, actors, dancers, and people who enjoyed both good company and good food. Romney Steele’s new cookbook is more than just a collection of recipes. It is more like a scrapbook which is filled with old family photographs, memories, and fragments of the legendary restaurant’s past. Since Romney grew up in the restaurant, her collection is as personal as a love letter and in some ways that’s exactly what it is, a love letter to both a place and time.” ––Tucson Citizen http://bit.ly/93lV6K
My Nepenthe: Bohemian Tales of Food, Family, and Big Sur
My Nepenthe weaves together stories and tales about the famous California restaurant perched on the majestic cliffs of Big Sur. It celebrates the magic and history of place through food and the Fassett family who started Nepenthe.
In 2009 Nepenthe commemorates sixty years of bringing writers, artists, dancers, travelers, actors, and cooks together around the table. Today about 250,000 people visit Nepenthe every year.
A lyrical feast written by the owners’ granddaughter, Romney Steele, who grew up at the restaurant, My Nepenthe is as much about a family enterprise as it is about the Fassett family and their legacy. It recounts stories about the family’s more than sixty-year history on the coast, the arts and architecture, and the colorful people who were the genesis of this legendary restaurant.
My Nepenthe marks the restaurant’s vibrant past as a gathering place and noted bohemian haunt, and its foray into the film industry during the shooting of The Sandpiper, featuring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. It also explores the lively scene that played out into the ’70s, and onward through the current decade where it showcases Nepenthe’s unique relationship with Pisoni Vineyards, owned by the renowned winemaker family. My Nepenthe includes more than seventy-five special recipes from the Fassetts, the restaurant, and the café, along with spectacular photography that completes the tale.
Ultimately, My Nepenthe is a story about food, family, and the culture of place, and how it all unfolds around the table and why that matters.
About Nepenthe and Romney Steele
About Nepenthe
Located on the Big Sur cliffs 808 feet above the Pacific Ocean, Nepenthe Restaurant boasts sweeping views of the rugged Santa Lucia Mountains and the wild south coast of Monterey County. Angular mountains plunge into the crashing surf below, and on a clear day there is no limit to the scenery, unspoiled and immense in nature. Opened in 1949 by the Fassett family, the restaurant is nestled among native oak trees and a historic log cabin (now faced by brick) that was once owned by Orson Welles and Rita Hayworth.
About the Romney Steele
Romney Steele is a writer, cook, and food stylist, and the granddaughter of Bill and Lolly Fassett, creators of Nepenthe Restaurant. Nani, as she is known to family and friends, grew up at the family restaurant and opened Café Kevah, an outdoor café on the Nepenthe grounds, when she was twenty-six years old. She later served as a pastry chef at Sierra Mar Restaurant at neighboring Post Ranch Inn. Her writing has appeared in various print magazines, including Gourmet, and online at MSNBC. She currently lives in Oakland, California, with her two children.
My Family’s Story
The Fasset Family, 1966
Growing up at Nepenthe, I recall no singular moment of awe at seeing the view for the first time, no marvel at the experience in the same way as someone visiting. Instead, it was when guests arrived: the famous and not-so-famous, the movie stars, writers, travelers, old friends, and “rugged individualists,” as my grandmother called the many colorful people who passed through Nepenthe’s doors.
My family’s story in Big Sur began in 1947, when my grandparents William and Madeleine Fassett, better known as Bill and Lolly, bought a rustic log cabin on a grassy knoll surrounded by oak trees, and moved in with their five children: Griff, Kaffe, Dorcas, Holly, and Kim, my mother, who was just nine months old. The cabin, built in 1925 by homesteader Sam Trotter for the Trails Club, overlooks the south coast of Monterey County. Now faced by brick, for many years it was an overnight resting place for travelers and hikers, and a summer retreat for club members. With its unparalleled view, it was also a favorite picnic spot for day visitors, which was how my grandparents discovered it.
Bats and termites called the cabin home, and deer and rattlesnakes hovered. My grandmother refused to return until they were cleared out. Inside was a formidable wooden chest lined with tin for storing food and supplies. Right off, they added a covered porch so they could remove rain gear and heavy coats before entering the cabin. Soon after, my grandmother planted a grapevine, which continues to trail up the front arbor. She also made plans to add rooms on the western slope, enlisting her dear friend, the artist Douglas Madsen, to help. My grandfather, meanwhile, took jobs on the highway and in construction. The creation of Nepenthe Restaurant would follow, a poet’s paradise carved from the hillside and formed to be one with land and sea.
Nepenthe’s “Gay Pavilion”
Folk dancing played a major role in the myth and legend of Nepenthe. My family taught the guests the Rye Waltz, the Cotton-Eyed Joe, and other popular dances such as the rumba, tango, and Varsuviana, and they joined in accordingly. The Fassett kids performed almost nightly. “My youngest daughter, Kim, will now dance with her older brother Kaffe,” my grandfather would announce over the loudspeaker, and everyone would stop to watch.
As a teenager, Uncle Kaffe brought ethnic folk dance to the mix. He attended the arts-oriented Happy Valley School in Ojai, where he was taught Ukrainian dance as part of the curriculum. In turn, he taught everyone back at home. When the music came on, waiters, dishwashers, bartenders, and cooks danced. “Everyone would drop what they were doing,” recalled my aunt Holly.
Cole Weston’s first wife, Helen, worked at Nepenthe as a waitress. She wore bright red underwear beneath her long black skirts that showed when she twirled. My grandmother bought her girls red underwear, too, and once a customer complained that kids on the terrace were showing off their underclothes, not realizing it was part of the act.
Henry Miller, who frequented Nepenthe as his favorite watering hole, applauded the Fassett children in Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch, his book about living in Big Sur: “As it is, they have a wonderful roller-skating rink in the dance floor, which adjoins the dining room and bar outdoors. Evenings, before the place gets too crowded, the whole gang of them entertains the guests doing folk dances. They have a repertoire which would do credit to a professional dancer. To watch Kim, the youngest, who is still only a bit of a tot, is a delight. She floats about as if she were in heaven. They need no supervision and they get none. When they’re weary they retire, to listen in quiet to a Beethoven quartet, Sibelius or an album of Shankar.”
Lolly’s Roast Chicken with Sage Stuffing
From My Nepenthe: Bohemian Tales of Food, Family, and Big Sur by Romney Steele
This is my grandmother’s recipe and a long-standing house favorite for dinner. Each guest receives half a roasted chicken served on a bed of moist sage stuffing with cranberry sauce. On holidays, it is served throughout the day, and guests travel from far away just to have it. I have adapted this recipe to serve a family at home using one whole chicken, split in half.
Serves 4 t o 6
Stuffing
3 tablespoons butter
1½ large onions, chopped
4 ribs celery, chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage, or 2 teaspoons dried
4–5 cups croutons, preferably sourdough
¼–½ cup chicken broth (optional)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Chicken
1 (4–5 pound) roasting chicken, split, backbone removed
2–3 tablespoons butter, softened
Paprika
Chopped fresh sage
Preheat the oven to 450°F. To make the stuffing, melt the butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high. Add the onion, celery, and sage, and sauté until very soft. Add half the croutons, stir well, and then add the remaining croutons. Remove from the heat. Stir in the broth if needed, and season with salt and pepper. Cover and let sit for 10 minutes. Stir again to distribute the moisture evenly and cover again. When ready to use, transfer the stuffing to a baking dish or large cast-iron skillet that holds both chicken halves.
To make the chicken, rinse the chicken with cold water and pat it dry. Rub softened butter all over the chicken and under its skin. Season all over with salt and pepper. Place the chicken on top of the stuffing and sprinkle with the paprika and the sage. Roast for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375°F. Continue roasting for about 45 minutes, or until the chicken is golden-brown and the juices run clear when the meatiest part of the thigh is pricked with a fork. Cover with foil if the chicken is browning too quickly. When ready, serve the chicken directly from the baking dish set on a hot plate at the center of the table, or transfer the chicken to a cutting board and cut into pieces, then place the chicken on a platter with the stuffing. If roasting a whole bird, allow it to rest 10 to 15 minutes before carving.
