The Restaurant at Edna brings farm-fresh dining and local wines to Edna Valley

While Edna Valley has long been famous for its vineyards, chefs Jeremy Fox and Matthew Schaler are bringing a fusion of Los Angeles dining and San Luis Obispo agriculture to the table.

Nestled among 40 acres of vineyards along Biddle Ranch Road, the new culinary destination officially opened on Nov. 5. Led by partner and Culinary Director Jeremy Fox alongside Executive Chef Matthew Schaler, the 50-seat dining destination offers a produce-forward menu shaped by the Central Coast’s agriculture industry. 

Set against the backdrop of the Santa Lucia Mountains, the restaurant serves seasonal dishes, regional wines and house-made preserves.

“Edna Valley is idyllic in so many ways, but what really drew us here is the community and the shared respect for the land,” said Fox, a seven-time James Beard Award nominee for exceptional culinary talent. “There are incredible farmers, growers, and makers throughout the region, and we hope The Restaurant at Edna can generate even more excitement for local agriculture.”

The Restaurant at Edna started with a long-standing partnership between Fox and Schaler. The two spent more than five years working at Birdie G’s, a traditional American restaurant in Santa Monica. 

When the opportunity came to establish a destination in San Luis Obispo, Schaler moved north to lead the kitchen’s day-to-day operations, while Fox split his time between Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo to oversee culinary strategy across the estate.

“Matthew is one of the most talented and responsible chefs I have ever worked alongside, with a calm demeanor,” Fox said. “After the better part of a decade working together, we share a common language as it pertains to food as well as execution.”

Schaler grew up in Florida surrounded by his family’s restaurant operations, before getting an economics degree. He started his career in Asheville, North Carolina, under chef John Fleer at Rhubarb, a New American restaurant. He then moved to Southern California to work under chef Miles Thompson at Michael’s Santa Monica, another New American restaurant, and later alongside Fox. 

“Working with chef Fox has been the longest working partnership I’ve had,” Schaler said. “He has helped me reach a high level as both a technician and leader. I’m lucky to call him a mentor and friend.”

The kitchen emphasizes their commitment to sustainability, seasonality, and zero-waste cooking. Fox, whose 2017 cookbook On Vegetables shared his seed-to-stalk method with cooks worldwide, said he hopes to apply that vision to Edna. 

According to Schaler and Fox, every plant component finds a purpose. Cover crops grown around estate vineyards are harvested for crispy fritters served with sea urchin remoulade. Verjus, a nonalcoholic juice made from unripened wine grapes, becomes the glaze for charcoal-grilled chicken. 

The restaurant’s signature dish, the Edna Salad, reflects Schaler’s career, he said.

“I’m excited for our lettuces because this is a dish that helped me get my job at Birdie G’s and is a great example of my style,” Schaler said. “We make a beet French dressing that is more delicious than interesting. It’s a salad based on my childhood love of salad bars. Pickled beets and French dressing were usual suspects.”

‘We showcase Central Coast produce and craft, staying guided by a long-standing ethos of sustainability and seasonality.’
—Matthew Schaler, executive chef

The restaurant featured regional produce throughout the opening-night menu, with laminated buttermilk sea biscuits, mushroom ravioli, stuffed petrale sole, prime California beef, and Paris-Brest for dessert.

Rather than using fixed recipes, Schaler and Fox let the Central Coast’s seasonal fluctuations dictate the menu. Central to this approach is extensive in-house storage filled with hand-crafted pickles, fermented foods, and preserves.

“We will plan our menu without an end goal but rather let availability and ripeness dictate our cooking,” Schaler said. “There will also be an extensive larder, a collection of pickles, preserves, and condiments that we make. These ingredients help make the food uniquely ours and let us preserve peak produce for later use.”

The kitchen partners with nearby farms and producers, including City Farm SLO for seasonal vegetables, Stepladder Creamery for regional cheeses, Wayward Baking for hearth breads, and Mighty Cap Mushrooms. They also use organic lavender from Edna Valley’s Cavalli Estates and stone fruit from Frog Hollow Farm in Northern California. 

“We want the food at The Restaurant at Edna to feel special but most importantly, delicious,” Schaler said. “There will be a focus on cooking as a craft and using technique to make an ingredient or a dish better, never simply to show what we can do.”

Around the restaurant, diners can find persimmons, which Fox and Schaler incorporate into their seasonal pantry and repeatedly place out to air-dry using the traditional Japanese practice of hoshigaki. 

When focusing on his team, Schaler hopes to build a supportive kitchen environment.

“I want to continue my growth in supporting a team’s development,” he said. “Laughter is one of my biggest goals. I want the restaurant to be a place that generates excitement for every person in the building.”

Fox and Schaler hope to create a welcoming space for the community to come to the table.

“My goal for The Restaurant at Edna is to establish ourselves as a community hub, with multiple avenues to experience Edna at varying price points,” Fox said. 

Every visitor is an opportunity to connect people to Edna Valley, he noted.

“Whether a guest joins us for dinner, a glass of wine, or lunch at the market,” Fox said, “we hope they leave feeling a little more connected to this place than when they arrived.” ∆

Flavor writer Sam Fickett’s favorite dish is the sea biscuits. Reach her at sfickett@newtimesslo.com.

This article appears in Nov 12-19, 2026.