chefs

for johnny schmitt, family and cooking have always gone hand-in-hand. the son of don and sally schmitt, former owners of the french laundry, johnny grew up working in the family restaurant. at 18 he struck out on his own, rejecting classroom learning for the real thing, gaining cooking experience in france over the course of multiple visits before buying the boarded up boonville hotel with his wife jeanne in 1989.

melinda ellis cooked with johnny at the boonville hotel over ten years ago, and at the french laundry with don and sally schmitt before that. since then she baked with glenn mitchell, worked as a private chef, and created melinda ellis cakes, baking magnificent wedding cakes for brides on the mendocino coast. now she has returned to the hotel to pursue some of her dearest loves: shortening the distance between farm and table, savoring food at its freshest, and feeding one and all as if they were family.