![]() ![]() Smoked coho salmon / cream cheese / horseradish / dill lemon juice / chives / marbled rye / garlic oil Vegan beet butter / pickled fennel / arugula pine nuts / black sesame seeds / dill / tangerine / whole grain toast / za’atar spice blend * Sweet-chili marinated, wasabi mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus *Ĭorn, pepitas, tempeh, squash, zucchini, red bell, chimichurri. ( certified humane, antibiotic/hormone-free )Ĭhimichurri, gaucho salad, yukon russet mashed potatoes * Peri peri sauce, broccolini, yukon russet mashed potatoes ( certified organic, free-range, non-gmo ) Sautéed spinach, yukon russet mashed potatoes * bone-in duroc pork, cajun rubbed, char-grilled, cran-mango compote, ( certified sustainable, antibiotic/hormone-free )ġ2 oz. Sesame-crusted ahi, soba noodles, ponzu, wasabi aioli * Pan-seared, pepita crust, preserved lemon & butter pan sauce, seasonal organic vegetable Yukon russet mashed potatoes, lemon butter * “That’s what you’re doing when you come here.Salmon, creamed corn & red bell cajun sauce, “It’s like stepping back in time,” Jeff says. With the music of George Jones and Johnny Cash pumped in through the overhead speakers, hungry people settle in under a string of lights that glow overhead like lightning bugs. On a busy night, The Range now serves as many as 177 tables of customers eager for a taste of the countryside in a coastal California area dominated by avocado toasts and charcuterie boards.ĭespite the hardships created for local restaurants by COVID-19, which shuttered many successful businesses, the legacy of The Range and Jeff’s no fuss approach to keeping on have allowed the restaurant to survive another year. “I thought, ‘What did I do?’”Īfter that debut, he properly staffed the restaurant and held on tightly, as the community around him grew and tourists from neighboring wine country began to trickle in for a nice roast chicken dinner and glass of vino. “It was just me and one other guy that night,” Jeff recalls. When the Jacksons opened The Range in 2004, they expected no more than a handful of people to stop in, so they were shocked to welcome over 70 customers the first night. Many of the restaurant’s offerings feature local produce and protein, as well as honey from nearby almond groves and wine from San Luis Obispo County vineyards. Louis ribs and a filet with Gorgonzola cheese and wine sauce. While his wife runs the front of the house, Jeff is in the kitchen cooking menu items like Angus beef carpaccio, pomegranate BBQ St. I’m just using crawfish, not langoustine.” What may seem like an odd pair, if not an impossible coupling, is an obvious match to Jeff, who points to a common link. The old burger shack became the perfect spot for him and his wife, Lindsay, to serve what he envisioned as “hillbilly meets French fusion.” “When we moved here, it was very oaky, drunks passed out in the front,” Jeff reminisces about moving to town nearly two decades ago. “You know what they say, when God hates you, he gives you a restaurant,” Jeff says.īut Jeff ultimately sold his share of the restaurant and set his sights on a small lot in what was then, by his own account, a “one-horse town.” Jeff later co-owned a restaurant in Los Osos called Mare Blu, which one Yelp reviewer hailed as “the most unpretentious breakfast and food in the county.” The unpretentious vibe seems to follow Jeff wherever he goes.Īnd he did continue to go, go, go. “I’m not an artist but I saw those plates and said, ‘I want to do that,’” he recalls. The exposure to such exquisitely plated cuisine was captivating. Since he was old enough to work outside of the home, Jeff found himself in the kitchens of French restaurants in Southern California. “We picked peas while watching the TV,” he says. Jeff, a self-described hillbilly, remembers growing up on a farm, where he and his family butchered their own rabbits and harvested vegetables. In what was formerly the drive-thru of a burger joint on the small town’s main street, Jeff sits at a wood-planked table in his restaurant’s patio area. Jeff Jackson, the owner of this country-style Santa Margarita institution, appreciates a simpler life, one that’s not complicated by credit cards, cellphones or computers for that matter. When the check arrives at the table after a steak dinner at The Range restaurant, don’t expect to pay the bill with plastic. ![]()
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