Valley Kitchen

General Notes

Valley Kitchen is the restaurant at the Carmel Valley Ranch. The ratings on google aren't great and I didn't have super high expectations coming into this place, but the food + experience was actually quite good. Not all the dishes were hits, but overall the food was solid (although I would recommend focusing on the starters and desserts, not the mains), the vibes of the restaurant are amazing, and the service is good. Would come back when staying on the property again. I would not recommend coming here for lunch, though. The service is not as attentive and the menu is much more limited. They recently hired a new chef and pastry chef around October 2025, and my second visit definitely showed a significant improvement. The pastry chef is awesome, the desserts are great and really showcase the local ingredients well.

Negatives

> Some of the chairs are _really_ low to the ground, you'll feel that the table is really high. You can ask them for a cushion.

Dishes Tasted

• ★★☆☆ hot pastrami -- Swiss & American Cheese, Sauerkraut, CVR Special Sauce, Marble Rye. Pastrami was not quite as juicy / tender as I would have hoped and it needed a bit more sauerkraut, but overall good.
• ★★★☆ avocado toast -- Hass Avocado Smash, Arugula, CVR Olive Oil, Meyer Lemon Zest, Marinated Garden Veggies, Toasted Country Loaf + smoked salmon. That was a very generous portion of smoked salmon
• ★★★★ lemon meringue tart -- Lemon and CVR Lavender Curd, Torched Meringue, White Chocolate Chantilly, Blueberry Pate de Fruit, Fresh Blueberry. This was so good, the lavender flavor was particularly pronounced.
• ★★★☆ buttermilk fried chicken -- sauteed greens, five cheese orechiette. Chicken was fried well (boneless, all thigh), although not super juicy. The five cheese orechiette was surprisingly delicious, especially with all the crispy bits from the batter and some others.
• ★★☆☆ maple leaf duck -- The duck breast was good, but the confit leg was not. It was a bit dry and stringy.
• ★☆☆☆ ranch + sea -- Roasted Crispy Pork, Scallop, Celeriac Puree, Roasted Sunchoke, Pickled Peppers, Basquaise Sauce. This felt a little off, the texture of the roast pork and the flavor combinations of the dish were not quite there.
• ★★★☆ clam chowder -- I'm not the biggest clam chowder person, but this was really good clam chowder
• ★★★☆ house-made CVR ricotta -- honeycomb, toasted lafayette bread, lardon, poached grape. The ricotta was really nice, and so was the honeycomb, which had so much honey and not a lot of glue.
• ★★★☆ crispy shrimp -- chili crisp, black garlic aioli, pickled red onion, cilantro. Excellent flavor and texture
• ★☆☆☆ rib eye -- served with mashed potatoes + broccolini. Apparently the ribeye is sous-vide'd, then seared. Unfortunately, the texture is lacking, it doesn't have a great crust. The flavor is ok, doesn't quite have that savory pop. It is a LARGE steak though, at around 14oz cooked.
• ★★☆☆ black cod -- tomato glaze, couscous, heirloom tomato, basil, pumpkin seeds. The black cod itself was SUPER juicy and tender. The rest of the dish was meh, not a big fan of the couscous + pumpkin seeds.
• ★★★☆ grilled caesar -- crispy kale, fried brussel sprouts, caesar dressing, sourdough crouton, parmesan. This is delicious
• ★★★★ andrew's cornbread bites -- whole corn kernels, cheddar cheese, CVR honey butter. Super soft on the inside, crispy on the outside. The honey butter and honey are excellent accompaniments
• ★★☆☆ chocolate cake -- not really sure what this was on the menu since it was given to us complimentary, but it was a chocolate cake with some ice cream on the side, the cacao nibs added a nice touch to it.