Menlo Park, California – Located in the exclusive Rosewood Sand Hill hotel, near the picturesque Santa Cruz Mountains and just a stone’s throw from the hustle and bustle of Silicon Valley, Madera Restaurant pushes the boundaries of hyper-local cuisine by sourcing 97% of its ingredients 500 miles from its location just outside Palo Alto.
“I think for us at Madeira the cuisine is really driven by the product,” said Executive Chef Romain Petri. “Everything we use comes from here. So it’s really a tribute to the rich traditions of the Bay Area and California as a whole and all the people who make this area so special.”
Petrie, a German native who has spent decades working in Michelin-level restaurants across Europe and Asia, said the key to his cuisine is not to overdo the ingredients, letting their freshness and quality shine.
In the kitchen, Petrie showcases a current menu item that reflects the spirit of Madeira, where he poachs freshly caught Half Moon Bay halibut filets in olive oil sourced from Sonoma County, and serves them with butter beans from Iacoppi Farms — also from Half Moon Bay — and porcini mushrooms grown in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
“The fun thing is if you come here and look at the mountains, you can see where everything on the plate comes from,” Petrie said.
In fact, the setting is just as important as the components of the overall experience. Spanning 16 lush acres, Rosewood Sand Hill is a quick drive for diners from Menlo Park, Palo Alto, the South Bay and the San Francisco Peninsula.
“The minute you get out of your car and come here, you can relax. You can breathe the fresh air from all the redwood trees around us,” Petrie said.
Other highlights of the hotel include Madera Bar and its dedicated bar program showcasing local spirits producers, distilleries and wineries.
“What I really want people to experience is a sense of place,” Petrie says. “For me, the most memorable meals are when you travel somewhere and you lean back, have fun and feel like you’re part of something.”
He learns more here.