In the foothills of San Simeon, on California’s Central Coast and just a few miles east of the Pacific Ocean, Rajat Parr is driving a tractor through vineyard rows, spraying a homemade concoction of milk thistle, willow branch and stinging nettles that he fermented in seawater.
This is Phelan Farm, where Parr—who was born in Kolkata, educated in New York and rose to fame in the restaurants of San Francisco—is tending