The light softens, the oven warms, and the fields turn overflows with cool season vegetables. The café moves into a new rhythm. The hearth is on, the front window is open, and the village is your dining room. Order at the window, find a shaded table under the passion fruit vine, and we will bring your meal to you.
Our cooks pull from the fields each morning and keep it simple and soulful. Wood-fired pizza, roasted vegetables, bright salads, fresh pastas, and a few seafood specials when the boats come in. The bakery turns out farm bread, focaccia, morning buns, cookies, and other sweet and savory pastries. The coffee bar pours thoughtfully sourced coffee and tea. Fresh juices and agua fresca follow the harvest.
Come linger with friends or grab what you need and walk the grounds. However you join us, you are part of this place.
Start at the front window and ease into the day. Our coffee program honors the growers, the land and the craft, poured with care and served without fuss. Tea is steeped right, milks are organic with nut milks made daily, and every cup meets the morning where it is.
The bakery case is fuller than ever. Farm bread and focaccia. Morning buns, cookies, scones, and a few savory bites that shift with the harvest. Citrus, berries, and herbs find their way into jams and glazes.
Settle into the shade and linger, or take it to go. Fresh juices and agua fresca round things out. Simple. Fresh. Taken at your pace.
One continuous service from noon to evening. The hearth sets the tone. Naturally leavened, wood-fired pizza topped with what the fields are giving. Three bright salads. Vegetables roasted straight from the beds. Fresh pasta rolled on the farm. A seafood special when our friends in Dana Point bring the catch. A celebration of the farm for families and foodies.
Find a good table outside and settle in. Beer and wine available.
Reservations are NOT required for parties under 10. Please see Private Events below for larger groups.
Join us for an unforgettable experience as our Community Table series brings together a new lineup of world-class chefs to create an edible conversation between a farm, a chef, and the community. By inviting these culinary artists to the heart of our farm, we open doors to new ingredients, inspire them with our bio region’s historic foodways, and deepen their connection with the land. This intimate, family-style feast features thoughtfully crafted courses, showcasing the freshest farm produce.
$175 / Members $160. Reservation required.
Weekends on the farm call for something a little heartier. Our brunch keeps evolving, shaped by the season, the soil, and the hands in the kitchen. We do not follow a script. As farmers and cooks, we listen, adapt, and cook from the heart. It is improvisation in real time, rooted in what is fresh and what feels good.
On the table: farm eggs, warm breads, crisp greens, roasted vegetables, seasonal fruit, and a few sweet things from the bakery. Easy to share. Easy for families. Good with coffee or a glass of wine. Fall is full of flavor. Come find your way to the table.
We cultivate meaningful gatherings. Bring your family, friends, or colleagues to the farm to host a meaningful farm experience from lunches and dinners to special celebrations. Our private events support our farmers and deepen the connection between people, food, and the land.
From small group gatherings to large celebrations, The Ecology Center is a values-driven space to host your celebration. Our private gatherings lead with the story of the land and the flavors of San Juan Capistrano. We are eager to serve you and your community, please inquire.
Campesino = Of the Land
Used throughout Latin America, campesino is more than just a translation of the word farmer. As The Ecology Center founder Evan Marks learned during his travels in agroecological research, a person who says “soy campesino” is saying less about who they are individually, and more about what they belong to. Both a mark of humility and a badge of honor, campesino is a title for those who live in relationship to the land, day in and day out.
This café exists to honor and uplift those who do the life-giving work of stewarding the land—work that goes largely invisible in our current food system. We’ve built this community gathering space with the goal of supporting a living wage for all our agricultural workers. When you enjoy the nourishment offered here, you nourish the farmers who grew the coffee, tended the orchards, harvested the grain, and cared for the animals.
Thank you for helping us make the difference that ensures an abundant future for these farmers and their families. By modeling a food system in which land stewards receive the respect and compensation their work deserves, we can inspire a new generation of conscious community farmers to keep this lineage alive.