Swallows swoop. The sun yolk slides toward the sea. Wild rabbits bounce among native bush. The lush kitchen garden pops with life within view of the decks where diners soak it all in. 

Then a sequence of plates—scallop crudo, wild mushroom pizza and miso black cod among them—summon freshness, texture, creativity and comfort.

It all begs a question: How do you translate this alchemy to the uninitiated? 

It’s a challenging thing. In a good way. 

Describing Treebones Resort and its updated food program in full effect presents a challenge partly because it channels unexplainable Big Sur effectively.  

The New York Times took a stab at it in 2006, about a year after Treebones opened. Bonnie Tsui composed this passage:  

It took 20 years for John and Corinne Handy to secure the permits and capital to build Treebones — named for an old lumber mill at the site — but the result is a comfortable yet unobtrusive way to enjoy the stunning seascape. The yurts, circular tentlike structures similar to those used by Central Asian nomads, are updated here with modern amenities, including polished pine floors, French doors, reading lamps, colorful quilts, pillow top mattresses and clear domed roofs for sunlight by day and stargazing by night.

She wisely leaned on OG South Coast ambassador Henry Miller later in the piece, quoting his description of “a region where one is always conscious of weather, of space, of grandeur and of eloquent silence.”

At Treebones today, those big details are still there, powerful and unfiltered, joined by nourishment, wildlife, water and welcome. 

They work in concert with the little stuff: 

• The of-the-earth lodging, on the end of the land, that includes the Human Nest; 

• The self-guided tour map of the booming organic garden; 

• The spaghetti stir sticks for the Santa Cruz Roasting Co. coffee; 

• The life-affirming chia seed pudding at the breakfast buffet; 

• The 14-part rundown of day hikes and beach access points (and the made-to-order and fair-priced lunch boxes to take along); 

• The strategically placed Adirondack chairs that invite wanderers to pause and stare into the heart of Hart’s Rock, the ridge rising on the inland edge of the family property, named for Corinne’s dad. 

I’ve been pilgriming my way down to Treebones for the majority of my adult life. The Handy family who owns and operates it have become friends, to the point that years ago they invited me down to deliver the commencement address for their kids’ Pacific Valley School graduating class of…two. (More on that in a minute.)

They beckoned me back after we ran into each other at Big Sur Food & Wine’s Magic Mystery Tour, because they’re excited to share the talents of new chef Eric Brown, who is a year into leading The Lodge kitchen. (Yancy Knapp continues to sell out two omakase seatings nightly at neighboring Treebones Sushi, a bucket list sort-of-situation, if you can book it in time.)  

The personal invite felt fitting, because at Treebones the personal touch is as omnipresent as is the Pacific. It’s there in the staff recommendations for their favorite trails posted by the restrooms, and there in hiring said staff who clearly dig what they do, like yogini/do-it-all team member Daniel Duarte, who leads popular stretches regularly on the amphitheater stage and helps keep the property tidy. 

Chef Brown and his team didn’t disappoint. 

The pizza was pulled from a shiny new ruby red pizza oven that sits on the deck where the wooden bar and its stools overlook the ocean and the bunnies from above. 

It was fun to overhear Brown’s hand-picked pizza guru Thomas Mercado describe what he calls his “Ladybug,” with him testifying, “She takes all my time. If I had a girlfriend she’d be jealous.” 

Our thin pie enjoyed a nice char on the crust that complements the rich truffle oil, earthy mushroom and a medley of three cheeses. 

The scallop, with a Japanese green chile kiss and cherry blossom shoyu sauce, was both interesting and habit-forming. I wish there were more of it. (That said, order remorse over not choosing the hyper fresh “Garden Party” salad—with property greens and vegetables, preserved-lemon vinaigrette, marinated soft-boiled egg and edible flowers—was also real.) 

The black cod, not an easy fish to finesse, proved memorable, lifted by a 48-hour marinade in mirin and miso.

Brown spoke to a “simple but light” approach to his seafood plates when we talked later. 

“The scallop and the cod have to be the star,” he said. “If you start overpowering what the [main item] is, it takes away what the fish is supposed to taste like.” 

The international intuition in those dishes comes from his decade abroad, cooking in places like Dubai and Shanghai.

Meanwhile the gluten-free desserts—a server-recommended crème brûlée and a chocolate torte—were a thrill, and that’s coming from a non-sweet tooth. 

But perhaps most telling of the elements was the kale pesto on the harvest grains bowl. An arrangement of forbidden rice and garden lemon thyme over a butternut squash purée—arranged to look like a sunflower—seems basic enough flavor-wise but soars, pulled together by the somehow indulgent kale sauce. The pro move is to #orderextrapesto.  

The standing three-course tasting menu involves a choice of starters, mains and closers for $75 a person. For the meatier appetite, there is beef ribeye with a coffee-Aleppo pepper rub. Another eye-catcher: a rolled lasagna with fresh buffalo mozzarella, fontina and pecorino.

The menu I tried—which comes with suggested wine pairings repping small wineries from Carmel Valley, Paso Robles and Santa Barbara County, among others—gave way to a new summer slate last week.

Its highlights range from Pacific lump crab cakes with citrus edamame slaw to kimchi-laced barbecue-smoke tofu to a mango-pineapple-sweet soy wood-fired “huli huli” chicken. 

John Handy believes that the strength of The Lodge food under Brown’s leadership comes from both tangible and intangible sources, namely the garden and the chef’s approach. 

“At Treebones, his is the most challenging role to fill,” John says. “We were looking for a chef who would love the garden, get fresh stuff out of it and use it. But chefs tend to be hard on people. The chef’s relationship with the staff is as important as how good a cook you are.”

Brown says visitors unfamiliar with Treebones might be most surprised by the value that a $75 three-course brings. He adds that it doesn’t happen without chemistry— “I’m as good as my team, and it’s been pretty good so far”—and the soil it all comes from. 

“Our gardener [Aja Linder] harvests the freshest ingredients every morning, and with that I’m able to make some well-received food,” he says. “Having the organic garden is huge.”

Highway 1 and the accompanying cliffs, redwoods and Pacific provide a proper preamble to Treebones, stripping away lesser distractions and reminding visitors to revisit their infinitesimal place in the bigger picture.

That helped me focus enough to properly honor 2011 grads and twin brothers Luke and Mike Handy. On mic I turned to a classic theme—leaving your comfort zone to expand it—with two animal-kingdom anecdotes: How I survived a bull fighting assignment and a bear circling my tent on the Lost Coast.

The Handy family and Treebones have survived much to seed the resort, and to help it flourish.

That includes paralyzing permit headaches, which took five years before the California Coastal Commission hit pause for two more, only to approve a sea-adjacent project (a CCC rarity) because it 1) promised to leave the territory undeveloped; and 2) seized upon a newish conceit.

“There was pent-up demand for something environmentally friendly, for eco-tourism, and also ‘glamping,’ which wasn’t really a word when we built Treebones,” John says. “The concept became a trend—and in our research we discovered there’s a wide variety of businesses, all different, in Big Sur, but there was a gap, an opportunity for something really different.”

The evolution of Treebones, by necessity, also involves pioneering off-the-grid designs. 

The newest addition brings energy self-sufficiency via solar panels, a clean-burning propane micro turbine and a custom-built lithium iron phosphate state-of-the-art battery array.

The resort also survives a steady buffet of disasters like landslides, hurricane-grade conditions and regular wildfire—note the fire truck, by the parking lot, ready to be manned by John Handy and fellow on-site South Coast Fire Brigade volunteers. 

But more than anything, the place makes it through because of the human element. 

Recruitment presents a tall order in extra south Big Sur, and that found greater intensity amid COVID. 

When Treebones closed for a full year, it retained almost all its people by pausing any rent and encouraging them to eat from the garden. 

Handy cites his wife’s attention to vetting potential employees with patience, plus the on-premise housing, fair pay, peer-support systems and management profit-sharing as contributors.

“You can pick a beautiful location and build a really nice looking [venue] and provide services,” he says. “But if the staff isn’t happy to see you, if they aren’t friendly in subtle ways, that can have a bigger effect on your stay than anything.”

Back when Treebones started in the mid 2000s, the front desk attendant would check in all the guests, drive all of them to their scattered yurts, and serve dinner guests.

Megan Handy, a clerk back then (at 18) and assistant GM now, has seen it all happen. 

“The process it’s taken to get to this place—to be a well-oiled machine, to have this much care and constant attention to details in the gardens and rooms, to our communications—it feels great to be where we’re at, with a great clientele and return guests and a staff committing to the daily grind, changing and improving.” 

Trip Advisor recently posted its international Top 25 “Out of the Ordinary Hotels” for the year. Treebones was one of two on the list to represent the U.S.

A different sort of advisor, of a more spiritual fabric, inspires my final thoughts. Comfort isn’t always appropriate, but it is a human need.

The Treebones squad has created something that balances faith in things like team, Mama Nature and what they long ago termed “Perching light upon the land.”

A powerful thing emerges from that sort of approach.

Seekers go to bed in fantastical tents. 

They entertain dreams of whale spouts and kale sprouts, visioning where a wander might bring them and how they might return to simple and satisfying lodging. 

They brave the edges of disaster and unease (limited WiFi?). 

And they emerge more comfortable than when they were worried about time.

Mark C. Anderson is a writer, photographer, editor and explorer based in Seaside, California. Reach @MontereyMCA by way of Instagram and Twitter.

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