CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS
Sam Levy
Sam Levy
is a bartender, hospitality professional, flower farmer, and part-time philosopher who’s the co-owner of Fern Bar, an airy and plant-filled bar & restaurant in Sebastopol, California, that crafts garden-to-glass cocktails and modern American cuisine inspired by West Sonoma County's abundance of biodiversity.
A bit more about Sam, in his own words:
“Growing up in Sebastopol exposed me to fresh vegetables, peak-season fruit picked straight from the tree, and incredible food from around the world. I didn’t know it at the time, but I was spoiled rotten by it. After graduating with a BS in Philosophy, the only job I felt qualified to do was bartending. With local hole-in-the-wall family restaurants all the way up to 3-Michelin-star programs under my belt, I joined up with the Fern Bar team to open a fancy bar and restaurant in my backyard, a sleepy little town that notoriously resists growth or anything resembling indulgence. What can I say, I like a challenge.”
Where you can find Sam & Fern Bar
6780 Depot St. #120, Sebastopol CA 95472
What are your earliest memories involving flowers?
I was taught to taste everything to see if it was good to eat. We cooked a lot at home, and made preserves from local fruit like blackberries. When my whole world was just our house and garden I remember picking oxalis (sour grass) flowers to garnish salad, and borage blossoms to snack on from our garden.
What drives your creativity?
Sometimes things just need to be made into a cocktail. Sometimes they need to be made into a jam or a puree, and then used in a cocktail. We try to keep the purity of an ingredient even with other flavors. Fresh spring sugar snap peas shouldn’t taste like anything else, and so when we make a drink with them, they are unmistakable. Everything needs to be in balance, with each ingredient sharing the stage, but maintaining the flavor of peak season fruit or veggies – even when the season has passed – is a skill I inherited from my mother’s family by learning how to make preserves.
What were some of the major points along the trajectory of your botanical-related work?
Every weekend there were chores at home: weeding, planting, pruning, picking, and then cooking. It was not fun all the time, but it taught me the lifecycle of the garden. Pests, unchecked growth, the bounty of harvest, the composting of spent greens, and the joy that comes from growing food at home. My parents both enjoyed cooking and gardening, and they actually opened a smoothie shop on the campus of University of Madison Wisconsin called Loose Juice. I believe it is still there, under different ownership.
Then while working at The Restaurant at Meadowood in St. Helena in Napa Valley, I met my wife Victoria. Our lives and garden grew together, and her love of flowers – and the insatiable appetite of Fern Bar for edible flowers – created the space for us to open a flower farm called Shady Creek here in Sebastopol.
Can you share a bit about the flowers & botanicals that grow in places you’ve lived?
My hometown of Sebastopol and the surrounding area in West Sonoma County is home to a lot of farms and hobby gardeners growing endless varieties of flowering shrubs, fruiting trees, and flowering culinary herbs. My favorite bloom is when spring hits, and the wild plums and mustard fill up the nearby laguna, signaling the start to warmer weather and fun in the sun.
What role do botanicals & flowers play in your life, and what benefits do they provide for your emotional and mental well-being?
Flowers bring joy, and put one on top of the tastiest cocktail you have ever had, and it's magic. We rely on our garden for tranquility and sustenance, and because we enjoy it, our garden – and now our business – has created a space that can bring joy and happiness to everyone it touches.
“We eat with our eyes first,
and a beautiful flower
gets everyone excited.”
How did the idea for Fern Bar come about, and did you want it to have a botanical theme from the beginning?
Natalie Goble, a family friend, was working on a concept for a bright, airy space with plants, personality, and delicious food and drinks. Our chef Joe Zobel was already on board, but there was no one in the front of the house capable of bringing the vision to life. Sebastopol was the last place I thought of opening a bar, but after visiting The Barlow outdoor market district and seeing what it had become, I knew it was the right time to bring home what I had learned to share with our little corner of the world.
What was the process for creating the vibe & decor there?
We had an incredible team working on the design, including Fine Root SF for the physical space, and Brian Anderson on the interior. We borrowed the vibe from the style of fern bars from the late ‘60s and early ‘70s – most notably Henry Africa’s in San Francisco.
What types of edible flowers are incorporated into Fern Bar’s drinks and dishes?
We use zinnias, asters, bachelor buttons, nasturtium, pin cushions, scabiosa, nigellas, violas, pansies, sage, dahlias, cosmos, Thai basil, allium, and pea blossoms for a pop of color, flavor, and beauty. We eat with our eyes first, and a beautiful flower gets everyone excited, and even those who only want a drink in a rocks glass deserve a garnish of something beautiful – even if they take it right out and put it on the table.
Are there personal stories or elements incorporated into your botanical creations?
My favorite cocktail – the Guera – was something I developed while making drinks for a guest. She had four boys, and three of them were triplets. When she came in she wanted something refreshing made with grapefruit. I ended up with a drink that is a little bit of everything that reminds me of her. It’s boozy, bitter, floral, sweet, sour, and sparkly.
What’s been the most surprising reaction to your work?
People are surprised that I can make a drink that is balanced, beautiful, and complex. I still enjoy watching people try our cocktails and be taken to another place.
Once an older guest tried a little nocino, which is a walnut liqueur, that I made and she went back in time to a trip before she had met her husband when she was a young woman. She blushed and reminisced that not only did the nocino remind her of her travels, but of the handsome Italian man she met there and the time they spent together.
What do you hope the role of your new flower farm will be in your community?
Fern Bar has a voracious appetite for beautiful flowers and fresh herbs. With the farm my wife and I are starting called Shady Creek (named after the little spring-fed creek that winds through the base of our property), we aim to supply local florists with cut flowers, restaurants and bars with edible garnishes, and local farmers’ markets with bouquets and cut flowers for people to enjoy at home.
What types of flowers are you growing on the farm?
Our farm is growing a wide variety of flowers, including dahlias, zinnias, asters, bachelor buttons, scabiosa, Queen Anne’s lace, ranunculus, and gomphrena. Where space allows, my wife might let me grow some veggies or heirloom tomatoes as well. We also just planted 40 bare root fruit trees, and we have about a quarter acre dedicated to raspberries and thornless blackberries.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given that’s helped shape your work?
“Work hard, play hard.” That was a mantra my mom placed deep in my psyche from a young age. Most likely because I played too hard, and I didn’t work as hard as I could in school. Growing up, I just knew that I wanted to enjoy what I did for work. Eight hours a day spent doing something that upsets you never felt like something that would be a good life, no matter how much money it made me.
What’s been your biggest “a-ha moment” in working on botanical-focused projects ?
Farming and local food production is so important but so hard. Perseverance and adaptability are the only ways to survive. Not everything goes the way you expect, and every year brings new hurdles or problems to work out. I’ve learned to not bite off more than I can chew and to be willing to let some things go when they don’t work out.
What’s a non-negotiable for your creative workspace?
Creative, empathetic, and positive coworkers are a must for me. Without them, the joy gets sucked out of the room pretty quickly and I lose interest.
What would you create with flowers if you had unlimited resources?
I have always wanted to do large art installations with bamboo-like wild grasses that grow along the Russian River with flowers and succulents as living walls. Just imagine napping in huge bird nests with fluffy beds and tree-top views.
What advice would you share with others who are beginning to develop their creative styles and find their own way?
I always recommend getting a job in the field you want to pursue. School or formal training can give you a lot of tools, but real-world experience is weighted a little differently when looking for new team members. You get paid to learn, and it feels like a smarter choice for people looking to change their careers.
Image credits: The Barlow, Martha Cromar at Suited Hospitality, Jeremy Jachym, & Kelly Puleio
Handpicked
A few of Sam’s favorites…
Favorite flower
Love-in-a-Mist nigella
Favorite fern
Lady fern
Favorite season
Spring. Right now my life is all about irrigation, gopher baskets, starting seeds, transplanting, and garden design. Spring is a fixation on how to grow plants the biggest, the strongest, and the healthiest we can.
Current inspiration
I want everything to be vibrant, fresh, and flavorful, so I’m currently inspired to make drinks full of fresh herbal ingredients with bright aromatics and healthy green veggies. We are working on a new cocktail with sugar snap peas as the backbone. It will have lemongrass, Meyer lemon, ginger, and Thai basil. We want something refreshing that goes well with the food that our chef Joe Zobel is creating.
Favorite floral patterns
Our designer Brian Anderson chose some incredible wallpaper. If you come into Fern Bar to join us, floral prints or – as I call it – botani-casual attire is very appropriate.
Current color obsessions
Depends on the season — in winter, I like lilac-greys, browns, burgundy, sage, and acid green.
Recommended reads
I will read everything Growing for Market magazine puts out. I also watch a lot of Neversink Farms YouTube videos for ideas and advice.
Favorite botanical destinations
Home for me will always be rolling hills with oak forests, Armstrong Redwoods, and the Sonoma Coast State Parks.
Thank you so much, Sam!
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