Kim LaVere of Land + Local Cooks Up Deep Connection
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ELISE AILEEN
In our modern grab-and-go food culture, it’s easy to forget that food is a main ingredient in our health and wellness. But Kim LaVere, chef and owner of Land + Local is helping us to remember. She’s all about the philosophy that food can be medicine. Her main goal? To lovingly and gently bring people back to a connection with place and themselves via the freshest, seasonal, local fare, which she presents through a trio of offerings: her locally made product line Land + Local, her Healdsburg farmstay, and custom catering.
For this creator of all things delicious, everything begins in her garden. The raised beds full of herbs and botanicals are the starting point for her handmade product line of shrubs, syrups, salts, and bitters. She also curates custom dining experiences tailored for private parties and corporate events, and immersive medicinal foods workshops.
Cultivating these connections literally extends to place for LaVere. Her onsite farmstay cottage nestled in Healdsburg’s Dry Creek wine region is a cozy and relaxing retreat and a great place for you or your visiting guests to have their own wine country space. With its location just across from the organic winery Quivira, minutes from downtown Healdsburg, and 10 minutes down the road from two biodynamic wineries—Preston Farms and Davero Farms & Winery, it’s an easy win for those who want to experience the area. And in the morning, LaVere’s home-cooked, hyper-local brunch settles you even more comfortably into the place. It might include eggs from nearby chickens, veggies from the adjoining garden, and LaVere’s own specialty mocktails.
Living the Dream
But 10 years ago, LaVere’s idyllic dream was just that. Before moving to Sonoma County in 2015, she worked in corporate retail in New York City, completely disconnected from place.
“With early morning train commutes, an office hidden amidst Midtown Manhattan skyscrapers, and long workdays often leaving the office past sundown, there were many days I didn’t feel the sun on my face. It really burnt me out. I knew something was missing but couldn’t put my finger on it.”
There, she attended culinary school at the Natural Gourmet Institute (now part of Institute of Culinary Education) where she focused on health-supportive cooking, nutrition, and working with seasonal produce.
“I had a complicated relationship to food growing up as a female competitive athlete,” she says, “and shifting my perspective on food from that of an enemy to an ally was really healing for me.”
When her ex-partner passed away, she saw it as a wake-up call to take a chance at a more fulfilling life, and she quit her job and moved to Copenhagen.
“At the time, the fear of nothing changing scared me more than the fear of everything changing,” she says. “What made me feel most alive and at peace with each country and town I visited was a deep connection to the land, the local food, and the local culture. Land + Local was born from there, with a desire to help others reconnect to place, in hopes of fostering a deeper connection to themselves and the world around them.”
With every aspect of Land + Local, LaVere helps people learn to see wellness from a holistic, everyday perspective that’s actually delicious and fun. Her locally made products are an easy way to experience food as medicine while adding flair to the food and drinks at the dinner table or party. From a Bloody Mary Fire Cider mix or the Hot Toddy Cocktail Kit to Seed & Spice blends and specialty salts, there are lots of tasty ways to spice up your culinary experiences.
Wedding Wellness
LaVere’s bespoke wedding drinks are an extra-local way for a couple to celebrate their special day. LeVere will develop a custom cocktail that can be served at a couple’s wedding reception, with the drink’s syrup base serving as a party favor for guests to take home. LaVere bottles the botanical wedding favors in 100ml TSA travel-friendly flasks with custom artwork.
“I especially love it when couples and clients want to incorporate produce and herbs grown from their own property, just to infuse it with something personal that tells a story,” she says.
She begins the process by inviting the couple to the Farmstay for a tasting of current offerings. Together, they discuss which spirit (if any) they want to pair with their custom syrup.
From there, they discuss which fruits and botanicals will be available and in season around the time of their event, and finally, they do a tasting of a sample batch of the final cocktail before moving to production.
For those who want to experiment with food as medicine, LaVere recommends starting by just muddling herbs like mint and basil into your water. “We tend to think that medicine is only useful during acute conditions, but I really believe in shining a brighter light on preventative health and infusing more plants into every sip and bite throughout your day. Eating local for me is really about accessing better flavor and experiencing more pleasure, all while supporting the local community,” she says. “It’s a win-win.”
Recipe:
To make an easy nonalcoholic cocktail, coat the rim of a champagne coupe with Land + Local Sweet Lime + Smoke Chili Cocktail Salt, add a dash of Land + Local Rose Cardamom Meyer Lemon Seasonal Syrup to the bottom of the glass, and fill to the top with grapefruit sparkling water. Finish with a fresh sprig of lemon verbena on top. (Use any herb you have growing fresh.)
Land + Local Culinary Wellness