July 18, 2025—The wild tule elk wandering by in view of the dining terrace provide a hint something celestial is at play here.
The other wonders that unfold with the Sunday brunch experience at Rancho Cielo’s Drummond Culinary Academy, though, are even more compelling.
They arrive from the kitchen, land on the plate, flow in the glass and inspire by way of the setting too, all working in concert, courtesy of the academy’s students and their decorated teachers/restaurant pros.
In the kitchen, young chefs season prawns and fry potatoes with an ease and dexterity beyond their years.
As they do, longtime culinary standout (at spots like Monterey Bay Aquarium and Ventana) and executive chef Esteban Jimenez jokes, prods, stocks the pantry and encourages them to think big.
They represent model examples of nonprofit Rancho Cielo’s aim to get vulnerable teens out of the court system and into diplomas and job training that set them up for successful careers.
“This is how we do it,” he says. “When they’re done here, they’re ready.”
For each of the student-chefs I met, that career has already started. One is currently interning at Woody’s at the Airport, another at Bernardus Lodge, another still at Pebble Beach Company.
While the Drummond Culinary Academy represents the oldest and largest program at Rancho—with the alumni dotting the area’s dining landscape to prove it—students can also study ag technology, auto and diesel repair, welding and fabrication, and construction and sustainable design (more on the last one in a minute).
It’s a pleasant appetite enhancer to know your $60 brunch tab undergirds that effort.
But this isn’t some spaghetti dinner charity deal. The luckiest winners here are the guests.
The offerings prove abundant and clearly hand-crafted.
Bring on the artichoke-and-mushroom frittata with Metzer Farms eggs and Schoch Farms Monterey Jack cheese.
Pile up the Baker’s Bacon, Fra’Mani sausage and heritage ham.
Try to stop at one visit to the smoked salmon-latke-creme fraiche-caper-onion display.
Curate your own omelet, eggs to order and pancakes, the latter with fruit and chocolate chips.
Load up on seasonal fruit, house-spice breakfast potatoes, strawberry-fennel salad, classic Caesar and fresh-baked pastries.
Dip into some memorable herb butter-sautéed Gulf shrimp with sweet corn succotash.
Dish up a little herb-roasted chicken over ratatouille.
And—this is an order—somehow save room for levitation-level desserts.
The cherry clafloutis, the silky petit fours, the heaven-sent raspberry-lemon tartlets, the habit-forming chocolate-hazelnut mini pies and tarts.
A comparable buffet might run $125.
That comes complemented by a short but solid lineup of wines, many donated by outstanding area cellars, whose restaurants know Rancho’s work well.
Six by-the-glass plays include Folktale Pinot Noir and an elegant Cantine Olivella Lacrimabianco. A dozen bottle options range from McIntyre Rosé to Testarossa Chardonnay to Bernardus Marinus red blend. (Beer from Dust Bowl and Firestone too, plus NA standards like juice, tea, sodas and sparkling water.)
Turns out it helps when the Academy GM, Wanda Straw, also happens to be a decorated sommelier.
The brunch service continues 11am-1:30pm the next three Sundays. Only a few spots remain, but there’s also a wait list accessible by clicking on “Notify.”
A few bonus notes:
1 • Those would want to support RC’s worthy work, but miss out on brunch, can participate in their Veggie Box & BBQ Fundraiser, by buying (or donating to local food banks) a load of Salinas Valley produce ($25), or grabbing a deluxe tri-tip barbecue lunch Aug. 22 to go or to enjoy on premise.
2 • The Drummond Academy’s Friday Night Dinners, another strong value in a scenic setting, resume mid-October and run through May (and like the brunches fill up fast).
3 • Rancho Cielo’s 25th anniversary celebration materializes Saturday Oct. 25, 2025, with live bands and a stacked strolling food experience—led by top-shelf chefs supported by academy students cooking and serving—paired with local wines and craft beers.
“It’s a great—and delectable—way to honor our legacy of service to the community and our students for a quarter century,” RC spokesperson Tiffany Harbrecht says.
Edible Monterey Bay‘s appreciation of the multi-faceted action happening on campus here inspired the magazine to nominate Rancho Cielo for a prestigious national Edible Communities Sustainability Award.
Some quick highlights from that pitch include (but are far from limited to): DCA’s Garden-to-Table program, which teaches organic gardening, composting and native hedge restoration; the property’s two natural ponds that work as small “nature preserves” and a place to practice catch-and-release fishing; and the opportunity for every single students have the opportunity to transition to college, post-secondary training/internships, employment and/or military service, with dual enrollment agreements with Hartnell College and Monterey Peninsula College.
There’s also the recent win at the Orange County Sustainable Design Decathlon, where Rancho Cielo’s Construction and Sustainable Design Academy high schoolers drafted and built a modular small healthy home, and won first place overall.
All of the other competitors in the contest were collegiate.
So there’s a lot to like with this singular hub of empowerment, if you’re into it.
Though I’d be totally OK if you just went for the bomb-ass buffet.
Brunch reservations can be placed at Rancho Cielo’s Resy page. More info on the produce boxes and BBQ Fundraiser and the anniversary party can be unlocked at RC’s website.
About the author
Mark C. Anderson, Edible Monterey Bay's managing editor, appears on "Friday Found Treasures" via KRML 94.7 every week, a little after 12pm noon. Reach him via mark@ediblemontereybay.com.
