The Ledford House in Albion

by Karen K. Lewis

Visitors to the Ledford House Restaurant near Albion will discover fine food, friendly staff, and fantastic ocean views. The menu features something unique and delicious for every season—from California comfort food (steak and potatoes, salads, seafood) to French classics (duck pâté, cassoulet, escargot).

Wife-and-husband team Lisa and Tony Geer have been creating culinary magic on the coast since 1987, with Lisa as the chef and Tony serving as maître d’. Yet as with any unique recipe, the alchemy of this team surpasses definition. Lisa is also a visual artist and has painted colorful French-café-themed murals in the bar, and her unique and elegant textile art is displayed in the formal dining area. Tony possesses not-so-hidden talents as a baker, but more about that later.

The restaurant sits in a cliff-side meadow overlooking the ocean. From the moment guests step from their vehicles, they’re immersed in the maritime climate: briny ocean scent, oxygen-rich breeze, birdsong, and even seasonal frog song from a pond. The ocean—with moods ranging from a soft murmur to stormy crashing of waves against rocks—influences the dining experience. Even on foggy evenings, visitors may pause from real-world concerns to be nourished by the edge-of-the-world atmosphere and a hot beverage from the full bar or espresso station.

The menu here is fabulously seasonal, and the printed menu changes often. Chef Lisa dreams up daily blackboard specials, including a nightly “3-Course Bistro” menu, improvising based on what’s in season, what pleases customers, and what suppliers can deliver. “A big challenge with the pandemic has been our suppliers,” Tony admitted. One of Lisa’s specialties is a lamb shank prepared with secret herbs and served with seasonal vegetables—a dish that was sorely missed by Ledford House regulars when lamb wasn’t available for a time in 2021.

Tony explained, “We try to source locally and have a produce guy who scouts out the freshest possible ingredients. Our poultry comes from Sonoma or Marin.” Duck is a given, whether as a pâté starter, roast duck in cherry (or berry) zinfandel sauce, or layered into a popular lasagne. In mushroom season, recipes may star chanterelles, morels, or other locally foraged fungi. From the garden surrounding the restaurant, Lisa uses rosemary, thyme, mint, oregano, lavender, and nasturtium flowers.

In halibut season, Lisa creates bourride (a French fish stew); during salmon season, salmon is often a blackboard special or used in seafood pasta. Improvisation is the key to this dynamic menu, which Tony says is based on the “cassoulet concept” of using what’s available in season to produce a classic dish. Lisa calls the cuisine “the French side of California,” reflecting the essence of “all those wonderful flavors of Provence and the Mediterranean.”

Before they owned the Ledford House, Tony and Lisa ran the Morning Thunder Café in Plumas County, serving breakfast and lunch. Tony spent a year as a young child in Florence, Italy, where he became enchanted with cooking as a daily ritual. “Milk men delivered dairy fresh every day. Our housekeeper would go to market with her mesh bag, then she and my mom would use all this amazing food to prepare dinners. My mom was a great cook.” Lisa grew up in California’s farm country, outside Sacramento. “We had 14 kids in our family and lived in a field full of fresh tomatoes and other good stuff. Cooking from scratch was a given!” she said.

Tony bakes all the seeded bread and sourdough served at the restaurant, using a wood fired oven. During December, he also creates a holiday fruit bread, panettone, available by special order. Bread flour comes from a mill in Petaluma, but the recipe is inspired by Tony’s time in Italy. Surplus bread is transformed into a signature dessert: Bread Pudding Custard, with warm bourbon sauce, whipped cream, and nutmeg. The dessert menu also evolves seasonally, with rotating treats like house-made lavender gelato and seasonal fruit tarts offered alongside ever-present favorites like chocolate cake and crème brûlée. The wine list is Mendocino County-forward, with a range of options by the glass or bottle, in addition to a full cocktail bar.

One of Lisa’s passions is to brainstorm new recipe ideas. When travel is possible, The Geers close their kitchen for a couple of weeks to do food-related research in Europe. They also turn to their vintage cookbook library to fine-tune new presentations of fish, lamb, duck, or seasonal fruits and vegetables.

They enjoy creating their own traditions at Ledford House. Each year in July, Tony, Lisa, and their dedicated staff produce a special Bastille Day luncheon and pétanque tournament (a game similar to bocce), and a traditional European “Feast of the Seven Fishes” menu is created for Christmas Eve.

The Ledford House serves dinner Wednesday through Sunday. During the pandemic shutdown, they temporarily pivoted to “take-away only,” and takeaway orders are still welcome. Reservations are essential for dining, but if you’re in the area and forgot to reserve ahead, you might grab a seat at the bar or on the outdoor deck. Bundle up, since Albion weather is almost as creative as the menu.

The Ledford House Restaurant
3000 North Highway 1, Albion
(707) 937-0282 | www.LedfordHouse.com

Open Wednesday – Sunday, 4:30PM – 8:30PM
Online reservations recommended

Photos by Karen Lewis

Karen Lewis is a poet and writer who lives near Albion and cherishes this wild, inspiring place we call home.