Julie Simon’s Mezze Mastery at Presqu’ile Winery

When Presqu’ile Winery asked Julie Simon to be their full-time chef back in 2019, the job — tending to the on-site garden and then turning that into seasonal cuisine for wine lovers — was made for her skill set. “It was pretty much all that I was already doing,” said Simon, “but with a roof over my head.” 

For the previous couple of years, she’d been farming a small pond-side property in the Edna Valley and using her produce for catering gigs and a handful of legendary parties. But that was just the latest stage in a farm- and food-intensive career for this Paris-born, southwest France–raised, and Bordeaux-educated former student of law.

She was 18 when she first came to California in 2008, planning just to work for the summer on her aunt and uncle’s olive orchard in Atascadero. When Simon landed her first restaurant job ever at Windows on the Water in Morro Bay, she loved working in the kitchen. “It was getting me vibrating, you know?” Simon said. “It’s much more glamorous in the States to be a chef than it is in France. Especially as a woman, I feel like the industry is very celebrated here. I didn’t have any formal training, and I felt very welcome.”

Then came jobs under great mentors at The Park in San Luis Obispo and Thomas Hill Organics in Paso Robles, followed by the 2014 opening of the much-buzzed-about but relatively short-lived S.L.O. restaurant Foremost Wine Company. “We poured our heart and soul into it, and after a year, we were feeling a bit crushed,” said Simon, who left before it closed in 2018. 

She spent six months reconnecting with the land by toiling from sunrise to sunset at Windrose Farm in Paso. “The first week, I was trellising tomatoes and thinking, ‘What the fuck am I doing here?’” she laughed. “It was very, very humbling, but my commitment was to witness every sunset and every sunrise, and I definitely succeeded in that. I really needed that time with the earth.”

The Edna Valley farming project was graciously hosted by the property’s owners, Jean and Carol Paquet. “They let me use their land for free,” said Simon, who’d turn what she grew right into fresh meals. “It just tied my whole experience together.” 

She cooked for a few winemaker gatherings that captured the bubbly energy of the S.L.O. Coast scene at a pivotal time for the appellation. “They were those moments when time stopped and you’re just in the greatest company, doing all the things you really love, celebrating life together,” said Simon. “It was very special. But it was a lot of work.”

By the time Presqu’ile reached out five years ago, Simon realized, “It was time to get a big-girl job.” The timing couldn’t have been better, as COVID came shortly after she accepted the job. “I don’t know what I would have done,” said Simon, who worked with the Presqu’ile team to reopen as soon as they could. 

Now open for lunchtime dining every day but Tuesday, the winery serves mezze plates, each featuring five or six dishes with most ingredients sourced straight from its farm. “It’s really meant for leisure,” she said of the plates. “You can mix and match and work on the perfect bite each time.”

The offerings change frequently, sometimes monthly depending on the season. But a recent spread featured pork skewers, green goddess salad, lentil hummus, gazpacho, farm cheeses, and fried potatoes with chile crisp. “That’s all we’ve been eating in the kitchen,” admitted Simon. “Fried potatoes all day.” 

There are occasional surprises too, like the truffles that Presqu’ile discovered last winter near tree roots that they’d inoculated long ago. “All of the sudden, I had truffles flooding the kitchen and not a clue of what to do with them,” said Simon.

While the farm-fresh cuisine is a constant, the service style is different from past jobs. “It’s a very special machine,” said Simon, who can host 200 guests on busy weekends, all eating the same thing. “We have to be able to produce something that is very aesthetically pleasing but that also represents the bounty of the season. We have to send it really fast because you are tasting and sitting for only two hours, and it needs to be super consistent. There are a lot of systems we work on constantly to have that flow.”

The entire arrangement works very well for Simon, who lives very close and has given birth to two children while at Presqu’ile, now 1 and 3 years old. “It suits the family life really well,” said Simon, giving much credit to the Murphy family that owns the winery. “They’re really great souls. They take care of their employees really well. It’s dreamy.”

Presqu’ile’s Tri-Tip Cook-Off

For the second year, Presqu’ile Winery is hosting a Tri-Tip Cook-Off on Sunday, October 6, at noon. The event features five food trucks — Rolling Oak, Santa Maria BBQ Grill Masters, Whiskey Bent, Lobo Butcher Shop, and Barbareño — competing to be the people’s choice winner. Chef Julie Simon is preparing the sides, and Presqu’ile wine will be available for purchase. Tickets are $40. See presquilewine.com.