How To Prioritize Wellness On Vacation, As Told By 12 Time Marathon Runner, Chef Garrison Price Of Stanly Ranch

When it comes to enjoying vacation, health and wellness tend to take a backseat. But at Stanly Ranch, Napa Valley’s newest luxury resort sitting on a 712 acre-ranch, that doesn’t need to be the case.

Inspired by ranch life, Stanly Ranch is home to 78 standalone cottages and suites which are surrounded by vineyards and and ranch land. Each accommodation floods with beautiful natural light during the day, while offering a fire pit for chilly nights. They offer spacious outdoor-meets-indoor terraces, with many featuring outdoor showers.

This stunning property encapsulates two mountain-view pools complete with lawn games, fire pits and lounge areas; the resort’s signature restaurant, Bear; Gavel coffee bar, which offers some of the most incredibly fresh, delicious pastries; The Basin, for light and plant-forward dishes; and the impeccable Halehouse Spa.

Marking the first of its kind in Napa Valley, Halehouse is a next-generation wellbeing destination, specializing in both performance and restoration, explains Director of Wellness, Yalda Teranchi. Halehouse comprises of seven buildings, which span over an acre, creating a “circuit” of innovative treatments and healing practices to achieve every guest’s goals.

And when it comes to wellbeing, what you eat and how you hydrate is important. To complement Halehouse, Stanly Ranch offers a culinary program that makes it easy to prioritize your body’s health.

Healthy cuisine that can be found poolside at The Basin and include fresh dishes like the Farmer’s Market Salad with chopped romaine, radicchio, cucumbers, snap peas, sumac vinaigrette; or Gem Lettuces with hearts of palm, sunflower seeds & shoots, gooseberries, green goddess dressing.

Meanwhile, guests are invited to The Bear for elevated cuisine with starter dishes such as the salmon crudo with farm yogurt, yuzu kosho, green apple, trout roe, dill; Grain Salad honeynut squash, red quinoa, pickled grapes, aged feta, spiced hazelnuts; or Kampachi with marinated raw, macadamia milk, serrano, finger lime. When it comes to larger entrees, guests can enjoy fare like the Red Snapper with za’atar grilled, olives, capers, preserved lemon broth; Steelhead Trout, basil-kombu brined, cedar roasted, baby leeks, charred citrus; or the shareable Bone-In Ribeye with huitlacoche.

“We source our ingredients from the freshest, most local resources, ensuring our dishes taste as wonderful as they are for your body,” explains Executive Chef Garrison Price. “With many plates derived from our onsite chefs garden, The Grange, our menus are designed to be plant forward, locally-sourced and nutrient dense.”

In addition to being an esteemed chef with previous work at restaurants that include New York City’s Il Fiorista, Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria, and Asiate and most recently the Daxton Hotel, Chef Garrison has ran an impressive 12 marathons. His background in marathon running, in combination with his experience as a fine dining chef, makes him the ideal person to discuss maintaining a healthy lifestyle while on vacation.

We chatted with Executive Chef Garrison Price, as well as, Director of Wellness, Yalda Teranchi, on Stanly Ranch’s spa program, culinary program and the property’s overall dedication to wellness and health. Here’s what they had to say.

Talk about the three distinct entities that make up the spa (Halehouse, Springhouse and Fieldhouse). What are some of the most unique aspects about the facilities?

Marking the first of its kind in Napa Valley, Halehouse is a next-generation wellbeing destination, specializing in both performance and restoration, explains Director of Wellness, Yalda Teranchi. Halehouse comprises of seven buildings, which span over an acre, creating a “circuit” of innovative treatments and healing practices to achieve every guest’s goals. Each concept is defined below:

Halehouse: Halehouse, Springhouse and Fieldhouse work in concert to help you achieve your wellbeing goals and reach your full potential by optimizing the performance of your mind and body. Find restoration in the exploration of sleep, hydration, mindfulness, and recovery with targeted and intentional treatments.

Springhouse: Designed as a pre-treatment offering or post workout recovery, our Circuit Program integrates contrast techniques and bio-hacking technologies to activate the body’s natural healing processes. These methods use heat, cold, steam, and micro salts to optimize physical performance and improve health.

Fieldhouse: Fieldhouse is the center’s movement studio and peak performance fitness club, offering state-of-the-art technology and amenities. Guests can choose from a variety of daily movement classes, and they have the option to undergo a fitness assessment and receive functional training and performance coaching from world-class practitioners.

Talk about the ways that a guest can customize a spa day at Stanly Ranch.

Every guest at Halehouse has the opportunity to meet with a member of the Halehouse team prior to their treatment, where they can discuss individual goals, interests, and desires from their experience.

The Halehouse circuit is designed to activate the body’s natural healing process and improve health, integrating contrasting techniques and bio-hacking technologies using heat, cold, steam and micro salts. Combining the assistance of the knowledgeable, certified Halehouse team with one-on-one fitness assessments, personal training, and more, each guest has a completely personalized experience – ensuring each of their respective goals are not only met but exceeded.

When it comes to wellbeing, what you eat and how you hydrate is important. What does the culinary program offer to eat while prioritizing your body’s health?

We source our ingredients from the freshest, most local resources, ensuring our dishes taste as wonderful as they are for your body. With many plates derived from our onsite chefs garden, The Grange, our menus are designed to be plant forward, locally-sourced and nutrient dense.

Moreover, we offer our guests bone broth which supports your gut, immunity, and joint health along with coriander water which also boosts immunity and removes toxins from the body.

As a chef who has previously ran 12 marathons (wow!) has your experiences as an endurance athlete influences the healthy eating and drinking options on the property? How so?

The first Chef I worked for instilled the idea that having endurance outside of the kitchen will actually help you to have more energy and endurance in the kitchen. Self care is not really a priority for most cooks and chefs. However, when you put in the work you quickly realize having an outlet for your mind and body not related to cooking truly allows you to have more energy and inspiration in the kitchen.

Having high quality protein sources, alternatives to alcohol and caffeine, and extremely flavorful cuisine that isn’t laden with unhealthy fat, sugar, and salt is a priority for me personally. I love when guests can walk away from a meal feeling satiated and actually feeling great the next day, not overly full and regretting the cheat meal they had.

Given your past athletic accomplishments, expand on what you think is the best ways to prioritize your health, while still enjoying yourself on vacation.

I think our tendency is to change our personal schedule when on vacation. I think it is important to stick to the personal schedule you have in relation to bed time, waking up, and sticking with your physical exercise routine. Then, instead of going to work or what you would normally be doing at home, enjoy that time having all the fun you want. You can avoid shaming yourself or feeling guilty about indulging because you had some level of discipline by sticking to your routine.

Stanly Ranch has an overflowing culinary garden that’s utilized in its menus. Talk about the freshness of the garden; the health and practical benefits of having this on property; and how you use it in the kitchen and throughout the menus.

Our Chef’s garden at Stanly Ranch has profound influence and is the major source of inspiration for our culinary team. We work with our farm director to propagate and grow vegetables and botanicals that we cannot get from our local farmer friends already.

A huge benefit of having our own farm allows us to harvest produce at various stages of the life cycle. Meaning we can harvest various sizes of the plant, from very small to large, we can allow plants like herbs to flower and use the incredibly flavorful blooms, green seeds, and dry our own seeds to plant for the next season. We can showcase to our guests every part of the plant, seeds, stem, fruit, leaves, and even roots.