The Boulders Goes Organic

With an organic menu and cooking classes, The Boulders is already on its way to being the country’s first all-organic resort. It recently took another step by cultivating a 5,280-square-foot organic garden on its Carefree, Arizona, property. The garden boasts lettuce, carrots, celery, tomatoes, herbs, and edible flowers as well as grapefruit, orange, lemon, and lime trees. At dusk, it’s an Eden-like setting as diners feast on foods picked just minutes before while the sunset casts a glow on the 12-million-year-old boulder formation rising at the garden’s edge.

Why is The Boulders so committed to going organic? Michael Hoffmann, The Boulders managing director, says, “The garden is an opportunity to show how organic produce can be cultivated in a desert environment; it impacts not only taste but also our chefs’ creativity.” 

Last spring, The Boulders hired chef Wendy Little, who brings more than fourteen years of organic cooking experience to her role as the new chef de cuisine. “I’ve seen a growing trend of people wanting to eat healthy and tasty food and to feel good about what they’re eating,” Little says. “This is the essence of organic cooking.” But the “all-organic” designation goes beyond the plate to include the spa and hotel. The Golden Door Spa stocks organic soaps, oils, lotions, and candles; uses the garden’s herbs in its treatments; and even offers an organic wine list. As for the resort, The Boulders supplies rooms with organic soap, candles, and linens, and loads the mini-bars with all-natural goodies, too.

For more information call (866) 397-6520 or visit www.theboulders.com

—Karen Werner

March/April 2007