Bringing it Back Home
Some of chef Courtney McDonald’s favorite foods arrive in spring — lamb, peas, fava beans, blood oranges, Meyer lemons, and new radishes.
“Everything is starting, new and tender,” she says.
Farming and good food have always featured prominently in McDonald’s life.
In June, she and her husband and longtime co-worker, chef Eric Alexander, opened Restaurant Josephine in Midtown Auburn. Named after Alexander’s Lithuanian great-grandmother and the couple’s daughter, Josie (age 10), the eatery is quickly becoming a community hub.
Launching the restaurant brings McDonald’s lifelong path full circle.
On a Mission
Growing up in Auburn and Lincoln, she spent her formative years on her dad’s 10-acre hobby farm, helping to raise dairy goats, cows, and sheep.
“It influenced me greatly. I was the milker. I always liked having livestock,” she says.
McDonald, who describes her childhood self as a “weird kid,” says her fascination with cooking began with watching PBS episodes of Italian cook Biba Caggiano on repeat. In her teen years, after a short time at Placer High School, she quickly grew restless, took the high school equivalency exam early, and enrolled in the culinary program at American River College.
“I was on a mission,” she says. “I just really wanted to be a chef.”
Post-graduation, McDonald moved to Hyde Park, N.Y., to earn a degree from The Culinary Institute of America. It was there where she met Alexander. The two became compatible co-workers, through various internships, and fast friends. For years they worked together in restaurants in Washington, D.C., Connecticut, and Monte Verde Inn in Foresthill, where they catered weddings. Their followers also know them as the chefs at Auburn’s Carpe Vino — she started in 2005 and he joined a year later — and they remained there until 2019.
“It was a good partnership from the beginning. We’ve always worked together. We’re a great team,” she says.
Many local foodies and farmers know McDonald from her time working as the manager of the PlacerGROWN Farmers’ Market. She even took a step back from the busyness of the kitchen to intern part time at Flying Mule Farm in Auburn with rancher Dan Macon. It was a healthy return to her roots that allowed her to spend hours outside in the sunshine, working the land, with animals. This led to the purchase of a dairy ewe and a culinary passion for cheesemaking.
Today, she and her family live on five acres affectionately called Four Tines Farm, where they raise sheep (nine ewes and a pet named Martin), plant perennial crops, and grow a variety of fruit trees. The sheep help the couple with wildfire fuel management on their property, and the pair also can sell grass-fed lamb.
Old-World Charm at Josephine’s
McDonald is proud of the way she and Alexander have created an inviting, unpretentious community gathering place with old-world charm in the historic Odd Fellows No. 7 Lodge, a stately brick building dating back to 1894. The two signed their lease in 2019, then did a full build-out of the space, eventually delaying their opening due to COVID; Restaurant Josephine officially opened for indoor dining in June 2021.
“It feels real,” she says of the space that is loved, happy, and buzzing. Wood tables free of cloth, mismatched dinnerware collected over the years, and earthy colors combine to create a warm and cozy vibe.
Flavors of Eastern Europe with a French sensibility bring bistro classics such as Moules Frites and Seared Dayboat Scallops to the menu. Wearing her signature green Converse sneakers, McDonald invites folks to come for special date nights at reserved tables — for special-occasion-worthy full caviar service and Champagne — or show up casually for a Josephine burger and beer. At the zinc, marble, and handcarved wood-and-brass bar, a full menu is served alongside classic and house-created cocktails and an interesting wine list. Get there early; the line starts at 5 p.m.
Keeping the farmer connections alive at the restaurant is important to McDonald. Farmers come to the back door every week to make deliveries. Menus fluctuate with the seasons, showcasing ingredients such as the mushrooms from Foggy Dew Fungi in Newcastle or the popular Foothill Roots Farm chicory salad. Almost every dish is made with local ingredients.
“That’s our community,” she says. “These are our friends. These people are part of our lives.”
Restaurant Josephine
Josephineauburn.com
RECIPE
Rhubarb-Rose Sorbet
