The indoor-outdoor lifestyle is not a marketing phrase in Sonoma County. It is the way people actually live. The kitchen door stays open from April through November. Dinner happens on the patio more often than the dining room. And the evening, which in this climate is temperate enough to enjoy without a jacket for seven months of the year, gravitates toward whichever space has the food, the drinks, and the fire.

An outdoor kitchen makes that space the backyard. The cook stays in the conversation. The prep happens outside. The food travels from the grill to the plate in three steps. And the evening, which used to split between the indoor kitchen and the outdoor table, happens entirely in one place.