Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa's Pony Room Debuts a New Menu for 2026

Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa has spent recent years reinvesting in the details that built its reputation in the first place, a Spanish colonial-style property spread across 45 acres of former orange groves near Del Mar and La Jolla, long known in Southern California for its tennis program as much as its accommodations. A $30 million renovation touched much of the resort's suites and public spaces, and the momentum has carried into its dining program.

In July 2026, The Pony Room, the resort's signature restaurant, rolled out a new menu under Chef Eric Bauer, built around what the kitchen calls Coastal Ranch cuisine, a style that leans on the region's produce and seafood without losing the resort's hacienda-informal character. The candlelit dining room, with its wrought-iron chandeliers, remains one of the more distinctive settings in Rancho Santa Fe.

Guests staying across the resort's Olive Grove, Agave, Eucalyptus, and Palm suites, or in the standalone Casa Valencia private residence, also have access to Rein, the resort's poolside restaurant and bar, along with a Forbes Five-Star spa and the historic tennis program that first put Rancho Valencia on the map.

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