Backdoor Bistro heads outside for Sunday Supper
Our community is fortunate to still have rural valleys with farms and ranches—and very fortunate to have farmers. Not every community in the Bay Area can say that.
Chef Lindsey Chelini, owner of Backdoor Bistro and Wine Bar in Vacaville, is passionate about local and seasonal food, cooking, and farmers. We are just thrilled that Lindsey will be this year’s chef for the Sunday Supper at Joyful Ranch on October 7.
“I believe in the value of the farm-to-table movement,” says the Vacaville-born chef. “It is how we used to eat. Now we’re going back to where we were and where we should be.”
Backdoor Bistro is snuggled into the same mini-shopping plaza as Bounty Books (another Vacaville treasure), and the five-year-old restaurant is warm and cheery. Seven antique doors hang as art above aluminum siding on a wall that runs the length of the restaurant, and the chefs are visible in a semi-open, corner kitchen.
Backdoor Bistro changes its menu frequently based on what is growing on local farms. Lindsey’s philosophy and mission are represented on two small wooden signs that hang above the wine bar: “Farm Sweet Farm” and “No Farms No Food.”
“We need farmers. We have to do what we can to support the farming industry so that farmers can make a decent living,” she says.


Chef Lindsey proudly serves beef from Five Dot Ranch, one of the grazers that leases Solano Land Trust land. She is excited to create a menu for the Sunday Supper with whatever is in season and sourced from local farmers and ranchers in October. “That’s what inspires me,” she adds.
Join us at this year’s Sunday Supper and celebrate local farms and wineries while enjoying the scenic views at Vacaville’s Joyful Ranch which is protected forever, thanks to your support and in partnership with the ranch owner, Ethel Hoskins.
(By Aleta George. Photos courtesy of Lindsey Chelini)