ihoc returns
we packed up our things (pictured above), and left. moved on for the second time in as many years, to a new home, new people--new land.
blackberry farm, in walland Tennessee, was just named the “Number 1 Resort in the Continental U.S. and Canada” by travel + leisure magazine. in years’ past, the same magazine called them “number 1 in service in the world” and “number 2 in cuisine in the world”.
for the next twelve months, her and I will be apprenticing under their entire management team.
for us, and our aspirations of opening a farm-based culinary destination and wellness center, being granted the opportunity to spend the next three hundred and sixty-five days studying blackberry feels a bit like standing at the starting gate to three hundred and sixty five super bowls unplayed ahead of us. the world series, every day for a year. the stars. to the moon and back.
today was the first day at school.
after nearly two years in athens, farming a relatively slow paced life, everything just changed. we met with human resources today. we were given our relais & chateaux lapel pins, which will adorn us for the next year, at all times.
we sat in on a meeting to discuss this weekend’s upcoming events. an hour long meeting of a dozen or so people, chock-full of details and casual in tone, was an eye-opening experience. tonight at dinner, ruminating on the day, we agreed that had we only been given this one singular day on the property, it would have still been a lasting education.
the details that got covered regarding this weekend’s upcoming event, and the departments, and people, and moving cogs that were set in motion by its’ happenings, was immense. to the guest, the customer, the traveler—to them the experience will flow by their dazzled eyes like being front center at a broadway show. the orchestra, the make-up artists, the crew—the food and beverage team, the marketing and design teams, and housekeeping. the guest doesn’t see it. the show just goes on.
day one is in the books. like the enchanting smoky mountains whose feet we now live at, the blackberry farm experience lays ahead of us—a challenging, and rewarding climb—sprints, and respites, vertical climbs and shady groves will come and go as we study blackberry over the course of the coming year, and this journal will continue to track it.
for those of you who have been reading this story since the time it began in july ‘oh nine, you’ve traveled with us from brooklyn to georgia—the new york stock exchange to the local livestock auction. and now, another watershed is upon us.
i look forward to sharing it with you.
I'm High On Cooking
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