Chef Cassidee Dabney of The Barn at Blackberry Farm named finalist for James Beard award

Cassidee Dabney is a finalist for a James Beard Award for Best Chef Southeast.

The executive chef of The Barn at Blackberry Farm in Walland began her career at the premiere resort in 2010. Prior to that, she was employed by the Four Seasons.

Dabney held the title of sous chef and executive sous chef at The Barn at Blackberry Farm before being named executive chef in 2015. She is a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute.

The resort has a working farm on the premises which provides Dabney with the freshest of seasonal products to be used in its signature Foothills cuisine.

In 2015, The Barn at Blackberry farm received a James Beard award for Outstanding Wine Program and won in 2014 for Outstanding Service.

Others in Dabney's category include Mashama Bailey of The Grey, Savannah, Georgia; Katie Button with Nightbell, Asheville, North Carolina; Rodney Scott of Rodney Scott’s BBQ, Charleston, South Carolina, and Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman of Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen, Memphis.

The James Beard Awards Gala will be held on Monday, May 7, at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

Source: Knoxville News Sentinel, by Mary Constantine

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Published March 16, 2018