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Chef Shares the Stories Behind the Cuisine

Published Thursday Oct 11, 2018

Author Matthew J. Mowry

Nathan Varney, the executive chef at Mountain View Grand Resort & Spa in Whitefield, loves finding local fresh ingredients and turning them into culinary experiences for guests.  

The only nuggets he serves to guests are insights as to where the food originates.

“You should make everything from scratch. The guests really deserve to have something handmade that had love go into it,” says Varney, who changes the menu to incorporate in-season ingredients. “The most important thing about doing that is that the guests deserve to know what we are doing.”

To that end, Mountain View Grand created a separate web site for its culinary team with a blog called NH Foodways that is dedicated to telling the stories of the food and people behind their farm-to-table cuisine.

The blog, which launched in the spring, profiles farmers that supply Varney and his team with ingredients, It also shares cooking techniques and recipes for dishes served at the hotel.

“You get a small understanding of what it takes to get that food on the plate,” says Varney, who joined the resort three years ago. “We want to show that New Hampshire itself has something to offer that has for many years gone very unnoticed,” which is a rich culinary scene. “We’ve been the quiet sibling of the other New England States when it comes to gastronomy.”

While every chef wants to connect with their diners through food, the blog is a way to maintain the connection long after guests have gone home.

It is also a way to connect with foodies who may then choose the resort as a destination “It adds to the experience of staying at the hotel,” Varney says.

The recipes that get posted are those that get the most positive feedback from guests.

“There are no secrets in our kitchen,” says Varney, who before joining the resort worked at Williamsburg Lodge Hotel in Virginia learning the fundamentals of classic French cuisine; Lautrec restaurant at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Pennsylvania; and American Sector restaurant for Chef John Besh in New Orleans. For more information, visit nhfoodways.com.

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