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Transforming local ingredients into world-class dishes, Chef John Fleer captured the essence of southern cuisine at Blackberry Farm. Under Fleer’s culinary direction, Blackberry Farm catapulted into world-class status. When the Zagat Survey honored Blackberry Farm, naming it the #1 Small Hotel in America for 2003 and 2004, Fleer’s “Foothills Cuisine” was described as “incredible” and rated #2 for Hotel Dining in America. In 1999, The James Beard Foundation named Fleer one of the “Rising Stars of the 21st Century.” Marked with success, Chef Fleer’s culinary career began humbly as a way to pay for graduate school in North Carolina. Not able to shake his life’s passion, Fleer enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America.
Following a fellowship at one of the CIA’s restaurants and a stint as Mary Tyler Moore’s personal chef, Fleer joined Blackberry Farm in 1992. Since his move back down south, national publications such as Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine and Southern Living, have praised his ability to bring world-class flare to southern dishes. In 2005, Chef Fleer led Blackberry Farm to the honor of Relais Gourmand. Most recently, Fleer was nominated for the James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef in the Southeast” in 2006 and 2007. Fleer left Blackberry Farm in the spring of 2007 and is currently working on several consulting projects in Southern Appalachia, including working with the Riveridge Development Group opening rustic fly fishing and hunting lodges that feature outstanding vittles.
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