Mr. Kmiec

Food & Beverage

Farm to Table: The Greenbrier Experience

By Jeff Kmiec, President & Managing Director, The Greenbrier

Imagine a magnificent salad so fresh that the ingredients were harvested just a few hours before. Or a milk-fed veal chop accompanied by a naturally-raised spring vegetable ragout. Or homemade pasta topped with a savory tomato sauce made with pesticide-free vegetables from a nearby farm. The farm-to-table movement is more than a culinary trend, it is a revolution in the way we dine.

For years, we’ve been hearing more and more about the importance of naturally-raised, organic food products. Farmers’ markets, rooftop and community gardens have grown in popularity and chefs around the country are capitalizing on their restaurant gardens to attract new customers. Sustainable agriculture has created healthier eating habits and improved local economies, but how can the hospitality industry fully embrace this movement?

Chef Critchfield makes a quick trip to the
garden for some fresh turnips The Greenbrier, a 710-room resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, has found a way to take farm-to-table to the next level with The Greenbrier Farm, with the help of resort owner Jim Justice. Justice, who owns 50 different companies, has several agricultural operations in states along the East Coast. Shortly after purchasing the resort in 2009, he set aside 44 acres of his land in nearby Eagle Rock, Virginia as the site of the resort’s farm. Located about one hour from the resort, the farm grows over 70 varieties of vegetables solely for the resort’s dining venues. In season, the farm provides over 75% of the produce for The Greenbrier Restaurant Collection’s nine outlets including a traditional resort dining room, steakhouse, Italian restaurant and sushi bar.

Jeremy Critchfield, vice president of food and beverage and corporate chef for The Greenbrier, is a longtime proponent of the farm-to-table concept. “The Greenbrier Farm is amazing on so many levels. As a chef, I think it is simply incredible to be able to prepare food that is only an hour out of the ground. How often do you have that opportunity? Our goal is to provide each guest with an extraordinary culinary experience at every meal, and the vegetables from our very own farm help make that possible,” said Critchfield. “This is the way food is meant to be.”

The new initiative is also environmentally sound. The Greenbrier Farm uses drip irrigation with water from the nearby James River. This process applies slow, steady and precise amounts of water and nutrients to specific areas. This saves on water and improves plant growth. The eco-friendly system is also fertilizer and pesticide-free.

As the farm-to-table movement matures, so, too does our knowledge of its benefits. Oregon-based Plate & Pitchfork is one of many organizations in the United States offering dinners on local farms. In a 2008 USA Today feature, co-founder Erika Polmar said that today, diners "are much more informed. People are paying far more attention to how their food is being raised, processed and how it gets to their table."

According to their website, Plate & Pitchfork is “committed to increasing your awareness of the multiple benefits of eating local foods – social, environmental, health, economic, gastronomic. As preachy as that might sound, we're not here to give you a lecture. We just want you to know your options when you're purchasing food. And we want you to remember what it feels like to have the juice from a freshly picked peach trickle down your chin.”

Edible Communities is yet another example of the power of the farm-to-table movement. Founded in 2002, Edible Communities is a publishing and information services company which creates editorially rich, community-based, local-foods magazines in distinct culinary regions. Named the 2011 James Beard Foundation Publication of the Year, Edible Communities is committed to sustaining the unique local flavors and economic viability of the communities they serve. Today, there are currently more than 70 Edible publications throughout the United States and Canada, further proof that sustainable agriculture is more than a passing fad.

An abundance of fresh organic produce awaits the Greenbrier's lucky diners!

The health benefits of eating fresh, naturally grown food are many. And the positive economic impact is equally important. But at The Greenbrier, where the commitment to community stewardship is one of four key mission statements, the bounty of fresh produce can also have a charitable component.

While resort guests enjoy much of the fresh produce from The Greenbrier Farm, local residents also benefit. Any produce that cannot be used in a timely manner by The Greenbrier is donated to local food banks, continuing the resort’s commitment to the local community. During the 2010 Greenbrier Classic, our PGA TOUR, FedExCup event, dozens of the players’ wives and children visited the farm and picked vegetables for local food banks. “For some of the children, this was the first time they had seen a vegetable in its natural state and many were biting into the vegetables as soon as they were picked,” said Critchfield.

This year, the resort began its own farmers’ market for employees. With a $5 donation to charity, employees could fill a grocery bag with fresh vegetables from the farm. “Our farmers’ market was really popular with employees. On the first day, we raised almost $1,000 for charity. This was definitely a win-win for everyone,” added Critchfield.

For The Greenbrier though, the farm is just the beginning. Another Justice endeavor is The Greenbrier Cattle Company where Lim-Flex cattle are bred exclusively for the resort. This breed, considered by many to be the best in the United States, is a combination of 75% Limousin and 25% certified Black Angus. The Angus bloodline brings the fantastic marbling of the steak cuts while the Limousin breed provides for the larger carcass and muscle size as well as an overall leaner animal.

The resort’s cattle operation begins at Tubmill Run Farm in New Florence, Pennsylvania, the spring time calving farm. Later, the cattle are moved to the “finishing” (“fattening up”) farm in Culpepper, Virginia, which is the fall season calving farm. Throughout the process, none of The Greenbrier’s cattle are treated with steroids or growth hormones. All of the steers are completely “pasture-raised” and every aspect of their environment, particularly their food, is closely controlled to maximize flavor. Their diet is 75% grass and 25% naturally raised corn and grain. Monthly, about six steer, each weighing between 1,200 and 1,500 pounds, are brought to the resort.

Once the beef arrives at The Greenbrier, it is aged for a minimum of 21 days in house in a humidity-controlled room used exclusively for this purpose. The resort’s renowned culinary team includes several butchers who prepare the different cuts. A variety of dry-aged steaks are cut and featured in the resort’s popular steakhouse, Prime 44 West. Smoked Steamship rounds au jus are frequently showcased at private dining functions. Other cuts, including brisket, tenderloin steaks, T-bones and ground beef are used throughout the resort where The Greenbrier Cattle Company Dry-Aged Beef Burger is quickly becoming a guest favorite.

Given the success of Prime 44 West, the creation of a cattle company was a logical step. “We want everything we do to be the very best,” said Justice. “We are truly creating a custom experience here, where everything is done with the guest in mind. Whether its dinner in our steakhouse of a tenderloin from one of our steers and vegetables from our farm, we are directly involved in the process of bringing those items from the farm to our kitchen to the guest’s table. When it comes to the idea of farm-to-table, we are truly setting the standard for luxury resorts around the world.”

Enough food to feed 1,000 guests or more as well as the local community

Although other hotels, resorts and restaurants may have a garden or even a farm, or may purchase produce and meat from local purveyors, none are doing so at the level of The Greenbrier. The resort, which frequently has house counts of 1,000 guests or more dining in nine distinct venues as well as private functions, has truly taken the farm-to-table concept to a whole other level. With acres of environmentally-conscious grown vegetables to tons of carefully raised beef, The Greenbrier has embraced and enhanced the sustainable agriculture ideals. The Greenbrier Farm and The Greenbrier Cattle Company establish healthy, flavorful, naturally raised foods under the watchful eyes of The Greenbrier’s award-winning chefs and culinarians.

At The Greenbrier, guests don’t have to imagine the freshest vegetables or most succulent cuts of steak. They can simply savor each and every bite.

Jeff Kmiec joined The Greenbrier in August 2009 as vice president of sales and marketing and was quickly promoted to vice president and managing director by resort owner Jim Justice. In 2010, Mr. Kmiec led the resort’s team through events such as the grand opening of the Casino Club and the inaugural Greenbrier Classic. Also under his leadership, The Greenbrier’s social and group bookings have set all-time records and continue to grow. Mr. Justice promoted Mr. Kmiec to president and managing director in January 2011. A resident of White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, Mr. Kmiec is active in numerous industry associations. A member of the board of directors for the West Virginia Hospitality & Travel Association, he is also the Lodging Division President and AHLA Board Representative. He is also on the board of directors for the Greenbrier County Airport Authority and Greenbrier County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Mr. Kmiec can be contacted at 304-536-7857 or jeff_kmiec@greenbrier.com Extended Bio...

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