As a leader of the new guard of southern chefs, Adam Cooke continues to merge traditional ingredients and methods with innovative techniques to create magical renditions of southern fare.

Adam’s culinary influence began when his family moved from their home in Northern California to the Sierra Nevada Mountains to a farm in the valley. Their goal was to become a self-sustaining family. As a young boy on the farm, his memories of milking cows, gathering eggs, and picking fruit from the cherry trees still impact his culinary endeavors. After finding inspiration from his family, Adam was drawn to enter the culinary world as a professional.

From Montana to Nantucket, Adam moved through restaurants and the New England Culinary Institute, all the while identifying his own style. During this time, his work with Chef Martha Beuser, formerly of San Francisco’s Zuni Café and Chez Panisse, led him to find an early enthusiasm for the sourcing of local and sustainable foods. Passionate for the mountains and fishing of the Appalachians and the resources of Blackberry Farm, he settled in Tennessee to plant his roots.

Adam joined the Blackberry Farm team in 2005 and has now opened the newest restaurant at Blackberry, The Barn. He works directly with Blackberry’s team of artisans to create dishes using seasonal produce and herbs found in the Blackberry Farm gardens, fields and forests, ensuring a taste of East Tennessee in every course. During much of the year, ninety percent of all the produce Adam uses will come from the Blackberry gardens. Encouraged by his surroundings, Adam strives to create the most memorable dining experience.

Often described as Foothills Cuisine, the name wanders the line between refined and rugged, borrowing from both haute cuisine and the country food indigenous to Blackberry's Smoky Mountain heritage.

Menus are created according to the bounty of the season, the heirloom garden, and the foods of their Southern heritage, food that is never meant to intimidate but rather to satisfy and nourish, presented in ways that are fancy and familiar, with a glimpse of the link between kitchen and garden, between heritage and innovation.

Breakfast at Blackberry Farm is designed to be comforting and energizing for the day ahead. Southern breakfast begins with seasonal fruit and a basket of fresh buttermilk biscuits and house-made morning breads. Choices on the morning menu include Herb Crusted Poached Farm Eggs & Slow Cooked Polenta, Vanilla Bean Griddlecakes with Pecan Butter, Omelet of Andoulli & Buttermilk Cheese, to name a few.

The dining experience at Blackberry Farm culminates at dinner. The meal may begin with Salad of Smoked Salmon and Watercress, Glacier Whitefish Caviar, Potato and Soft Boiled Quail Egg, House Made Charcuterie, followed by Roasted Sea Scallops Anson Mills Polenta, Sage and Wild Mushrooms, Painted Hills Farm Beef Strip Loin served with Potato Macaire, Kale and Baby Vegetables or Jamison Farm Lamb Loin Wrapped in Lamb Bacon, Bulgur Risotto, Harissa, Roasted Figs and Cippolini Onions. Guests can then indulge in a grand finale of a tantalizing sweet surprise and a decadent dessert of choice, like Maple Pecan Cake, Sweet Potato Crème Brûlée, Spiced Hot Chocolate and Maple-Chèvre Sauce.