Samuel Erasmus Beall IV (August 21, 1976 – February 25, 2016) was an American chef and restaurateur. He ran Blackberry Farm in

Walland, Tennessee Walland is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Blount County, Tennessee. Its population was 281 as of the 2020 census. Walland is the site of a post office and is the place name associated with zip code 37886, which ...

, a Beall family business which has been rated as among the best resorts in North America. He was a major proponent of having American restaurants focus on

regional cuisine Regional cuisine is cuisine based upon national, state or local regions. Regional cuisines may vary based upon food availability and trade, varying climates, cooking traditions and practices, and cultural differences.Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in Knox County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the Tennessee River and had a population of 190,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Division ...

, to Samuel E. (Sandy) Beall III, the founder of the Ruby Tuesday restaurant chain, and his wife, Kreis. The couple bought the property, located in the foothills of the

Great Smoky Mountains The Great Smoky Mountains (, ''Equa Dutsusdu Dodalv'') are a mountain range rising along the Tennessee–North Carolina border in the southeastern United States. They are a subrange of the Appalachian Mountains and form part of the Blue Ridg ...

, in December 1976 and ran it as a small country inn. Sam, who was four months old at the time of the purchase, spent his earliest years on the farm. When his father sold the restaurant chain in 1982, the family moved to

Mobile, Alabama Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. After a successful vote to annex areas west of the city limits in July 2023, Mobil ...

, where he was raised. As a young man, Beall studied first at

Hampden-Sydney College Hampden Sydney is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince Edward County, Virginia, United States. The population was 1,450 at the 2010 census. Hampden Sydney is the home of Hampden–Sydney College, a private all-male college that is the tenth ...

. and graduated from the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (or The University of Tennessee; UT; UT Knoxville; or colloquially UTK or Tennessee) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee, United St ...

Career

After graduating, Beall moved to California, where he studied at the

California Culinary Academy The California Culinary Academy (CCA) was a for-profit school, and an affiliate of Le Cordon Bleu located in San Francisco, California. Danielle Carlisle established the school in 1977 to train chefs using the European education model. The origi ...

, following which he worked at the

Ritz-Carlton Hotel The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, LLC is an American multinational corporation, multinational company that operates the Hotel#Luxury, luxury hotel chain known as The Ritz-Carlton. The company has 108 conference and resort hotels, luxury hotels an ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, and went on to study

French cuisine French cuisine is the cooking traditions and practices of France. In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a Court (royal), court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote ''Le Viandier'', one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. In ...

The French Laundry The French Laundry is a three-Michelin star French cuisine, French and California cuisine, Californian cuisine restaurant located in Yountville, California, Yountville, California, in the Napa Valley. Sally Schmitt opened The French Laundry in 1 ...

Yountville, California Yountville ( or ) is an incorporated town in Napa County, in the Wine Country of California, United States. Located in the North Bay region of the Bay Area, the population was 3,436 at the 2020 census. Almost a third of the town's populat ...

. Returning to his family home, Beall took over management of the farm and built the Blackberry Farm Inn into a culinary destination for "farm-to-table cooking" focusing on what he called

foothills Foothills or piedmont are geography, geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an highland, upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low terrain, relief hill ...

cuisine. He recruited kitchen staff and developed the attached FarmStead to produce ingredients, such as

heirloom vegetable An heirloom plant, heirloom variety, heritage fruit (Australia and New Zealand), or heirloom vegetable (especially in Ireland and the UK) is an old cultivar of a plant used for food that is grown and maintained by gardeners and farmers, particular ...

s, charcuterie, and cheeses, for the food offered at the inn.

Death

Beall died in 2016, at the age of 39, of injuries he suffered from an accident while skiing at

Beaver Creek, Colorado Beaver Creek is an unincorporated community in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. Beaver Creek is located immediately south of the town of Avon and encompasses the Beaver Creek Resort and adjacent business, lodging, golf course, and resid ...

. The local

coroner A coroner is a government or judicial official who is empowered to conduct or order an inquest into the manner or cause of death. The official may also investigate or confirm the identity of an unknown person who has been found dead within th ...

determined that he had hit a wooden sign post located between the

ski run A ''piste'' () is a marked ski run or path down a mountain for snow skiing, snowboarding, or other mountain sports. This European term is French

s and died of blunt force trauma to the chest. After his death, his widow, Mary Celeste Beall, assumed management of the inn.

Works

*''The Blackberry Farm Cookbook: Four Seasons of Great Food and the Good Life'' (2009). *''The Foothills Cuisine of Blackberry Farm: Recipes and Wisdom from Our Artisans, Chefs, and Smoky Mountain Ancestors'' with Marah Stets,

Clarkson Potter Clarkson may refer to: People *Clarkson (surname) Given name *Clarkson Nott Potter (1825–1882), American attorney and politician *Clarkson Frederick Stanfield (1793–1867), English painter Places Australia * Clarkson, Western Australia ** ...

, New York (2012).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Beall, Sam 1976 births 2016 deaths People from Knoxville, Tennessee People from Blount County, Tennessee Writers from Mobile, Alabama Hampden–Sydney College alumni University of Tennessee alumni American restaurateurs American chefs Writers from Tennessee 21st-century American non-fiction writers American cookbook writers American male non-fiction writers American hoteliers Skiing deaths Sports deaths in Colorado California Culinary Academy alumni 21st-century American male writers