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John Shields
132 E. Main St.
Chilhowie, Virginia
276-646-8787
Born: 1977. Raised: Tampa, Florida.
Education: Forest Park Community College Culinary Arts program; St. Louis, Missouri.
Experience: Charlie Trotter's and Alinea, Chicago.
How he landed in the very remote town of Chilhowie: "The job at Town House kept popping up on Craigslist, on the Star Chefs site. But my wife, Karen, and I looked at the menu, and it had shrimp cocktail, filet with demiglace--it was food from another era. And we couldn't find Chilhowie on the map. But then they changed the ad to say, 'a great place for a husband-and-wife team,' and I decided to send my resume."
Influences: Grant Achatz. "Working with him was an inspiration. He has this zen calmness. An unwillingness to say, 'We can't do this.' He keeps pushing forward."
Memorable meal: Mugaritz in Errenteria,Spain. "For our honeymoon, we spent one week in France and one week in Spain. I even got Rosetta Stone to brush up on Spanish beforehand, to help me in restaurants. We ate a total of 22 Michelin stars in those two weeks. We were on a mission. But the very best was Mugaritz. The chef is Andoni Luis Aduriz--I love his food, I love the guy."
Favorite thing about southern Virginia: The foraging. "There's wild asparagus through the summer, into August. We can pick wild blueberries in the mountains."
Favorite cookbook: Essential Cuisine by Michel Bras. "When I want to be inspired by nature, I open up that book."
Online obsession: Verygoodfood.dk. "It's written by a girl in Denmark. She goes out and eats a lot; she goes to Noma and a lot of other places I wish I was eating at."
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