Athenaeum Hotel

Farm To Table Movement here at Chautauqua

The Athenaeum Hotel at Chautauqua Institution and chef Ross Warhol are bringing awareness to the Farm and Table movement and providing an enjoyable yet educational culinary experience through a series of Farm to Table Dinners. These five-course meals feature ingredients grown locally within a 40-mile radius. Each course is paired with a local wine or handcrafted beer.

Farm to Table events have been taking place at the Athenaeum Hotel since the Fall of 2009. Events have included dinners, breakfasts, culinary classes, suggested farm tours, and culinary demonstrations which include wine pairings. Farm to Table practices, or sourcing locally helps to accelerate the demand for and adoption of sustainable practices throughout the food chain, from farmer to consumer. It is good for the environment, the well being of livestock, the local economy and especially for health of the consumer.

Chef Ross Warhol has been employed seasonally at the Athenaeum and served as executive chef at the President’s Cottage in 2008, 2009 and 2011. While here he combines his haute cuisine experience with ingredients sourced within a 40-mile radius. He is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, N.Y., and the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone at St. Helena, Calif., where he graduated top of his class. Ross was also chosen to assist Chef Ferran Adria at the World Pastry Forum during July of 2009 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Chef Warhol spent several months as an intern at El Bulli in Roses, Spain, an exclusive restaurant whose highly inventive take on modern cuisine has earned it ranking among the top three in the world for the last decade (S. Pellegrino, World's 50 Best Restaurants.)

Warhol served in the position of Stagiaire at Alinea in Chicago under Chef Grant Achatz and Studied under Chef Steven Durfee, former Head Pastry Chef at the French Laundry in Yountville, California. Also, he was a Stagiaire at Ubuntu, in Napa California's foremost vegetarian restaurant under James Beard Award Nominee Chef Aaron London where he studied the principles of biodynamic agriculture.

Sous Chef Alex Gray is another major contributor to the Athenaeum's Farm to Table efforts. Gray is a native of Tonawanda, NY and is a Graduate of Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, NY. He has worked at La Fluer Restaurant, Mayville, under Chef Jonathan Haluloa and at The Inn at Little Washington in Washington, VA (2009-2010) under the esteemed Chef Patrick O'Connell. Chef Gray has been employed by the Athenaeum Hotel as Sous Chef to the President of Chautauqua Institution in 2008, 2009, and 2011.