On today's episode we're talking with Chef Nicolas Bour, who was at The Farmhouse during its early years nearly a decade ago before opening the famed Iris restaurant in Atlanta. He has worked in restaurants across the country, and even cooked for President Barack Obama for the first inaugural gala. Chef Nic is now back at Serenbe as the Executive Chef and VP of food and beverage over all Serenbe restaurants. We'll talk about his journey back to Serenbe, his deep relationship and passion for fresh food, sourcing and local farms and the future of culinary in Chattahoochee Hills.
Definitions, People + Organizations Mentioned
InterContinental Hotels
Willard Hotel
Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have A Dream Speech
Carla Bruni
Nicolas Sarkozy
France
Elizabeth on 37th
Plaza Hotel
Loews Coronado Bay
Halsa
Serenbe Farms
Sharko Farms
Decimal Place Farm
Rodale Institute
Robert de Niro
President Barack Obama
Michelle Obama
Humphrey's (San Diego)
Aulani Resort (Hawaii)
Chef Masaharu Morimoto
Iron Chef
The Hill Restaurant
Iris
Garnie Nygren
Woodward Academy
Angie Mosier
LEED
Chattahoochee Hills
John Graham
Pepper Bullock
On today's episode we're talking with Chef Nicolas Bour, who was at The Farmhouse during its early years nearly a decade ago before opening the famed Iris restaurant in Atlanta. He has worked in restaurants across the country, and even cooked for President Barack Obama for the first inaugural gala. Chef Nic is now back at Serenbe as the Executive Chef and VP of food and beverage over all Serenbe restaurants. We'll talk about his journey back to Serenbe, his deep relationship and passion for fresh food, sourcing and local farms and the future of culinary in Chattahoochee Hills.
Definitions, People + Organizations Mentioned
InterContinental Hotels
Willard Hotel
Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have A Dream Speech
Carla Bruni
Nicolas Sarkozy
France
Elizabeth on 37th
Plaza Hotel
Loews Coronado Bay
Halsa
Serenbe Farms
Sharko Farms
Decimal Place Farm
Rodale Institute
Robert de Niro
President Barack Obama
Michelle Obama
Humphrey's (San Diego)
Aulani Resort (Hawaii)
Chef Masaharu Morimoto
Iron Chef
The Hill Restaurant
Iris
Garnie Nygren
Woodward Academy
Angie Mosier
LEED
Chattahoochee Hills
John Graham
Pepper Bullock
Monica Olsen (1s):
Hey guys, it's Monica here. I wanted to tell you about a new podcast that I've started with my very good friend, Jennifer Walsh called Biophilic Solutions. Our last season of Serenbe Stories, Building a Biophilic Movement, was so popular that we decided to dedicate an entire podcast to it. Every other week, Jennifer and I will sit down with leaders in the growing field of biophilia. We'll talk about local and global solutions to help nurture the living, social, and economic systems that we all need to sustain future generations. More often than not, nature has the answers. You can find Biophilic Solutions on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and follow us today so you don't miss an episode.
Monica Olsen (41s):
All right, now let's get back to Serenbe Stories. Serenbe is a place where people live, work, learn, and play in celebration of life's beauty. And we're here to share the stories that connect residents and guests to each other and to nature. This is Serenbe Stories.
Monica Olsen (1m 23s):
On today's episode we're talking with chef Nicolas Bour, who was at The Farmhouse during its early years, nearly a decade ago before opening the famed Iris restaurant in Atlanta. He has worked in restaurants across the country and even cooked for president Barack Obama for the first inaugural gala. Chef Nic is now back at Serenbe as the executive chef and VP of food and beverage over all of Serenbe's restaurants. We'll talk to him about his journey back to Serenbe, his deep relationship and passion for fresh food, and the future of culinary in Chattahoochee Hills.
Monica Olsen (1m 52s):
But first Serenbe Stories is brought to you by The Inn at Serenbe. The Inn is nestled in the rolling countryside of bucolic Serenbe, where guests can walk on the 15 miles of trails through preserved forest land, the wildflower meadow, and the animal village. You can relax by the pool, hot tub, or in rocking chairs on wraparound porch, play on the croquet lawn, swings, and in-ground trampolines. Connect with nature and each other all while staying in luxurious rooms on The Inn grounds or within the community of Serenbe. Book your stay today at serenbeinn.com.
Monica Olsen (2m 21s):
Today we are back with Steve Nygren. Hello, Steve.
Steve Nygren (2m 25s):
Hello, Monica.
Monica Olsen (2m 26s):
And a special guest, chef Nicolas Bour is with us today.
Nicolas Bour (2m 30s):
Good afternoon. Hey Steve.
Monica Olsen (2m 33s):
Chef Nic is our executive chef here at Serenbe. He kind of, I would say The Farmhouse restaurant is his sort of baby, if you will, right? This is not chef Nic's first time at Serenbe. It's his return to Serenbe. And we're going to talk a little bit about that a little bit later, but wanted to give you a little bit of background in him. He has been over 20 years in the restaurant industry. For those of you listening in Atlanta, he was a pioneer in east Atlanta with his Iris restaurant, which I believe there was over there for about over five years. He has cooked all over the country and also cooked for celebrities, such as Robert DeNiro, president Obama, I believe you did his first inauguration is that correct?
Nicolas Bour (3m 12s):
I did that and I cooked for the, the, his wife and daughters as well.
Monica Olsen (3m 15s):
Oh, I love that. I want to hear all about that.
Nicolas Bour (3m 17s):
That was actually the most special part of it.
Monica Olsen (3m 18s):
Oh, I like that. Most recently you came from, it wasn't Humphreys in San Diego, It was from Hawaii.
Nicolas Bour (3m 26s):
Yeah I was, I did consulting on a hotel there, which was formerly known as the Pac beach. It's now the Alohilani resort and that was in conjunction with chef Morimoto.
Monica Olsen (3m 37s):
Wonderful. Well, welcome to Serenbe Stories. And I want to hear your Serenbe stories, Nic.
Nicolas Bour (3m 44s):
Well, there's, some of them are, are some of them I can't really tell you. You know, I, I tell everybody the day I left here, the first time I knew immediately that I had made a terrible mistake because you never, you know, they say that you don't miss the water until the well's empty, but you know, it's that, that being said, I think the return was extra special because of that.
Monica Olsen (4m 8s):
Okay. Let's dig into it a little bit.
Steve Nygren (4m 9s):
Well, you did all sorts of things while you were gone, experiences, you found a wife.
Nicolas Bour (4m 14s):
That's true.
Steve Nygren (4m 15s):
I mean, look at him.
Monica Olsen (4m 16s):
She's having a baby.
Nicolas Bour (4m 15s):
I mean, yeah. I mean, I probably wouldn't have been stable enough to do what I'm doing now back then, because I was a young man. I was single and you know, I had a lot of, I loved food. I've always loved cooking, but I had a lot of extra activities that I, that I enjoyed. And I still like a glass of wine now and then, but nothing like I used to.
Steve Nygren (4m 41s):
You know, a good chef is, is someone who's passionate about everything in life, but sometimes young passion can get kind of wild. So that's why we love having you back with a wife and, and now settled. You can focus that, all that passion right into your food.
Nicolas Bour (4m 56s):
Yeah. It's, I mean, it's been such an incredible journey for me. And just, I I'll never forget the day I came back from my, it was kind of an impromptu interview, and I saw you on the steps of The Hill and it was really emotional for me. I mean, I'll never forget that. It was really- one thing- you haven't aged. I wanted to know that secret immediately. But I think that, I think that I believe in fate and I believe in people that take care of each other. And I think that this is a really, just a perfect scenario for me to finish out my days as the chef of the retirement community.
Monica Olsen (5m 35s):
I know we joke that you'll be cutting the crusts off of our PB&Js.
Nicolas Bour (5m 37s):
That's right.
Monica Olsen (5m 39s):
So tell me, I always like to know the first time that you met Steve Nygren. How did you guys stumble upon each other?
Nicolas Bour (5m 47s):
Well, that's interesting. I was, you know, speaking of being single, I was dating a young lady in Atlanta who was friends with Garnie. They went to, they went to Woodward together and she brought me out here just for a visit to Serenbe. And Serenbe was really just beginning back then. And it was, you know, driving out to the country and I'll say, what is this place? So where are you taking me? It's really remote. And then I, you know, I saw immediately, I saw that there was something going on here that was unlike anything else I'd ever seen. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Iris was coming to an end at that point and I thought that this might be a good fit for me. And Steve was kind enough to allow me to kind of be a part of the awakening of this neighborhood.
Nicolas Bour (6m 30s):
I mean, to come back here now and see what's been done, it's I've missed so much.
Steve Nygren (6m 35s):
Well and we were so thrilled to have someone of Nic's talent. And the reputation of the food at his restaurant was just incredible and the idea that he was at a point in his life that he was looking for something different. We were. We were honored.
Nicolas Bour (6m 49s):
I was as well. I mean, Steve, you're a legend in the industry, you know, and I knew, you know, I, I knew going into this, that I was going to go to work for somebody who had a lot of experience. Not necessarily all success either. I mean, we've all had our ups and downs. Steve does it with grace, unlike a lot of chefs. And I felt that kind of family bond from him and Garnie and the rest of the family. And now I feel like I'm actually in a weird kind of way part of the family. I mean, I look to see him as kind of a father figure, I'm not gonna lie. But it's the kindness and honesty that I really appreciate. And you know, if there's something going down, I want to know about it and they're not afraid to let me know. And that's, you know, candor is really a great part of success.
Steve Nygren (7m 33s):
And you are part of the family.
Nicolas Bour (7m 35s):
Thank you, sir. I really enjoy that. I love it.
Monica Olsen (7m 38s):
And did you come back or when you for first year was that '04, '05? Early, early days were you with The Farmhouse? The Daisy? Were you working a little bit of both?
Nicolas Bour (7m 47s):
I had the, I had the, the a honor to me, I've always been a fan of Angie Mosier's and then I walked into the Daisy and there she was, I mean, putting up a coconut cake, which she's pretty famous for. And then I've met her husband, Johnny, who is just an incredible person. An artist, a, a musician played with, you know, Colonel Bruce Hampton at bunch of bunch of people. I actually found his old toolbox out behind the, behind the old shed there the other day, you know, it looked like it was an archeological find. But so that, you know, that was my first thing. When I saw the building itself, it was so unique. And then I saw LEED certification. I'm like somebody is building LEED certified buildings in the middle of what is now Chattahoochee Hills.
Nicolas Bour (8m 29s):
And I was immediately wondering to myself, how can I get in here? You know? And it worked out. Angie and Johnny decided to move on. And I just, Steve gave me the, the go ahead to take over the Daisy. And I made some crazy decisions in that place. I started opening it up at night for bistro. And everybody's like, what are you doing it's a bake shop. And I was, I remember John Graham, who was one of our longest term residents said, am I having spaetzle at the Blue Eyed Daisy? And I said yes, sir, you are.
Steve Nygren (9m 1s):
It was transitional. I mean, here, we're here. It was the only thing in town. So it went from breakfast in the morning to candles at night and Nic's incredible food. And it was everything about, and people started driving here for dinner.
Monica Olsen (9m 16s):
Did you have different favorites or specials, or do you make it every night? All seven?
Nicolas Bour (9m 19s):
I made it with whatever I had in the cooler, you know, or, you know, and I managed to, that's one thing I've never been told is kind of what to do and what not to do. It's what do you feel like doing? And it just kind of took on a life of its own in some ways. And it became, I mean, the Daisy's always been kind of the center of town, a meeting place. I pictured myself as like this old guy on the middle of the country, welcoming people in that were neighbors. And it really just was really special. I'll never forget it. And it's actually still the same. And coming back here has been, to reunite with all these folks, it's just, you know, once in a lifetime kind of opportunity for me.
Steve Nygren (9m 58s):
Well truly you, you are part of people's hearts. It, you know, through the food, but then your personality and tell about the welcome back party that was thrown by the residents who remembered you and from when you were here before.
Nicolas Bour (10m 13s):
Well, I mean, it was, it was crazy. It was like returning home from a deployment somewhere or something. But you know, one of our, you know, I guess it was Pepper who's, you know, also one of those people that was here back in those times said, Hey, I'm having a little get together. And I was like a little get together okay, cool. I thought I was gonna be three or four people and I get over to his house and it's a margarita machine and the buffet and there's all over. It was a hundred people, I think.
Steve Nygren (10m 38s):
That's right. To welcome you back.
Nicolas Bour (10m 41s):
To welcome me back. And, I don't know, something about me, I was like, do I really deserve this? I mean, so it's little things like that are so special, you know, it's, as a chef, who's, you know, spent so many years in the kitchen it's to be recognized in any kind of, you know, other than a complaint on Yelp or something is really, really wonderful. And it's really, I don't, you know, I don't know what the word would be. It's a vindication of a lot of other things that have been in the past because not every situation is like this. I have been literally searching for that since I left here the first time. And when things are so elusive and you don't get them, it's, it can be, it can be hard, you know, until the, until I married Evony, we had our daughter, Mia really life was kind of empty, but now, I mean, I don't, I still don't know if I deserve all this.
Nicolas Bour (11m 32s):
It's really, it's hard to try to put my hands around.
Steve Nygren (11m 35s):
You do.
Nicolas Bour (11m 39s):
I mean, you know, and I, I told Steve the other day and I see him with people around, little groups of people. And I think I told you one day over by One Mado, I said, Steve, the accessibility that you give to people for somebody who's done what you've done is really, there's nothing like it. I mean, the fact that I can just walk up to you and say, Hey, how's it going? What's going on? And you actually care enough to, you know, you give tours to total strangers, you know, you'll never see them again or not. I mean, this is it's really magical.
Monica Olsen (12m 9s):
Well I think, and we'll pretend Steve's not here now, but I think you're right. You know, the fact that, you know, what developer lives in their development? Which you know that actually I created this place and I'm now choosing to live here with my family, you know, completely opening yourself up for anybody walking onto the street.
Nicolas Bour (12m 31s):
And cares. I mean, most developers they buy a piece of land they know nothing about, they just slap up some buildings without, you know, with not worrying about the environment and, you know, the ancillary things that go along with forming a community and just completely embrace that. I mean, that is, there's nothing else like it. And you can go ahead and try to show me something, it's never going to be like this, at least not around.
Monica Olsen (12m 50s):
Right. So let's talk about the different places that you were in while you were in your years in the wilderness seeking for Serenbe again. You had some fun adventure. So tell us a little bit about where, what you did.
Nicolas Bour (13m 4s):
I mean I got lured away by money. And that's really what young chefs care the most about is if I'm getting paid enough or this or that. And I had an opportunity to go to, I used to work for InterContinental hotels before I came here before I actually, when I left them to open Iris. And you know, not having the structure and the benefits and the insurance and the vacation and the big bonus and all this nonsense that is truly nonsense at this point. I decided that they would lure me back to them. And I would go to Washington DC to take over a very historic hotel, the Willard. It was an exciting time. We knew of Obama was going to win.
Nicolas Bour (13m 48s):
I actually, it was interesting cause I had to do two different amenities during the election. One in case the other guy I'm not going to mention. And then Obama. And we were like, let's hopefully we do some Chicago food. So we got to do that. I cooked for Michelle and the kids. I mean, just to look at them now, they're all grown up. I remember them when they were my daughter's age and they were so precious and it was, it was really exciting until winter. And then Washington DC is brutal in the winter. I mean, I would walk, I swear the wind would shift every day to the direction of my face as I walked. And it's like, it's literally tunnels of air through that city.
Nicolas Bour (14m 29s):
It's a beautiful town. I mean, the architecture's, the architecture is wonderful. It's very, it feels very European. Unfortunately
Steve Nygren (14m 35s):
It's a beautiful hotel.
Nicolas Bour (14m 37s):
It's a beautiful hotel. I mean the history of that place, that's literally where the word lobbyists came from was from the lobby. That's where Martin Luther King finished the I have a dream speech. I cooked for literally almost every person I've ever wanted to meet while I was there, including Carla Bruni, the president's wife of France. She shook my hand. I couldn't speak. She's a beautiful lady.
Monica Olsen (14m 59s):
She is. And a beautiful singer.
Nicolas Bour (15m 2s):
Yeah. And then unfortunately that was the time when we all suffered, right? That was when the downturn in the economy came and the Willard room, the restaurant had been open for just over 50 years, and the terrible news was they were going to close it.
Nicolas Bour (15m 17s):
So, I mean, I got to close the Willard room and my boss was like, you know what, we're going to have to send you to Miami. And I said, oh really, in January? Perfect. So that's what I did. And then my wife now, and I reconnected after 16 years, she said, Hey, do you want to get back together and date? And I said, absolutely not, but I'll marry you tomorrow. And that was it. We got married literally three days later. Yeah.
Steve Nygren (15m 44s):
Tell us more of that story. Go back 16 years.
Nicolas Bour (15m 47s):
16 years ago, my now wife was my girlfriend. She was living, I met her in Savannah. I was working at Elizabeth on 37th, which is still a really great restaurant and a beautiful home. And she went to SCAD. She was a metal and jewelry major who had aspirations to move to New York City, as everybody at that age. And I really liked Savannah a lot. It's a very enchanting kind of place, really low-key. New York City is a rat race. So she said, I'm going to New York and you're coming with me. I said, have fun. I'm not going. And she left.
Monica Olsen (16m 24s):
She called your bluff.
Nicolas Bour (16m 26s):
She did. I mean I definitely lost that one.
Nicolas Bour (16m 29s):
We lost, I would say touch for a number of years. And then I, you know, I still loved her and I married somebody else and still loved my wife now. But you know, that happens. And September 11th, I called her to see if she was okay and whatnot. And we decided to just, you know, be friends. And then over the years we would see, she came to visit me in Washington, DC while I was there. And I slept like this in my bed with her. She was like, Nicolas, you didn't even try to kiss me. But, you know, I was trying to be a gentlemen. And there was something there still, but I was still, you know, wild a little bit. And I thought to myself, you know, I should probably settle down.
Nicolas Bour (17m 11s):
So we got married in the courthouse, Miami by a Haitian guy. He was amazing. And Christmas Eve, which this week is my anniversary coming up. And she said, well, now you're going to move to New York. And I said, I guess I'll, I guess I'll give it a shot. I guess I'll give it a shot. So I landed a terrible job. Just kidding. I ended up becoming to exec sous chef at the famous Plaza hotel, which is, sounds wonderful. But New York is a rat race. It never changed. And I moved up there, lived city life there and for about a year.
Nicolas Bour (17m 52s):
And then I started, I started to saying again, it's winter, winter, winter. So I don't know. Fate brought me a job in California, San Diego, and the rest is history. I went out there, opened three restaurants, had my daughter. I didn't have her. But then I think I've really started thinking back about Atlanta. And that was, you know, seven years in California, cost of living is extremely high. We were living in a very, very nice town, Del Mar area. I started thinking about my daughter and how she was going to have to go to high school with kids that showed up in a limousine that were driving Porsche's when they're 16, you know, that whole thing.
Nicolas Bour (18m 34s):
And I didn't want her to have to deal with that. So I said, you know, let me start looking in Atlanta. And I had some opportunities here. And then I actually heard that there was going to be a change here at Serenbe. And I said, ah, here it is. This is fate. And I started talking to Steve and Garnie, and it just worked out and I didn't even hesitate. I mean, I literally got in my car and drove here. And then I started looking around. I was originally going to buy a house in Mado. And then I thought to myself, you know, if I have to see people.
Monica Olsen (19m 15s):
You couldn't do the Steve role.
Nicolas Bour (19m 17s):
Well I could see Steve. I can see Garnie. I can see you all of you guys, but it's the, the French fries are cold people and the, you know, we had a bad experience people I might on a Monday when I don't, I just want, need to disengage. It's tough. So we moved to Peachtree City, bought a great house over there for so little. When you leave California, and yet we sold our house. It was a, it was a two bedroom, one bath, 700 square foot home with a little child running around and a nanny. And like, it was a mess and we sold it for, it was crazy, almost a million dollars, you know? And now we come here and it's like, literally it's half the price or less.
Monica Olsen (19m 59s):
I know, we talk about reverse sticker shock.
Nicolas Bour (20m 1s):
Yeah. And I think the, the hard thing for me was not, for me leaving California was not hard, but it was the people. How could you leave San Diego? How could you leave the beach? How could you leave the weather? It was so easy because it's always sunny here. You know, even when it's raining, it's sunny here. So that's kinda my, my story in a nutshell, I'm not really not, I really don't like talking about myself all that much. I like talking about experiences though. And this has been, I've been back here a year and a half, and it's the first time I can say in my lifetime that I'm happy to come to work every day. And that's a fact, and that is something that is priceless to me.
Monica Olsen (20m 44s):
Yeah, I think more people don't have that experience and they really should, you know, I don't know how to solve that for them, but I mean, it is a joy if you have a purpose in your career. So talk a little bit about, maybe Steve can tell us a little bit about the vision when you kind of brought Nic back in of what your thought was, because now you're starting to open more restaurants than just what is here and sort of, do you want to talk a little bit about that and the vision for the future?
Steve Nygren (21m 11s):
Well we realized that as we were growing and had more restaurants that we needed an executive chef to oversee all the restaurants. So while The Farmhouse would be the base and Nic was really the person who could bring that into a fine dining experience, but with the idea that it was the upscale Southern farmhouse and while Nic left a piece of Nic always remained because we continued to serve his pan fried chicken for, for lunch and dinner, and it was missing Nic. So he brought that, he came back.
Nicolas Bour (21m 50s):
Martha gave me a call and said, what's up with the fried chicken? No I'm just kidding.
Steve Nygren (21m 55s):
That's right. Martha Stewart called it her favorite fried chicken anywhere. But, and so it was, it was to really bring the, The Farmhouse back into that really special restaurant, but then to oversee our other concepts. So we, we had The Hill and to bring that really back into a continental, mid range. And, and, and then of course the Daisy, he knew that well, and then we were getting ready to open the new Halsa restaurant, which is health, and so Nic totally has orchestrated that. And we have other plans, Italian and some other things too, we will be building a number of restaurants out as we build Serenbe out. So it's great to have someone overlooking and, and, and, and making sure that everyone stays in their own defined area of concept and, and not bleeding over.
Steve Nygren (22m 46s):
Cause sometimes you'll get a competitive edge with chefs and they forget where they are. They're going to do this and that and the other,
Nicolas Bour (22m 52s):
I mean, that's definitely the hardest part. You want to allow them enough creativity to thrive yet control their urges to just to go outside the, you know the, it's kind of a boundary that we have. We're lucky. I mean, it has been, it has been not an easy situation, but easy is never good. You know, I mean, easy, if it was easy, then I don't know. I'd probably be working for dropping off packages for Amazon prime or something.
Steve Nygren (23m 23s):
Managing people is always the, the chore. But you do a great job with that. People really respect you.
Nicolas Bour (23m 27s):
Thank you. I mean, do you have to, I learned that from you. You got to give it to get it, you know. I went through those phases as a chef of being the berater, the belittler, the screaming guy who made people feel terrible. And then, and then a quick story. First time I was ever in the, in, in the paper, it was in Savannah. That was a sous chef. And I, you know, it was a big deal chef Nic's in the paper, blah, blah, blah. And I was a real jerk back then. I mean, I have to say looking back on it, it was not my finest moment. And then I, I, my boss came to me say, Hey, you might want to think about how you're treating people, because somebody burnt your face off the newspaper that's on the bulletin board.
Nicolas Bour (24m 8s):
And that hurt me big time. But at the same time, it really woke me up. And that was really the last kind of straw for me being that way. And then I try to nurture people to not be that way as chefs, because you don't get anywhere with people by, by making them feel bad. I'm too easy sometimes, that's a fact. I have a way too much love for people. I'm a man of the people, but here at Serenbe, that's kind of allowed, you know. In a big corporate job, you can't be, you have to be cold-hearted and, you know, cut, cut, cut, see you later. You know, you know, you don't have to consider the fact that other people have feelings and families. And you know, this is, I mean, I can't believe this is real, to be honest.
Nicolas Bour (24m 52s):
I, I told Steve recently, I said, you know, this is my forever place. And I meant that I meant that. I'm not going anywhere. I mean, they'll bury me out in the field out there in the wildflower meadow. That'll be my, that'll be my, my, my little headstone landmark there.
Steve Nygren (25m 9s):
So now we have that on tape.
Nicolas Bour (25m 11s):
That's a contract.
Monica Olsen (25m 12s):
We're gonna use that against you. Watch out.
Steve Nygren (25m 14s):
And also share, you know, you, we have the farms here and there's always been that, that relationship. And, and you really move that forward into a new place when you, I share what you, what you did with the farmers and the chefs.
Nicolas Bour (25m 28s):
I mean it's easy to be in the kitchen and not think of what's outside. It's easy to just pick up the phone and call a company and say, bring me this. Lettuce that comes from California. And we're in Georgia. Meanwhile, we have a farm here growing it. I just actually ordered a 30 pounds of lettuce from, from chef, from farmer Ian today. To be able to have that, I mean, we literally with Garnie's help kind of dragged everybody over to the farm. And chefs don't like to leave the kitchen. I mean, we sure, we sure like to hide back there. And now the guys are like, oh my God, look at those radishes that we got. And we get, we, we, we really have integrated ourselves into that whole thing.
Nicolas Bour (26m 9s):
And now we're actually doing composting and it was the easiest- we, we put a composting plan into place recently, within the last two weeks. And the negative in me was like, you know, these guys are just going to hate it. They're going to revolt against it and they're going to not do it. And I haven't heard a peep and I've seen a lot of buckets go into the farm. So that means that people actually know that we have a farm here where they know Ian. Ian's a great guy, he's really easy to talk to. And they all feel like we're part of the same family now. And that's a beautiful thing. And this spring, I think, is going to be a banner year for, for us here.
Steve Nygren (26m 46s):
And so you actually take the chefs to the farm and walk the farm with them and look at it.
Nicolas Bour (26m 49s):
We do, we do it. We meet there on Wednesdays. The first week we had beer. And then I decided it probably wasn't a good idea because we stayed there and we stayed there. And then we all felt, we felt we were hung over by 6:30 so. But yeah, it's been great. It's now it's more of a, a natural thing rather than forced. So
Steve Nygren (27m 12s):
And do you discuss with Ian, some of the things you would like him to plant that you would like in your future menus.
Nicolas Bour (27m 18s):
Yeah we do. We actually have a, we have, we had a meeting of that and a plan in place for him to kind of, he, you know, it's, it's like he doesn't understand totally what we do and we don't understand totally what he does. So we kind of met in the middle and we said, Hey, this is what we would use. This is what we need. This is really what we need lots of, and it's going well. The fact that I ordered lettuce today in December, I don't think I've ever done that before. And that's just a Testament to how much work has been done.
Monica Olsen (27m 45s):
Yeah. He's got this beautiful greenhouses and some really great produce.
Nicolas Bour (27m 48s):
He's passionate, I mean, that's really what it's about. It's about waking up in the morning and even if it's four in the morning and getting out there in the field, and I know in August it was hard. I mean, it was, you know, we all suffered. That's the one thing chefs and farmers. We, we, we have the same experience when it comes to summers in Georgia. It's brutal, but that's what makes fall so nice. You know,
Monica Olsen (28m 14s):
Any surprises, any surprise requests, any interesting things that he's growing or that you've made requests for?
Nicolas Bour (28m 22s):
Well, we, everything we've requested has given us and he's gonna, you know, he's really upped the game as far as the mushrooms over there. I mean, we, I didn't know that shiitake mushrooms grew in three days until I met Ian,
Monica Olsen (28m 35s):
I didn't know that.
Nicolas Bour (28m 36s):
Because that's how, you know, that's how I am as well. I'll just order them and they'll come in on a truck who knows. And then he's gonna grow artichokes there, which
Monica Olsen (28m 43s):
I love artichokes.
Nicolas Bour (28m 44s):
I cannot wait to see them. I'm a little tiny bit skeptical, but knowing, knowing him, I know he'll bring me. I mean, he's very tenacious about things. And so that's, that's a cool one. And then just the, the quality of the stuff that's coming in, it's so good.
Nicolas Bour (29m 2s):
I mean, like, you know, I get, you know, I'm a true, true food person. I get excited over vegetables. I mean, you can show me a beautiful steak and I'll be happy, but if I see a radish, that's perfect, carrots that he's been delivering. I mean, these are like, I don't even want to cook them. They're that nice. So, yeah, it's become, I think in a year and a half, we've made great strides. I think there's a symbiotic kind of relationship between all of us now that probably didn't exist before. And I, I cannot take credit for that. I mean, that's everyone. You know, sometimes you just have to show people what's outside of the fridge and including me, I've learned a lot.
Monica Olsen (29m 40s):
What about other sourcing? Cause I, you know, we're in the middle of Chattahoochee Hills here and even beyond, Carrollton there's some, you know, Fayetteville, there's some wonderful farms around here, whether that is protein or vegetables. Tell us about what you've discovered or what you're excited about.
Nicolas Bour (29m 54s):
Oh, lots. I mean, you know, Fairburn, Georgia has got Linda Scharko. I mean, she's like an institution in Atlanta. At first I didn't know what to think because she's like come over to my farm and I was driving around at Fairburn and it's kind of a bad neighborhood over there. And I was like, where's the farm? What am I doing here? And then there, she was waving me down and it was like in a residential neighborhood. And I said, well, where are we going to the farm? Are you gonna take me out there? And she's like, you're at the farm. And it was an, a vacant lot across the street from her old house beat up house. And it was this lot behind here. And then what she calls guerrilla farming is if Steve has a piece of property that he hasn't seen and probably impossible for him, but that he hasn't seen in a couple months, a year, 10 years.
Nicolas Bour (30m 43s):
And I'll just go ahead and plant crops on there and grow and maybe they'll care. And maybe they won't. So that's what she does. She plants on vacant lots and all this it's really, it's amazing what she does. She's so passionate. I mean, that lady wakes up. I don't even think she sleeps. And I pick up veggies from her every week. She actually texted me a list this morning of what she grows. I pick up stuff from her and then she deals with the cheese lady, Decimal Place, which is a, have you heard of Decimal Place? So the reason it's called Decimal Place is cause they started it on 10th of an acre in Atlanta in the city.
Monica Olsen (31m 17s):
What a cute name.
Nicolas Bour (31m 19s):
And decimal comes from her husband who is the controller for Georgia Tech.
Nicolas Bour (31m 25s):
So they're doing cheese, they have goats and I'm using their feta right now at The Farmhouse. And I buy about 15 pounds a week from her and she'll text me, you know, three in the morning and say, Hey, you need cheese. I'll text her back at three oh six. You know?
Monica Olsen (31m 42s):
I, I think it's, I think, I think sourcing is interesting because I think as we have Rodale coming and you're here and more people are moving in, you know, thinking about, you know, sitting in Chattahoochee Hills where Serenbe is, you know, what other sort of aspects of the culinary economy maybe, or the agrarian economy, you know, do you see? I know, so the Rodale Institute is really the, one of the pioneers of organic agricultural research and we're thrilled to have them open one of their first research centers here in Chattahoochee Hills. I think it's going to be called the south Eastern organic research center. And their goal is to not only support farmers, but grow farmers and really, really push for more organic and regenerative agriculture.
Monica Olsen (32m 27s):
But like, I love the idea of like, there's just like we were saying, we were talking off a minute ago. Like we've both been to Paris recently, you know, having the little like bake shop, the little boulangerie or cheese shop, like, do you think those things are possible in the future?
Nicolas Bour (32m 40s):
I mean, that's, you know, that's the question and that's the beauty of Serenbe is that we, we can gauge that and we can do it. It's not like we're looking for people outside to, we kind of, we're starting to figure out I think what we can do and what we need, but we can also do additions to businesses that already exist.
Steve Nygren (33m 0s):
Well and the beauty is, is, is we're developing a market for people that appreciate fresh, good food. And so this is a foundation, whether they come in under the Serenbe umbrella or if they locate in the area and market what they're doing to us. And that's the real hope is that we really re-establish the agrarian economy because what's happened is, is big eggs, big grocery stores. We removed that sense of a regional agrarian economy. And that's one of the problems with rural America today is, is we, we don't have that sense of community and everything that's around that.
Steve Nygren (33m 43s):
And hopefully here at Serenbe and the Chattahoochee country is we can reestablish that and that's, what's starting to happen.
Nicolas Bour (33m 49s):
Yeah. I mean, I think I, I think Steve and I discussed last year that we would love to make this, you know, it's hard to, the hard part here is finding people to work. People that are, you know, don't live around the neighborhood. I mean, there, you don't have 500 cooks living within the... We'd love to be able to bring kind of a, a learning experience here for people, for young people that want to pursue, whether it be farming, whether it be culinary arts, front of the house type situations where we could, I mean, this is crazy, but I'd love to like house them and teach them and have some kind of like, they could actually get credit for it somehow.
Monica Olsen (34m 24s):
Sounds like you're talking about a culinary school.
Nicolas Bour (34m 26s):
Yeah. I mean, I don't want to, you know, culinary schools have a negative connotation these days.
Nicolas Bour (34m 32s):
I would say it would be more like an overall experience for people that they could kind of figure out what they wanted to do at the end of it. Like, do I want to be a chef? Do I want to be a farmer? Do I want to be in real estate selling real estate? I mean, when you pigeonhole people and especially young people into like, especially with the advent of celebrity chefs and you know, food network and everything's a game show that you've really lost the actual focus of what it was all about. I mean, I did it, I did a recruiting trip at the culinary Institute of America a few years ago. And it seemed to me that these kids had the vision of all becoming famous chefs. That's not how it is, you know, and culinary schools just turn them out, turn them. I don't want to be a place that churns out people with a piece of paper that says they're something. It should be an organic experience that, you know, that it's comes from within.
Monica Olsen (35m 20s):
Well and I think that this past year, if I recall, we had a woman that worked on the farm and then she also worked in The Farmhouse part-time, right. So she kind of was able to get both sides of that experience and really understand where that food, the vegetables were going and then vice versa, where were coming from. So I remember she loved that and I think that that model is a great one.
Steve Nygren (35m 44s):
And we've had theater interns that have worked in some of the food establishments. So there's a lot of things happening.
Nicolas Bour (35m 51s):
It's already happening. You have people, I mean, I, there was, there was a young lady who was at one time, she was a bartender at The Hill and now she's selling real estate. I mean, it's, this is like I said, it's a place unlike any other where you actually have the open-minded people running it that say, Hey, you know, maybe you don't like this, but maybe you'll like this. I mean, we're pretty good at holding on to good people.
Monica Olsen (36m 10s):
Yeah. Yeah.
Steve Nygren (36m 11s):
But I share a Nic's vision and the idea that we could actually formalize it more and actually have housing that we could offer to where we really brought this into sort of may, maybe we would call it, you know, a, a certificate in, in, in passion.
Nicolas Bour (36m 25s):
That's right. I like that.
Steve Nygren (36m 27s):
And we funnel it into the passions of the arts and culinary arts.
Nicolas Bour (36m 32s):
I like that. I mean, you know, I, I had a spiritual awakening when I came back here. That is probably not possible anywhere else. I mean, I, I was, can I share a brief story? I, you know, I was on a bunch of medications when I came back, some of them probably not great. Some of them good for you, according to some doctors that don't really care I don't think. Doctors have become people that just write a prescription for everything instead of actually looking into the root cause. And I, I remember it was an event going on at The Farmhouse and I said, Steve, you know, I'm having some kind of crazy awakening here and I'm not going to take these medications anymore.
Nicolas Bour (37m 12s):
And he said, well, good luck. No, he was very understanding. And honestly, I had, I was taking three meds, you know, some antidepressants and things that, you know, things obviously I didn't need. And then I just cold turkey stopped. I feel, I felt like by coming back here, I didn't need that anymore because, it's the stresses that are normally attributed to working in this environment and environment of restaurants and culinary and everything else, doesn't exist here. So I, you know, I've been, I've been off of those for a year and a half now and my creativity has just gone insane.
Monica Olsen (37m 46s):
Because you're clear, right?
Nicolas Bour (37m 48s):
Exactly. So I think if you brought people here for the experience, they would have a totally different outlook on the whole overall industry.
Monica Olsen (37m 57s):
Right. Well and you're right, you know. It has become, again, seeing it from the outside, very celebrity driven and everything that's going on with all the TV networks. And then, you know, the, the chefs have these restaurants and they continue to open them up and you hear, you know, my kids even, you know, watch YouTube videos of these chefs, yelling at each other. They think it's hilarious, but it's like, what, what kind of modeling is that, that maybe it was happening in the kitchen for whatever reason, but now we're sort of holding it up as okay.
Nicolas Bour (38m 23s):
Yeah. I mean, I, you know, I'm an old, older guy, now I've been in the industry a long time. I worked for Guenter Seeger. I worked for Jean Banchet, who was a very famous French guy who really, really was hard. I mean, he would physically hit you. And he would, I don't know why I always went back. I went back for more every day, but those days are gone. And for good reasons. I mean, you, can't the amount of depression, drug abuse, alcoholism in my industry is just rampant. You saw what happened to Anthony Bourdain. You know, there's not a lot of mental health care for us. So that's why I came to Serenbe.
Nicolas Bour (39m 4s):
It's part of, it's just kind of part of the deal here that, you know, I, I used to come home from work and an Evony would be like, you've had a terrible day. I can tell you that a terrible day. And I said, yeah, it was terrible. I hate my job. I don't want to go back there tomorrow. I need the money so I'm going to do it. I have yet to tell my wife that I've had a terrible day here and that's not exaggerating. It may sound ridiculous, but it has been an amazing thing to come back to. I mean, and I feel better. I probably look better. I think I look better.
Monica Olsen (39m 39s):
You look great. We'll put a picture that
Nicolas Bour (39m 41s):
Yeah we have special mirrors here, but I, I think that, you know, overall health and wellness is alive and well here.
Nicolas Bour (39m 48s):
And it's very, very rare. And I'm so thankful for it. I'm like, oh my god. I can't even express it, Steve.
Steve Nygren (39m 56s):
Well, thank you. We're, we're, we're delighted you're back part of the family. And, and I think that's what Serenbe represents that what here's special and it is special. The sad part is that this doesn't exist other places. And I think a hundred years ago it was a different atmosphere. Is we, we had respect for one another and what everyone was doing. And I think that's a big part of what Serenbe is, is it's that common respect for everyone to be their individuals. And, and you are unique, you're individual, and I'm just glad you're here.
Nicolas Bour (40m 28s):
Well I like to think of it as, you know, cause there's nothing perfect, but this place is imperfectly perfect. It's has some of the aspects of life outside of there, but I feel like if, if you don't turn on the news, you have no idea that life can be anything else than this. I mean, that's part of the thing about social media and everything else is that you're still kind of forced to, to see it. But at the same time, it makes me personally feel very lucky that I have this. I feel like once I enter the driveway here, that I'm in a very safe, kind of special place.
Steve Nygren (41m 3s):
And now, you know, with the, through, through the various ways, the various disciplines, people are coming to visit us and we're influencing that and the James Beard boot camp is one thing, you, you, you work with now, the chefs. Why don't you share what that experience is like.
Nicolas Bour (41m 18s):
I mean that was, that was extremely challenging for me as a chef. Probably because I was the oldest guy in the room. And I have a little bit of, you know, I'm an older, like I have an older mindset and these kids now are so way ahead of their time, you know, like they're so involved and so involved in social justice and, you know, I'm just trying to get the <inaudible> right. Make sure that the short ribs are cooked correctly. But it was, it was, it was very enlightening. I thought that it was interesting to hear perspectives of people on beyond, James Beard has gone away beyond just the culinary thing. And, you know, they're actually active in the community and trying to do the right thing and pushing an actual agenda that is good for everyone.
Nicolas Bour (42m 3s):
I think not everyone agrees with it. And there are some certain things that I didn't a hundred percent like agree with personally, but I support the effort a hundred percent because it's inaction is the worst thing.
Steve Nygren (42m 16s):
And so for those who are not aware of this is the James Beard bootcamp, which is through the James Beard foundation. And they realized that chefs are now celebrities in their communities and representing the industry. And so they wanted to make sure that they understand the entire cultural and some of the social issues around food service and
Nicolas Bour (42m 37s):
And actually using, I mean, you have, like Steve mentioned celebrities, I don't personally think I'm a celebrity whatsoever, but I think that we have a voice and it's a shame to not use it. As long as it's for the right thing. I mean, I did get, I do feel very strongly about the, a lot of what they said about food and the sourcing of it and GMOs, you know, which goes really along with what we're doing here. I mean, this is where we are the example of what they're talking about. I'm just not a big Twitter guy.
Monica Olsen (43m 10s):
Well and I think that's okay. I think, you know, chefs have the opportunity to touch so many people with what they do every day, that it becomes an education for the people to understand because we're voting every day, three times a day, if not more of what we're putting on our plate. And that hugely affects many, many, many things. And as consumers, that's a lot of power. So we should be really thoughtful. And I think chefs are the ones who can start to educate us on.
Nicolas Bour (43m 38s):
I think the thing that I personally took away from that was, I didn't know that how many people go hungry in this country and are expected to live on this, just the lowest quality stuff that, you know, the SNAP program is in danger. There's a lot of negative legislation in Washington, DC, as far as helping people. I mean, it's easy to sit up there in your ivory tower and make decisions about people who have nothing. You know, when you're going to go have a steak dinner afterwards. I think it's shameful. And I think that is something that I have tried to kind of get out there as far as the snap program. It's, you know, these are, they're not just talking about adults like, oh, why don't they get out there and work? These are children that we're talking about.
Nicolas Bour (44m 19s):
We'd love to see the expansion of good farm raised food for those folks and not just, you know, a card that you can just go buy whatever with. Not to tell people what to do, but at the same time, do they have access? I mean, it goes right down to my daughter's school where I go there for lunch with her. And she's the food that they're serving these kids is not good. So the government's got a long, long way to go. And I think they could use some of what we do here and what James Beard does as a good example of what the right thing to do is,
Steve Nygren (44m 48s):
And wholesome wave is another great program dealing with that. And of course, major fundraiser for Georgia wholesome wave <inaudible>.
Nicolas Bour (44m 54s):
Amazing guy. I see him once a year and he is just that guy is so energetic about what he does. It's really inspirational.
Monica Olsen (45m 4s):
Yeah, it's incredible what he's built.
Nicolas Bour (45m 5s):
And we look forward to having him back here this year.
Steve Nygren (45m 7s):
Absolutely.
Monica Olsen (45m 8s):
Well, thank you so much, Nic. We look forward to coming into the restaurant and seeing you soon.
Nicolas Bour (45m 12s):
I've really enjoyed being here.
Steve Nygren (45m 14s):
Thanks for chatting, Nic. And thanks for being you and thanks for being at Serenbe.
Nicolas Bour (45m 17s):
Love you Steve.
Steve Nygren (45m 18s):
Love you.
Monica Olsen (45m 22s):
Thank you for listening to Serenbe Stories. New episodes are available on Mondays. Please rate and review the podcast and make sure to email your questions for Steve Nygren to stories@serenbe.com. You may even get to hear them on the podcast. More details about episodes and guests are available on our website serenbestories.com.