Carving his Path

You may have seen his bio when we introduced Trevor Iaconis as the new executive chef of the Dogwood. Now, Trevor is diving into his journey, sharing details about how he developed his love for food and how he found his way to Blackberry Farm. Trevor’s contagious positivity is evident when you meet him, and his food is a must-try. Learn a little more about the man at the helm of the Dogwood kitchen.

From a very young age, I was intrigued by food. I was always watching the Food Channel, trying to learn and pick up techniques. I’d see something that I liked to eat or would like to try and ask my mom and dad if we could go grocery shopping to get the ingredients so I could try to make it at home.

I remember learning to pop popcorn from the kernels in a pot, then trying all different spices, hot sauce, Worcestershire and whatever else I could add to the butter to jazz it up.

My mom grew up in Friendsville, Tennessee, so I have deep roots in East Tennessee. We would visit my grandparents’ lake house and play in the water and fish for catfish and brim. Eventually, they moved out to Walland, where we continued our visits. My grandpa was a true southern man and introduced me to Benton’s country ham as a child. He travelled to Madisonville regularly to get his supply. He taught me how to grow tomatoes and to smoke barbecue pork. He had a smoker that he made out of a 55-gallon drum, with an oven heating element in it to start the logs. I learned about slow cooking and letting that bark and flavor develop.

My grandfather on my dad’s side is 100% Italian, and Sunday sauce was always on the menu. Red sauce, sausage, braciole and meatballs graced the table. We’d play penny poker and listen to the automatic piano play.

My dad taught me how to fish the local waters, so my favorite foods growing up were shrimp, snapper, red drum and whatever else we could catch. I can distinctly remember the smell of mangrove snapper cooking in butter and garlic after we got home with our catch. As I got older, one of my best friends had a boat, and we would fish almost every day. One thing that I think helped me land the internship at The Barn at Blackberry Farm was my shrimp peeling abilities. The limit was a 5-gallon bucket per boat, per day when the shrimp were running, and we’d sit outside and peel the whole bucket.

I got my start in restaurants at age 14, peeling shrimp, washing dishes and making salads for a local prime rib and steak spot. This really opened my eyes to the restaurant industry, and while it wasn’t glamorous, I couldn’t wait to be the cook behind the stove.

My oldest brother Victor was always interested in food, and I got to watch him go to culinary school at Daytona State College. I remember seeing the chef whites and thought how badass he looked in them. In high school, was able to do dual enrollment and take some culinary classes during the Summer. That was my first taste of real, professional French cooking techniques. I was also part of the Culinary Academy at Seabreeze High School, and I travelled with the culinary team to compete in competitions. At one of the competitions, there were representatives from culinary schools, and I started to chat with a few of them.

When I turned 18, I was finally able to get a job as a line cook to rack up some experience. I worked at Houligan’s, which is a sports pub famous for their “wally wings.” Later on, I started making these for family meal at Blackberry Farm and was able to make them for late night snacks at our Southern Foodways Alliance event, which was a huge honor.

I thought of applying to some traditional colleges, but during the application process I realized that culinary school was my path and being a chef was my calling. I was ready to work with my hands, create delicious food and get out into the world of fine dining. I checked out the Art Institute in Ft. Lauderdale and was interested but, The Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park had an allure that I couldn’t resist. I applied, was accepted and knew this was the place for me. I had never been north of Tennessee, had never taken a commercial flight and didn’t know anyone in the northeast. My parents weren’t super excited that I would be so far away, but they were supportive and always encouraged me to chase my dreams.

I graduated high school May 25, 2010, and moved to New York on May 30 to begin my education. It was exciting, new and so much fun. I took it very seriously and learned a lot. I had a very basic understanding of knife cuts, stocks, etc. So, to be in a place where everyone was focusing on one common goal, to learn to become a chef someday, was magical. It was the first time I was away from my family, which was tough, but I knew that I was in the best place to reach my goals. I made some lifelong friends and got a great foundation for my future.

Cut to, I was in Townsend visiting my aunt and uncle while on break from school, searching for an externship destination. I had always thought of doing it in a big city. My uncle Rick, a lifelong Townsendite, whose mother and father worked at Blackberry Farm in the ‘50s, said, “Have you ever heard of a place called Blackberry Farm?” At the time I hadn’t, but I started looking it up and was in awe of what was right around the corner. “They make their own cheese?! They make their own charcuterie?! They are farm to table?! Real fine dining?!” I was hooked and checked to see if they were an externship partner with CIA, and to my great fortune, they were.

I applied for an externship and was invited to come for a stage. That day, I met Joseph Lenn, Cassidee Dabney, Andy Chabot and so many others that would be instrumental to my growth as a chef, a man and a leader. I worked with garde manger, and I still remember the compressed watermelon as the Amuse Bouche. When service started, I watched for a while and asked if there was anything else I could do. They had a box of shrimp that needed to be peeled and deveined. This is where my beginning in the food world and the most important day I had ever had has an adult came full circle. I peeled those shrimp with a ferocious but steady hand. While I may have underwhelmed with some other aspects of my stage, this was my chance to stand out.

I talked with Jospeh for a while at the end of the night and thought that things went well, but there was another person applying for the one internship position. I waited eagerly for an offer; I was so enamored by Blackberry Farm that I hadn’t even applied anywhere else for an externship. About a week later, I got a call and was offered the position. I was overwhelmed, overjoyed and just so excited.

I started on garde manger, being trained by one of the sous chefs. My first task was to shave vegetables for the mixed green salad. It took me what seemed like all day to get it right, and I remember Cassidee giving me some feedback and words of encouragement at the end of the night. She said something like “You’ll get faster. Keep working hard and throw away your grandma’s damn CIA peeler.” That was my first introduction to a Swiss or “y” peeler, and some great advice I still use to this day with my new cooks.

At this point, I had been away from home for a while, but I was much closer to family. I had family in town, and Ormond was only a nine-hour drive instead of 22. I was contemplating if I was going to return to CIA to finish my degree. I wanted to, but I had used all of my college savings and scholarships on the first half of school. To return, I’d need to take out student loans, and I wasn’t sure if that was the right thing for me at the time. I had a great job at Blackberry Farm and was learning so much about the terroir of Tennessee, new techniques and good southern food – like what you can do with Benton’s ham besides fry it and have it at breakfast. I bounced the idea of staying off Joseph and Cassidee, and they thought about it for a while. Jospeh offered me a full-time line cook position, with a stipulation that I stayed for at least a year. I told my parents, and while not super excited that I wasn’t going to finish my degree, they were happy that I had found a place to plant my own roots.

I worked my way up from garde manger to fish entremets, then fish roast, meat entremets and meat roast. I loved learning how to cook all these different proteins and vegetables. I fell in love with real southern food. I realized grits weren’t just those watery things I hated at cracker barrel. Okra tastes good on the grill; you don’t have to fry it. Brussels sprouts had a ton of flavor when cooked properly, and country ham can be just like a prosciutto or speck ham.

When I worked my way through all the stations, I was given more responsibilities to do things like cook dinner at the Yallarhammer, do private dinners at The Main House and support private chef experiences. I can remember the first time when I was a different color (station) every day of the week. It felt great to be trusted and so well versed in what we were doing at the time. I was supervising, training and cooking. It felt so right and so natural.

One day, Sam Beall, Andy and our whole team was at line-up. Something big was happening. Joseph announced to us that he was leaving Blackberry Farm to chase his dreams of owning a restaurant in Knoxville. It was a new journey, and we were all so excited to see Cassidee take the reigns as executive chef. She is beyond talented. I was excited for Joseph to be on his next step and for the new beginning of The Barn at Blackberry Farm. I can still remember thinking to myself, “Am I going to be sous chef at Blackberry Farm?” A few days later, I found out I was being promoted to sous chef and was over the moon. Hard work pays off. Dreams do come true.

I was honored and excited to have this new position and simultaneously scared and unsure of what was to come. Cassidee is a great leader, mentor and friend and always pushed me to be my best. We would take all this random stuff out of the walk-in freezer and taste it together. How are turnips and dill? How are mushrooms and buttermilk? How are beets and pine syrup? (Cassidee created a great dish with golden beets and pine bud syrup shortly after this.) I was inspired and worked hard to be the best number two I could possibly be. We worked hard; we worked long; and we had some tough nights. We had a lot of great times, unforgettable dinners and cooking schools with guest chefs. We laughed, we cried and ultimately, we made great food and a lot of great memories.

A few years and a lot of experience later, I made my way to Senior Sous Chef at The Barn. One day, Andy asked to meet me in the Wine Cellar to discuss the future. We talked for a while, and he let me know of an opportunity that was opening up at The Dogwood with Sarah Steffan. I was hesitant to leave The Barn. At the time, it was the only great restaurant I had ever worked in, but I was excited for a new opportunity.

The Dogwood has transformed greatly in its eight years of existence. It certainly reignited my passion and opened a lot of avenues. While we always had the same access to ingredients, The Dogwood was more of relaxed elegant fare. We were able to make dishes as intricate as we wanted but also could deliver beautiful bistro-type fare. Dishes didn’t have to have an element that you couldn’t make at home.

Getting the Dogwood to where it is today was a huge undertaking by Sarah and me, and I couldn’t think of a better partner or mentor to guide me along. We worked very closely together for seven years, and I learned so much about food, being a great leader and having fun. We assembled great teams and served delicious food. Sarah gave me a lot of freedom and responsibility. She trusted me to run the restaurant and make some big decisions.

I was very happy at the Dogwood and Blackberry Farm. I was hoping that someday I would be able to lead a team as the executive chef and carve my own path and leadership style.

When Sarah told me she was accepting the Bramble Hall position and asked if I wanted to be the executive chef of the Dogwood, I cried tears of joy and shook with excitement.

I am humbled, honored and excited to take the reigns as the executive chef of the Dogwood.

Trevor is curating the second Cheese Club Box of 2024 with all his favorites. This is a limited availability collection that you definitely don't want to miss. Click here to pre-order your box for arrival in May!