Fearrington News
Reflecting on 2017
As we celebrate the arrival of 2018, we wanted to take a look back at all of the exciting events, notable staff achievements and more that happened in 2017!
To kick off the year, The Fearrington House Restaurant was named a Gold Medal N&O Best Restaurant. Our incredible guests and diners ranked The Restaurant as a 2017 OpenTable’s Diners Choice restaurant, and TripAdvisor users awarded The Restaurant a Certificate of Excellence. In the fall, The Fearrington House Restaurant hosted the Michelin Guide for their Michelin on The Road series, culminating in a delightful dinner with guest Chef Patrick O’Connell of The Inn at Little Washington. Our State Magazine even popped by to celebrate their second Meet the Maker dinner series, with a wonderful late summer dinner at The Garden Terrace.
This year, The Restaurant also began to offer Afternoon Tea to the public as well as Inn guests. Afternoon Tea is now offered Wednesday through Sunday from 2-4pm, and there’s even offerings for little ones with Prince and Princess tea! We’re happy to see so many guests enjoy this time-honored tradition with their friends and family.
Your support also led to a nomination of Chef Bedford for James Beard Awards’ Best Chef Southeast. Chef Bedford has been dedicated to wellness and fitness, both in the kitchen and out. He completed his second Chefs Cycle ride for No Kid Hungry in June, and in September, completed his first full Iron Man race in under 12 hours. Beverage Director Paula de Pano was named one of five finalists in the Ruinart Challenge, and spent five days in Paris, France, with the winners, learning about the champagne region and so much more.
Fearrington’s Wine Team was also recognized by Wine Spectator with a 2017 Best of Award of Excellence Restaurant Award, and the World of Fine Wine with one of the Best Wine Lists in the World and a highest possible ranking of three stars. The wine team was also recognized with an award for Best Wine List by IndyWeek. Fearrington Sommelier, Jesse Scott, was chosen to be a special guest on a Bordeaux wine cruise of the Rhine River in 2018 – check out the details of his excursion here!
The Fearrington House Inn celebrated it’s 30th Anniversary this year by being named a Travel & Leisure 2017 Top 10 Best Resort Hotel in the South, and a Condé Nast Traveler Top Hotel in the South. IndyWeek named The Inn one of the Best Bed & Breakfast in their 2017 Best of the Triangle Awards. Next year, they’ll begin room renovations to make every overnight stay even more luxurious and relaxing!
McIntyre’s Books celebrated their 28th birthday and National Independent Bookstore Day in the same weekend! There were delicious treats, author readings, a giveaway and more! McIntyre’s also welcomed several characters for storytime visits this year, including Cat in the Hat and Llama Llama Red Pajama. Keep an eye out – next year, they’re planning a Children’s Book Club Party, a wonderful Whirlikids Book Festival, and more! This holiday season, the Reindeer Readers program sponsored by generous readers in our community, provided a book to every pre-k, kindergarten and first grade student in Chatham County Public schools. The program was so successful that two classes of second graders also received books.
Dovecote Style celebrated it’s 30th Birthday with a month long celebration involving StyleChat live sessions, cake and champagne, and an exclusive shopping opportunity for their guests. This year, the stylists began several unique series, including the Stylechat blogs, Daneen’s Notes and Monday Mixology. Next year, keep an eye out for Short Takes, featuring styles specifically for petite ladies, and more!
This past spring, Fearrington Village hosted Walter Magazine’s “Destination Walter” event featuring beer tastings with local breweries, shopping throughout the Village and more! Guests mingled with the Belties, enjoyed local beer, and savored the beautiful North Carolina sunshine.
The Spa hosted De La Terre Skincare for a seminar on their organic and natural skincare collection. You can find their entire line of holistic products at The Spa. Ask about their chemotherapy and radiation support kit, or one of their four advanced skincase systems. The Spa expanded it’s seasonal treatments to include exfoliations – check out their Cranberry Pomegranate treatments for winter! The Spa completed renovations to update their space and better feature the wonderful collections offered in store and in their spa treatments. Check out their new space on your next visit!
Thank you for your continued support of Fearrington Village businesses. We’re so grateful for you! Cheers to 2018!