Why an East Tennessee luxury resort made Food & Wine's prestigious Global Tastemakers list

Robin Gibson, Knoxville News Sentinel
·2 min read

An East Tennessee destination for luxury relaxation and fine dining has earned a spot on the Food & Wine Global Tastemakers list of the Best Hotels for Food in the U.S.

Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee, is listed as the "Editor's Pick" for its category in the publication's recent Global Tastemakers recognition of top culinary destinations around the United States and abroad. Though the project is Food & Wine's "first-ever reader's choice awards," the publication noted it included editor's picks in many categories "to shout out some more culinary destinations in places you can’t miss."

Among other categories with their own lists are Best Restaurants for Ambiance (which gives the No. 1 spot to upscale Italian restaurant Yolan in Nashville) and Best Bars in America (topped by The Fox in Nashville.)

Blackberry Farm 'lives up to the hype'

Regarding Blackberry Farm, the Food & Wine editors wrote: "If you're a person for whom a weekend at Blackberry Farm is a casual jaunt, congratulations on your life. For the rest of us, it's a lifetime-level indulgence that lives up to the hype. Whether your particular penchant is for world-class wine and picked-this-morning cuisine; frolics with truffle puppies; outdoor excursions by foot, boat, horseback, or bike; slumping into spa bliss; or just contemplating the pastoral splendor from the coziness of your cottage's front porch, the farm — and its sister property Blackberry Mountain — are the peak of cosseted pleasure."

The 4,200-acre haven in the Great Smoky Mountains shares the Best Hotels for Food list with upscale hotels and resorts in Las Vegas, Florida, New Orleans and rural Vermont.

A destination for decades

Blackberry Farm's cuisine and other offerings have won it a spot on Food & Wine's list of the Best Hotels for Food in the U.S.
Blackberry Farm's cuisine and other offerings have won it a spot on Food & Wine's list of the Best Hotels for Food in the U.S.

More: Blackberry Farm chef shares her 3 must-try Knoxville restaurants with Bon Appètit

Transformed into a six-room country inn in the mid-1970s, Blackberry Farm has expanded in the decades since into a landmark resort featuring an array of luxury accommodations with nightly rates starting at $1,045, gourmet food, a brewery, spa and wellness offerings and a farm that produces fresh ingredients for its chefs, as well as its own collections of of home, lifestyle and other items for sale, according to its website.

Robin Gibson is the people and trends editor for Knox News. Contact her at ragibson@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @RobinGibsonTSP.

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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Food & Wine Global Tastemakers honors Blackberry Farm in Tennessee