Meet PCG Member – Tim Grandinetti: The Southern Yankee

Anyone spending time in The South learns that New Yorkers hold a special place in the Damn Yankee hierarchy. They’ve developed a reputation of overwhelming self-assurance that clashes with the Southern self-perception of gracious hospitality and charm.

Then there are Yankees like Tim Grandinetti, who remind us of the pitfalls of stereotyping. The chef at Winston-Salem’s Spring House Restaurant Kitchen & Bar moved to the area ten years ago, and couldn’t sound more appreciative of his new southern home.

“When we started working on the Spring House, learning about the history of Winston and North Carolina was very interesting to me, because I’m not from here,” says the enthusiastic new Southerner. His interest carries into the restaurant’s garden. “Last fall we planted muscadine and scuppernong, just because they’re indigenous in North Carolina.”

The affable chef himself is indigenous to Hudson, New York, where he grew up within a vibrant Italian community. “It was like a giant, extended family,” he recalls with fondness. Tellingly, most of his childhood stories involve food—from the cucumbers in his father’s backyard garden, to the daily trips home from Smoltz’ bakery, noshing on a handful of raisins from Mr. Smoltz himself.

As one might expect, family gatherings focused on food.

“Even midweek meals were very special. There was a reverence, there was a respect. You were never late to Mom’s table.”

Family also inspired him toward a culinary career, following the footsteps of an older cousin enrolled in the Culinary Institute of America in New York.

Grandinetti attended SUNY Delhi as well as Rochester Institute of Technology, studying hotel and restaurant management, but it was entering the professional kitchen that truly sparked a passion for his vocation. The flame caught hold at a Disney internship, and grew as his career took him to Stamford, NY, Washington, DC and St. Louis, MO.

From small family-owned diners – “I learned more at that gig than I ever did at school” —to 12,000 room convention hotels – “I really got to learn the business side; the human resources side” – he gleaned something of value from every experience.

The traveling chef credits his biggest professional growth to twelve years with Marriott, advancing to guide a brigade of nearly 100 workers generating millions of dollars of revenue. Even in his current, much smaller business, he says, “I use those skills on a daily basis.”

Tim is putting those Marriott-honed management skills to work even more these days – as he now owns three Triad-area restaurants. In addition to Spring House, he also owns two locations of Quanto Basta: Italian Eatery & Wine Bar. One right up the street from Spring House in Winston-Salem. The other located in Bermuda Run, NC.

But it was Marriott that brought Grandinetti to the Carolinas, where our culinary traditions sparked another passion.

“I had my first barbeque sandwich out in Lexington, and it changed my world. Not only did I want to eat it again, we put together a barbecue competition team.”

Dr. Brownstone’s BBQ traveled from Charleston to Michigan, and as far west as Kansas City’s World Series of Barbecue. It even got him an appearance on a grill-focused version of the Food Network’s Chopped in 2012.

As his earlier statements hint, Grandinetti also has a lifelong appreciation for more seasonal ingredients. Just as his father did in more northerly climes, the garden at the Spring House keeps him attuned to the growing calendar, different as it may be here. “The seasons are stretched out here a little bit,” he says. “They start earlier, they last longer.” Which has some clear benefits: “I’m able to get beautifully grown tomatoes here six or seven months out of the year, which is quite nice.”