We will be bringing you insider facts about AIR members, biographical stories about and interviews with our chefs, recipes and tips, and discussion about industry and community issues and ideas.

Our first chef profile is Tupelo Honey Café’s Executive Chef Brian Sonoskus, who has been at the restaurant since it first opened in 2000. A Johnson and Wales graduate, Sonoskus is a fan, like all of AIR’s restaurateurs and chefs, of the farming communities of Western North Carolina. He has overseen Sunshot Organic Farm near Burnsville for years and so understands the farmer’s calendar. Chef Brian likes to profile what’s in season in our mountains, including one of his favorite foods from Southern Appalachia – the sweet potato. On Tupelo Honey Café’s menu, you’ll find a standard side of mashed sweet potatoes, and, of course, he’s helped put the restaurant on the map with his yummy sweet potato pancakes.

Here’s his recipe for Lamb and Root Vegetable Stew, a hearty mountain dish perfect for cooler autumn and winter months.

Lamb and Root Vegetable Stew
Makes 8 servings

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 4 cups demi-glace
  • 1 1/2 pound lamb leg or shoulder cut into 1-inch cubes, bones reserved
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 1 cup chopped carrots
  • 1 cup chopped, peeled sweet potato
  • 1 cup chopped, peeled Irish potato
  • 1 cup chopped turnip
  • 1 cup chopped rutabaga
  • 1 cup chopped parsnip
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
  • 2 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
  • 1 teaspoon minced fresh sage

In a heavy-bottomed stock pot, place olive oil over high heat and add lamb, along with bones, searing until browned on all sides, or about 10 minutes. Add onions and cook an additional 3 minutes. Add celery, carrots, sweet potato, Irish potato, turnip, rutabaga, parsnip, salt and pepper, cooking an additional 10 minutes, stirring often, or until caramelized.

Remove lamb bones from the pot and scrape out the marrow, returning bone marrow to stew. Add rosemary, thyme, sage and 2 cups of demi-glace and bring to a boil before reducing to simmer. Continue to add remaining 2 cups of demi-glace 1/2 cup at a time while the ragout cooks for 1 hour or until lamb is tender. Serve with buttermilk biscuits.