Scott Crawford, a Mobil Travel Guide Five-Star rated chef, joined The Umstead Hotel and Spa in March 2009 as Executive Chef of the property’s signature restaurant, Herons, and entire food and beverage program, including the bar, spa and pool offerings, as well as Afternoon Tea, Banquets and Room Service.

Crawford’s refined American cooking is featured in Herons nightly and available for breakfast and lunch service as well. In addition to his à la carte menu, Crawford offers a five-course Chef’s Tasting Menu highlighting local ingredients, as well as three-course Wellness and Vegetarian Tasting Menus every evening, and a three-course Market Menu at lunch. His spring dinner menu featured Chilled Pea & Lemongrass Soup with Lobster and Smoked Char Roe and Foie Gras with Macadamia Nut Bread Pudding and Vanilla-Onion Marmalade as Appetizers, a delicate Butter Crunch Salad with Buttermilk Vinaigrette, and entrees such as Carolina Trout with Horseradish and Cucumber, Organic Hen with Spring Garlic Dumplings and Chanterelles and Pork Cheeks with Rosemary Grits and Toasted Pecan Gremolata.

Crawford first earned Five-Stars from Mobil Travel Guide for his regional American cooking as Executive Chef of Woodlands Resort & Inn, the Relais & Chateaux property and Gourmand Dining Room located in Summerville, SC, before being hired away in 2006 as Executive Chef of The Georgian Room at The Cloister Hotel in Sea Island, Georgia. There, Crawford’s coastal Georgian cuisine earned five coveted stars from Mobil Travel Guide and critical praise; Esquire Magazine named it “Best New Restaurant” and Wine Spectator featured it saying, “Crawford’s style of haute cuisine is buoyed by regional flavors and based on produce gleaned from small, area farms…”

Crawford, who showcases local farms throughout his menu, including Chapel Hill Creamery, Elodie Farm and Cane Creek Farm, explained, “I believe in the chef-farmer concept -- the importance of bringing together the nearby farmer who has a passion for organic produce or farm-raised meats with the chef who has a passion for optimizing rather than masking their natural flavors; this is one of our priorities at Herons."