Craig Richards

Chef de Cuisine

Craig Richards brings more than a decade of culinary experience and vast knowledge to his role as chef de cuisine at Ford Fry's St. Cecilia where the focus is coastal European fare. Richards trained for five years under renowned first lady of Italian cuisine, Lidia Bastianich, and acclaimed chef and Italian cuisine connoisseur Mario Batali.

Richards has come a long way since his humble beginnings in the culinary world as line cook at Pachamama's Restaurant in Kansas, cooking new American market cuisine. Here, he learned the basics of cooking Mexican, Thai, French, Italian and Indian food. A trip to Spain had Richards yearning to study a classic cuisine and Italian was the choice. Richards has traveled throughout Italy multiple times, driving across the country, working in kitchens and experiencing new products to further his knowledge of regional Italian food, and improve and expand his repertoire. His impressive industry experience is proof.

"I live for that fast paced, kitchen environment." Richards says. "I want to funnel all my energy into further driving the cuisine within the concept of St. Cecilia, making it one of the top kitchens in the country. My approach to food is rooted in tradition with modern flourishes and a respect to place and seasonality. Guests at the restaurant should walk away feeling enlightened by the food -- blown away by the complete experience from the front door to dessert. They will be genuinely taken care of." In 2005, Richards' debut in the Atlanta culinary scene began with the Virginia-Highland restaurant La Tavola Trattoria. He developed a menu with a focus on simple, yet progressive regional Italian fare. After La Tavola, Richards worked at Midtown's Ecco, expanding into Spanish, French and North African food.

When not at the helm of the kitchen at St Cecilia, Richard most looks forward to spending time with his sweet daughter Lyla at his home in Midtown Atlanta.

Dillwood Farms

Located only 30 miles away in Loganville, Georgia, Dillwood Farms brings the Atlanta community the season's best fruits and vegetables in the Southeast.

Owners Rosetta and Doug Dillard have gone back to the land to live out the Dillard family's dream of creating a sustainable community driven by locally and naturally grown foods of the highest quality.

Dillwood Farms supplies Atlanta area restaurants with fresh, quality produce in addition to its partnership with Savi Urban Market in Brookhaven and Inman Park, Atlanta. We also have a CSA program and participate in the Snellville, and Tucker Farmer's Markets.

BesMaid Garden Essentials

A Farm Story by Gardener Bobby Britt.

I have lived in Decatur all of my life. My dad sold vegetables from the family garden off the back of his pickup truck for years. As kids we always helped dad. By 16, I started taking gardening more seriously. I was pretty excited about the new rototiller. Ever since then I grew the size of that family garden until it got to be 1/4 acre, then 1/2 acre, then 1 acre….and in 2011 it's almost 3 acres.

In 2005, BesMaid Garden Essentials became my full-time career. The name came from an ice cream business where my father worked for almost 20 years.

All the fertilizers used on the farm are Organic Materials Research Institute (OMRI) approved. I follow standard organic practices. I use certified organic fish emulsion and seaweed for fertilizer. I maintain safe, sustainable farming practices. In addition to the compost I make on the property, I also supplement with animal manure from local farms.

I regularly use cover crops for "green manure" such as rye as a winter cover crop and Hairy Vetch, buckwheat, soy beans, and Sudan grass as summer cover crops. Local restaurants have buying my fresh seasonal produce for the last 5 years. I love my farm and my customers love the produce. I'm still building my field of dreams!

Woodland Gardens Organic Farm

Woodland Gardens is a certified organic vegetable, fruit and cut-flower farm in Winterville, Georgia, just outside of Athens. Established in 2000, we specialize in highly diverse annual production, and we grow over 80 different fruits and vegetables. Our focus is specialty production for chefs and market.

We operate year-round and utilize heated greenhouses and high tunnels to extend our seasons and increase the quality of our production. We strive for efficiency and unique quality on our twelve acres in production, and we are continually improving and honing our inputs. Everyone on our farm team is skilled and experienced, and that keeps our farm tremendously productive, consistent, and (usually) very well organized