Anne Quatrano began charting a career path into the culinary arts somewhat subliminally. Although raised in Connecticut, she spent summers down in Georgia, near Cartersville, at her mother’s family farm, Summerland. There, her no-nonsense grandmother taught her by stern example the importance of agriculture and sustainability—concepts that, at the time, were not optional but necessary to the way of life there.
“She was an environmentalist way before her time,” laughs Anne, reflecting on the glib observations of her youth. “We thought grandmother was odd. She recycled everything—what she wasn’t able to bury, compost, or burn—and was also a health freak who added wheat germ to her juices and drank the water she prepared vegetables in for the nutrients.” Despite her grandmother’s pragmatic ways, Anne admits that this organic methodology must have crept into her subconscious.
A genuine love for cooking took hold when, as a girl, she began helping her paternal grandmother in the kitchen, which also led to preparing homemade meals for her entire family. Drawn to the restaurant industry, she put herself through college—earning degrees in business and psychology at the University of Vermont—while working the front room of several dining establishments. Curiously, she had never imagined herself a chef but went on to manage restaurants after graduation.
Anne’s comprehensive education eventually came full circle when she enrolled at the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco. “When I moved out there, I got a great induction into the world of all things fresh and beautiful,” she remembers. “It really set the precedent for how we view food today.”
Anne also apprenticed with well-known chefs, including Judy Rodgers and Alice Waters, and along the way she met her husband and business partner, Clifford Harrison. Through their West Coast experiences, the couple cultivated a deep devotion to locally grown produce. They relocated to New York City and worked as a team in three restaurants there before putting down permanent roots in 1992 at Anne’s beloved Summerland.
Today, Anne and Clifford embrace Georgia farm life amidst horses, dogs, and hundreds of egg-producing chickens. The two grow many of the organic herbs, fruits, and vegetables that supply their Atlanta restaurants (Bacchanalia, Quinones at Bacchanalia, Floataway Café, and Abattoir), as well as a culinary shop plus eatery (Star Provisions and Star Provisions To Go).
“I was out picking strawberries this morning—perfectly fresh and moist, never been refrigerated,” Anne effuses. “It seems such a natural choice. If you want to do something well, you start with the best ingredients.”
After inheriting her mother’s family farm, Summerland, Anne and Clifford took up residence in a double-wide trailer that had been abandoned on the property. For three years, they transformed the grounds into a working farm with flourishing gardens that yield an abundance of herbs and vegetables they now use to supply their Atlanta restaurants.
Text Jeanne DeLathouder
Photography Marcy Black Simpson
To learn more about Anne Quatrano, see “Down to Earth” on page 77 in the September 2013 issue of Victoria.
