Rhoads Fearn Joins Lenbrook as Executive Chef
Rhoads Fearn has joined the Lenbrook senior living community in Buckhead as its Executive Chef, responsible for the operation of three onsite restaurants which serve more than 425 residents and 200 associates.
Chef Fearn brings 30 years of fine dining experience to Lenbrook ranging from large hotels and university campuses to unique restaurants and bakeries. He most recently comes from the Scottish Rite campus of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta where he was food service executive chef.
Pleasing varied tastes comes naturally to Chef Fearn who previously headed campus catering and food service for 12 satellite locations of Emory University for six years. Lenbrook offers three distinct dining venues: a casual bistro offering a la carte selections; a grille featuring home style cooking with a flair; and a fine dining restaurant for more elegant meals and special gatherings. The culinary staff at Lenbrook, under Chef Fearn’s leadership, prepares more than 50 meal options daily for their restaurant guests.
Chef Fearn especially enjoys his work at Lenbrook as the community has a major emphasis on wellness, which begins with healthy food choices and continues on into its fitness center complex, indoor pool and exercise classes. Whenever possible, he works to include seasonal produce and fruit from Georgia farms in his menus and always offers a variety of low sodium, low fat and low sugar alternatives.
He chuckles that his biggest challenge is perfecting green bean and corn bread recipes that appeal to all of the residents. “Southerners usually like their beans cooked until soft and northerners don’t. Southerners tend to like less sugar in their corn bread and northerners like more,” Chef Fearn said. Often he will alternate his recipes to cover everyone’s preferences. And he can count on Lenbrook’s active food committee to provide him with feedback and guidance on a regular basis. “I’m all ears and want to know what our residents think. Thirty years in the business has taught me you need to be a good listener in order to be a really good chef.”