Sam Beall

Samuel Erasmus Beall IV (August 21, 1976 – February 25, 2016) was an American chef and restaurateur. He ran Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee, a Beall family business which has been rated as among the best resorts in North America. He was a major proponent of having American restaurants focus on regional cuisine for their menus.

Early life and education Beall was born in 1976, in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Samuel E. (Sandy) Beall III, the founder of the Ruby Tuesday restaurant chain, and his wife, Kreis.

Career After graduating, Beall moved to California, where he studied at the California Culinary Academy, following which he worked at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in San Francisco, and went on to study French cuisine at The French Laundry in Yountville, California.

Death Beall died in 2016, at the age of 39, of injuries he suffered from an accident while skiing at Beaver Creek, Colorado. The local coroner determined that he had hit a wooden sign post located between the ski runs and died of blunt force trauma to the chest. After his death, his widow, Mary Celeste Beall, assumed management of the inn.

Works The Blackberry Farm Cookbook: Four Seasons of Great Food and the Good Life (2009). The Foothills Cuisine of Blackberry Farm: Recipes and Wisdom from Our Artisans, Chefs, and Smoky Mountain Ancestors with Marah Stets, Clarkson Potter, New York (2012).