“the expertise that you can only really learn in a real restaurant environment.” His students’ achievements speak for themselves. Local favorite Kristin Beringson was a student under Tom during his days at the institute. She went on to become head chef at Holland House in East Nashville, and last August she took a role as head chef at one of the city’s newest eateries, City Winery, which is right down the street from the Carter Creek warehouse. In the same way that Tom was able to teach his students the value of hands-on experience, cofounder Dylan is learning as well. Dylan doesn’t have the chef background his partner has, but he was brought up in an environment that supports his current expertise. His mother owns a landscaping business and regularly experiments with homestyle hydroponics and general gardening. It was while working at a wine shop in East Nashville that he met Tom and built a friendship. They began exchanging thoughts and ideas that eventually led to the concept of Carter Creek. The rest, as they say, is history. From his lab, Tom maintains a steady relationship with all of his customers, speaking with many of them on a weekly, sometimes even daily, basis. That’s the way he prefers to do it. “The chefs know what works and doesn’t work in their dishes, and they know they want a certain flavor. I’m here to provide those flavors to them, as quickly and as freshly as they want it. I’ll keep a decent supply of everything, but it really depends on what the restaurants ask us to grow.” Much of what Tom, Dylan, and Jacob do every day (often multiple times a day) is
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