Chef Christina Dolby, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu’s College of Culinary Arts, has always felt that hospitality runs in her veins. Finding her calling in the kitchen at an early age, Dolby built a name for herself as Sous Chef at Brasstown Valley Resort & Spa before moving to restaurants in-and-throughout the Atlanta area. Today, she serves as the head chef at Château Élan’s Fleur-de-Lis restaurant, where she focuses on crafting mindful, organic cuisine featuring locally sourced products.
“Maybe it’s my Southern roots,” Chef Christina Dolby said, “but the first breath of spring always fills my soul with peace and hope.”
Dolby, who artfully prepares the daily menu at Chateau Elan’s relaxing spa restaurant Fleur-de-Lis, is inspired by the changing seasons. “So many people relish in the cool breezes of autumn,” she said, “however for me it’s all about spring’s tentative glimpses of warmth and renewal… It feels like a season of health and wellness.” The early shoots of spring peas lend a sweet green flavor that, in Dolby’s words, “sing to my Southern spirit.” She particularly adores primavera pasta peppered with the season’s first tomatoes, peas, asparagus tips, and other little bits of garden goodness.
This spring, Dolby said she is embracing the vibrancy and wellness of spring at Fleur-de-Lis by crafting a pasta dish made with a cashew-based alfredo sauce. The rich, flavorful base, she said, “bathes all the garden goodies while leaving behind the fat and heaviness of a traditional cream base.” The cashew base has the additional benefit of less than half the calories of a cream base.
