OUR TEAM

MICHAEL SMITH Owner / General ManagerMike was at Gedney before it was Gedney. Over more than 30 years, he’s helped steer the property from semi-working farm to inn to event space to Berkshires destination. But then again, an avid outdoorsman away fr…

MICHAEL SMITH
Owner / General Manager

Mike was at Gedney before it was Gedney. Over more than 30 years, he’s helped steer the property from semi-working farm to inn to event space to Berkshires destination. But then again, an avid outdoorsman away from work, Mike likes a challenge, and he has a voracious appetite for new experiences and fresh approaches. He cut his teeth in the hospitality industry at a hotel school in Switzerland, followed soon after by a stint at a Relais & Chateaux property in the Loire Valley. He’s taken inspiration from the unaffected approach to food and hospitality he saw in the French countryside. “Hospitality is more of a calling than a concept,” he says. “It’s deeply connected to what’s made and grown locally, and the area’s culinary traditions, so it’s just a natural part of the life of the region.”

PETER MISCIKOSKI Owner / SommelierRaised by a wine-loving Italian mother, Peter began developing his palette well before the authorities would have deemed it appropriate. “When I was sick, my mom would give me Campari and soda,” he says. “It’s a bit…

PETER MISCIKOSKI
Owner / Sommelier

Raised by a wine-loving Italian mother, Peter began developing his palette well before the authorities would have deemed it appropriate. “When I was sick, my mom would give me Campari and soda,” he says. “It’s a bitters really. So I ended up ‘having stomach aches’ all the time!” A background in music, inspired by his musician father, has had a big impact on Peter’s outlook and approach. He’s classically trained, as both a musician and a sommelier, but his style is more punk rock. Peter’s tastes have taken him off the beaten path, from the bebop jazz of Wayne Shorter to Sun Ra to seminal albums like Joy Division’s Closer and The Cure’s Pornography. Likewise, his wine lists feature eclectic varietals, small-production Italian winemakers and natural wines.

MICHELE RAGUSSIS
Executive Chef

Chef Michele Ragussis was born and raised in Connecticut, attended Johnson & Wales University. where she quickly realized her love of New England Cuisine. Her cooking reflects her love  of New England cuisine and her deep passion for the Greek & Italian culinary heritage that she was raised in.  Michele has run restaurants all over New England . She also loves to compete in culinary competitions on television, including Chopped,24 Hour Restaurant Battle, Food Network Star (season 8 runner up), NBC Food Fighters, Come Back Kitchen and Guys Grocery Game (winner) .
Michele is currently a repeat judge on Beat Bobby Flay, where she took a win of her own.

KARL HESTER
Banquet Chef

Karl was born on New Years Eve in mid Michigan where he spent his youth playing volleyball, bicycling, gardening, drawing, practicing Buddhism and attending school. He left his family in search of a creative, peaceful life. He started his life cooking at 17 (“I would rather be a fat Chef than a staving Artist”) in a 24 Hr steak house The Clock Restaurant, on the graveyard shift where he served many impaired local Chefs where he was instructed and encouraged to take up the career. He did move on to The Stone Inn with a local French fine dining establishment where the Chef mentored him. Leaving the Michigan waistband at 20 searching for a place to call home and serve others. He spent time gathering experience in San Francisco, LA, Seattle, Portland Maine, Boston, NYC, Washington DC, New Haven, Raleigh, Tuscan, St Thomas, Ithica, Southern Adirondacks, Most resonantly he was Executive Sous at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck NY. Now he is here in the Berkshires.


COLIN LENOX Bar ManagerAside from playing some music, the Gedney bar is Colin’s chief creative outlet. So he takes great care in making sure he’s got the right bottles back there to make his craft cocktails sing. On days off, you might find him out either checking out a wide range of live music or visiting many a far-flung watering hole scanning the shelves for ingredients he may not have tried yet. Still, don’t mistake him for a food-and-drink snob. “I grew up with take-out and TV dinners and I still have an appreciation for simple pleasures like the two-dollar hamburger from the cart at Home Depot,” he says. “It’s about context and flavor, not just being precious about ingredients…I like something with a story.” If you find yourself bellied up to our bar, it isn’t hard to coax a creative new cocktail, or even a good story, out of our good-natured barkeep.

COLIN LENOX
Bar Manager

Aside from playing some music, the Gedney bar is Colin’s chief creative outlet. So he takes great care in making sure he’s got the right bottles back there to make his craft cocktails sing. On days off, you might find him out either checking out a wide range of live music or visiting many a far-flung watering hole scanning the shelves for ingredients he may not have tried yet. Still, don’t mistake him for a food-and-drink snob. “I grew up with take-out and TV dinners and I still have an appreciation for simple pleasures like the two-dollar hamburger from the cart at Home Depot,” he says. “It’s about context and flavor, not just being precious about ingredients…I like something with a story.” If you find yourself bellied up to our bar, it isn’t hard to coax a creative new cocktail, or even a good story, out of our good-natured barkeep.

PATRICIA CAMBI
Head Housekeeper & Front Desk

Patricia, originally from Ecuador, has been with Gedney Farm for many years and wears many hats. You may see her at the front desk when you arrive or certainly when you join us for breakfast. And you will always see her conscientious imprint on the guest rooms that she and her staff work so hard to take care of.