OUR TEAM
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 / 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.
MEGGIE HALLORAN
Pastry Chef
Meggie is a lifelong resident of neighboring Norfolk, CT. She grew up in a family that loves to cook and eat well. Her mother ran a small catering business and Meggie helped her in the kitchen through her childhood and teens. She graduated from the Culinary Institute of America with a degree in Culinary Arts. A dessert person who doesn’t like anything too sweet, Meggie uses her experience as a savory cook to inform everything she does in the pastry kitchen at Gedney. In her opinion, no dessert is complete without fruit. She prefers her desserts to be simple and unfussy. “If I have to put more than five things on the plate, I’ve overcomplicated it.” Meggie is always reading cookbooks—she rarely leaves a bookstore without a new one—and finds inspiration everywhere. In her free time, Meggie listens to music, practices yoga, borrows and reads books from the library, works on her VW Cabrio, and relaxes with her boyfriend and their cats.
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.
HANNAH ROSE
Event Sales Manager
With almost 15 years in the hospitality and events industry, Hannah has an immense love for event planning and everything to do with food and cocktails. She started her event management career with Benchmarc Events by celebrity chef, Marc Murphy where she oversaw 4 private spaces and ran the catering division for holiday events at Rockefeller Center. She eventually moved on to coordinate multi-faceted, high-volume events nationwide for Ralph Lauren where she learned an unmatched attention to detail and the ability to think very quickly on the spot. When she's not working, you will likely find her plotting her next meal (likely while she's eating the current one) or enjoying her home garden. She is delighted to be joining the beautiful family at Gedney Farm and can't wait to help you with all of your wedding and event needs!
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.
EILEEN FOLMER
Guest Services
A teacher when not corralling the front-of-house staff, Eileen sees a lot of parallels between her day job and her responsibilities at Gedney. “Handling an eighth-grade classroom of 25 kids is a lot like handling a wedding,” she says. “You have to keep your cool, and get a grip on all the details.” In fact, there’s so much overlap between her roles, that many of her former students now work at Gedney. Eileen was drawn to Gedney upon moving to the Berkshires, because she’s always been a foodie. When she’s not in front of a class or on property, you might find her entertaining a group of friends at home every Sunday or reading rather voraciously. She averages two 400-page books a week, and they’re always bound and printed. She doesn’t do Kindle.