Yama Farms Inn: A Home in the Mountains

 

Foodways at Yama Farms

It was Frank Seaman’s intention that the Inn would serve what he called “the highest type of country foods.”  Although he was somewhat derailed in this goal by two dictatorial chefs—one French and the other Austrian—the tradition of American homestyle cooking continued to be a mainstay at the Inn. A Mrs. Connor cooked country dishes for the guests, including fried salt pork with cream gravy and pancakes with maple syrup. Her cooking so offended chef Monsieur Parraudin that he quit in protest (much to Seaman’s relief).


The large fresh meals served at the Inn were made possible by the many agricultural enterprises  that were carried on at Yama Farms. More than half of the food consumed at the Inn was grown on the property. A typical menu might include choices of Yama Farms Brook Trout, Yama Farms Broiled Milk-fed chicken, Roast Yama Farms suckling pig, Yama Farms apple pie,  and Yama Farms Home-made plum pudding. After prohibition, Yama Farms wines and champagnes also became available. The biggest operations were the dairy farm, poultry farm, and the trout hatchery. All of them were well underway by the time the Inn opened it doors in 1913.