My Story

Barb’s culinary experience began when her mother called home from work and said “if you can read, you can cook.” This began a lifelong love of cooking and entertaining. In her twenties, she graduated at the top of her class from the Hotel School at Cornell University and worked as the chef at Captain Tobey’s Chowder House in Nantucket. She became one of the first female club managers for Club Corporation of America, training at the Banker’s Club in Miami and Renaissance Club in Detroit prior to becoming the General Manager of the Calhoun Beach Club in Minneapolis.

After moving to Tennessee in the 1980’s, Barb earned a Masters of Business Administration in Marketing and Finance from Vanderbilt University’s Owen School. She moved away from the food world to work in brand management at Procter and Gamble, eventually becoming the first Fabric Conditioners Futures Brand Manager. Since returning to Tennessee, she has been successful as an entrepreneur in both the food industry and in marketing and strategic planning.

Barb is president of Savage, LLC, a strategic planning and marketing research consultancy. She serves clients in the capacity of branding adviser and general strategic planning facilitator, as well as qualitative market research moderator. Her gourmet grocery and catering business, Acquired Taste Gourmet, was a leading catering company in Middle Tennessee and eventually lead to her food writing career. Barb wrote the weekly food column Easy Way Gourmet and the monthly Cuisine Club column as well as travel and food features for other publications. Barb has appeared on Nashville’s Talk of the Town television show and at many charity and community events.

She is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals, the Cornell Hotel Society, the Association of Food Journalists and Rotary International.