Menus at Dormie Network clubs focus on locally sourced ingredients prepared with refined, classic techniques.

Dormie Network’s approach to cuisine—not unlike its golf and hospitality—can be summed up in three words: above and beyond. The man behind it all? Chief Culinary Officer Tony Pope—a Johnson & Wales graduate and alum of such notable restaurants as Bayona, Hank’s Seafood, and the world-renowned Greenbrier Hotel.

Meet Chef Tony Pope.

When did you know you wanted to be a chef?

Tony: I worked in restaurants as I went through college and I immediately knew that I wanted to pursue my passion and become a chef. After college I went directly to culinary school at Johnson & Wales in Charleston, and from that point on I never looked back. I never thought about doing anything else as a career. I just wanted to be a chef.

What has influenced your cooking the most?

Tony: Travel. Experiencing different cultures and food in different parts of the world, has influenced my cooking.

What is your perfect meal?

Tony: An authentic Italian Bolognese with homemade pasta. It’s one of my favorite comfort foods.

Who are the chefs that you look up to most?

Tony: Thomas Keller of the French Laundry and Per Se, and Marco Pierre White—he’s sort of an old-school chef who has really been an influence for me.

What are your biggest accomplishments as a chef?

Tony: To be invited to cook in New York at the James Beard Foundation was a major accomplishment for me. When I was with the Peninsula Group in Charleston, we opened a retro seafood restaurant, Hank’s, which got on Esquire magazine’s best new restaurants of the year. That was a big accomplishment. Also, when I was at Bayona in New Orleans, we were on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

What considerations do you make in planning menus?

Tony: Ingredients. First and foremost I look at region. I look for ingredients that are indigenous to certain regions and work with local farmers and artisans to source those ingredients. Then it’s creatively thinking up the best way to put them together on a menu to highlight the bounties of the season. Locality and seasonality also play an important for when it comes to creating complexity and flavor profiles on menus. I want to keep it simple, but at the same time use technique to put those ingredients together and form masterful dishes. In short, ingredient quality, simplicity, and technique are foremost considerations.

What do you do in your free time?

Tony: I like to travel. I like to see what other people are doing at the best restaurants around the world. Outside of that, I really enjoy the outdoors, motorcycling, overlanding, camping, and skiing.

Favorite travel destination?

Tony: That’s a tough one. I’m just going to say Paris because it’s probably the most inspiring. The south of France and Paris.

What would you be doing if you weren’t a chef?

Tony: Maybe some form of interior design. I enjoy the process of it, and being able to look at a blank canvas and envision what it could be. I like the whole design process and the research that goes into it. The process of devising the concept, making it happen, and then seeing it finished from a before and after point of view I think is a really satisfying thing.

Chef's Career Highlights

Dormie Network’s Chief Culinary Officer
Chef de Cuisine at Hank’s Seafood in Charleston, South Carolina
Executive Sous Chef at Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia
Chef de Cuisine at Bayona in New Orleans
Executive Chef at Chechessee Creek Club in Okatie, South Carolina