Photos by Jim Noetzel
Country Roads is proud to profile the four outstanding chefs who won the 2016 Small Town Chefs Awards. Made possible through a special collaboration with the Louisiana Culinary Institute, the chefs were honored at a five-course dinner at the Tin Roof Brewery on June 26, 2016.
When you’re young, the world is your oyster. You can steer yourself in any direction you choose. But when a classically trained chef and her restaurateur husband surveyed cities across the country, looking for the next big move, all roads—and a fair amount of aligning stars—led Holly and Derek back to the small town of Benton, Louisiana.
Rich in political history and with a population of fewer than two thousand, Benton is the Bossier Parish seat and lies just outside of Shreveport. It’s home for Holly, and she and Derek chose family land, down a gravel road surrounded by piney woods, as the place to breathe life into Sainte Terre.
Established as a wedding venue in 2014, Sainte Terre has since branched into offering pop-up dining events open to the public, a housemade ice cream operation, and more.
Holly’s dad, a former high school French teacher, came up with the name Sainte Terre, which means “holy ground.” “We chose that name because it’s a sacred place for the people who are here, at the time they are here,” said Holly. “It’s indicative of how we feel about it, too.”
Sainte Terre means more to Holly than just a place of business. The land on which the Schreibers built their farmhouse, chapel, and terrace, specifically designed for dreamy big days, has been in Holly’s family for generations; it’s where many of her relatives still live. “I grew up with family within walking distance,” said Holly. “Being together and cooking together was life; I never knew any different. We fished, so I learned how to clean fish. We gardened and ate what we grew. My love for cooking and catering to families came from the way I was raised.”
After paying her way through school by cooking for people, Holly realized she could make a living in the food industry. Midway through an interior design degree, she changed her major to nutrition to fall in line with a new goal of attending culinary school. After finishing her degree at Texas Christian University, Holly went on to the French Culinary Institute in New York City. She fell in love with the school, the city, and, eventually, the man who would become her husband and business partner.
(Pictured left: For the June 26 Small Town Chefs Dinner, Chef Holly prepared warm duck rillettes with ricotta goat cheese croquettes over sweet and spicy mustard green slaw and spiced pecan duck cracklins.)
At the Institute, Holly got her first taste of elevated cuisine as well as the rigors of professional cooking. “You’d step out into the hall, and there’d be Jacques Pepin,” she remembered. “It was a melting pot of cuisines and culinary professionals who provided constant motivation.”
After graduating, Holly stayed on to work at the school, where she worked on developing recipes for cookbooks and magazines and helped behind the scenes on cooking shows. “I so love the mechanics of a recipe, tweaking it and helping people understand how to make it,” Holly explained.
She met Derek at the Institute when he joined the school as chief financial officer nearly ten years ago. Her front-of-house expertise and his back-of-house experience demanded a partnership—in love, in business, and eventually, in Sainte Terre.
About those stars aligning … when it came time to decide what to do with their culinary business backgrounds, Holly’s sister happened to be looking for a place to get married but couldn’t find the right fit. A light bulb went off; Holly and Derek conceptualized a full-service venue perfect for the wedding day, and for their careers too.
The team for the future Sainte Terre came together easily. Holly’s sister, Hillary Moss, contributed a background in event planning. Other family members signed up to build tables and care for the property. “Our family lives out here alongside us. They all have their own small part …” said Holly.
With many food events now taking place in the area, Holly and Derek aim to offer options that traditional restaurants might shy away from. “Because we have the support of our family and their help here, we can afford to take risks and try things out that not every entrepreneur can do,” Holly explained.
Despite Sainte Terre’s rural location, Holly finds opportunities to put the full breadth of her classical training to good use. Each client presents a different challenge for the chef’s highly customized approach. “I am inspired by people and their stories—and how I can recreate that through food. That is why I love being able to work with brides and grooms as closely as we do, because I really feel I can achieve that for them and make it a meaningful part of their wedding celebration,” she explained.
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Holly allows other art forms to guide her too. “I’m inspired by how [the art world] can influence food, whether through color and structure in terms of how it is served or displayed or through texture and the manner in which it is eaten,” said Holly.
The chef values her formal French training, but she’s no purist. “I have grown to enjoy mixing techniques and flavors from global cuisines and repackaging them into something for our Louisiana audience, or taking identifiable Louisiana cuisine and using global influence to put a spin on what is traditional,” she said. “I love to make things fun and approachable, so that maybe those dining with us will be surprised and find new things to love or discover that something they may not have enjoyed in the past is their new favorite dish.”
In the seven years since they planted roots in the Shreveport area, the food scene has grown tremendously, with Sainte Terre playing no small part.
Even at home, cultivating her roots and doing what she loves, Holly has momentum. “I feel—especially since opening Sainte Terre—that I am still evolving and finding my place.”
Sainte Terre 190 Nickel Lane Benton, La. (318) 936-9544 sainteterre.com
