Chef Sheamus Feeley

Chef Sheamus Feeley is the newly named executive chef of the Farmstead restaurant at Long Meadow Ranch Winery & Farmstead in St. Helena, CA.

Farmstead showcases Feeley’s signature ingredient-driven cooking style utilizing the organic produce, grass-fed beef, eggs, and olive oils from Long Meadow Ranch and other local artisanal producers. The farm-to-table menu highlights ingredients at their peak freshness and features the essence of wines from Long Meadow Ranch and other international artisanal winegrowers.

Born in Fayetteville, Arkansas, Sheamus has been a part of the restaurant business from a young age. His family farmed for generations, raising cattle, pigs, chickens and melons. Sheamus’s father gave him the nickname “Chicken George” because he always carried a chicken on the farm. As a classically trained chef, his father also taught Sheamus how to prepare family meals from the bounty of the land.

Sheamus began working for his father at age fifteen, doing prep work and assisting the pit master tending smoked meats at the wood fire. By eighteen, his father encouraged him to work for Milanese chef, Andrea Frizzi. The transition from smoke pit to wood oven was enjoyable for Sheamus and he realized that cooking was in his blood.

During his junior year attending the University of Arkansas, Sheamus moved to Huancayo, Peru. While there, he shopped at the fresh market daily and learned the importance of “cooking with the seasons.” After graduation, Sheamus moved to Denver and took an opening team position for Wolfgang Puck. He trained in many different areas, beginning at the sushi bar until he was hired to open Sacre Blue as the chef de cuisine with Don Gragg of the Gramercy Tavern and Chez Panisse. Sacre Blue was the beginning of many long standing relationships with local farmers and ranchers that began to influence the way he would approach his menu and cooking philosophy.

Sheamus’ love of travel took him to France, where he spent time in the kitchen of Michelin one star, “La Coupole” with Chef Michele de Mateis. While in Europe, Sheamus began to appreciate pristine ingredients treated simply, without the addition of non-functional garnishes. Upon his return to Denver, Sheamus took a position as the executive chef of Citrus.

In 2001, Sheamus opened Mateo Restaurant in Boulder with Master Sommelier Brett Zimmerman and Matt Jansen from Aqua and Charles Nob Hill. In May 2003, Sheamus began his work with Hillstone Restaurant Group in Los Angeles. With responsibilities ranging from kitchen manager to general manager to executive chef, Sheamus also worked in Hillstone’s New Orleans, Palm Beach, and Beverly Hills locations.

In September of 2003, Sheamus moved to the Napa Valley and to the Rutherford Grill. In 2006,
Sheamus became executive chef/research and development for Hillstone Restaurants at the Rutherford Grill. In this role, he led the openings of five restaurants and developed management techniques for forty-eight locations across the United States.