Chef & Proprietor Brian Ball
"Restaurant Guy"
Brian came to snowshoe back in 1977, when the resort was first growing. He came up with a group of friends from his hometown in Elkins, WV. When they got to the top of the mountain, it was one of those picture perfect snowshoe days, the frost on the trees, the beautiful snow, and bright blue skies. Brian knew instantly that this would be his home, it was love at first site, and he has been here since.
The next year, Margaret Ann Smith and Brian decided to open a small restaurant at the base of the mountain. It was a simple small restaurant with 7 tables, from there it grew and The Red Fox Restaurant was born. A year later, Dr Tom Brigham, the original developer of Snowshoe, asked Brian to move the Red Fox to the top of the mountain, and from there, his passion for the restaurant business was born. The Red Fox eventually grew into one of the regions most acclaimed restaurants; earning the Top Twenty Five best restaurants in the country by Fodor’s travel Guides, and numerous awards and accolades from many national magazines. The Restaurant Closed in 2005.
In 2000 Brian created a place he dubbed The Foxfire Grille - to play homage to his love for great southern comfort foods. He took some classics, like macaroni and cheese, “uptowned” it a bit with some lobster, crab, and roasted tomatoes. Brian took great foods from childhood, and made them great grown up foods….ever had a fried bologna sammich on faux wonder bread with a dash of pepper cured bacon and bourbon bbq?
The Foxfire remains the mountains most popular restaurant with waits of often an hour or more to try the bbq, ribs, and southern comfort foods. The open kitchen and blaring blues tunes create an exciting and energetic atmosphere for skiers and bbq enthusiast alike.
In 2006, the developers of Soaring Eagle Lodge, Snowshoe’s luxury grand mountain lodge approached Brian about creating a couple of unique dining experiences there to match the luxuriousness of the lodge they were creating. From there, Ember, Hearth, and The Marketplace were born.
So each day you’ll find Brian at all different aspects of his restaurants, at the doors greeting guests, in the kitchens expediting food, selecting exactly the right light bulb to create the glow he is looking for, to traveling around the country seeing what new creativity chefs are developing , “I am a very hands on restaurateur. I meet with purveyors and vendors to select just the right ingredients…” From bbq, to fusion cuisine, to haute dogs, Brian loves his craft and sees that it's an awesome experience to wake up and love what you do…thirty years ago Brian came to Snowshoe, fell in love with an incredible mountain, and says he still feels the same way today.
Brian remains very involved in his community as well. He serves on the board of Directors of Davis and Elkins College, The Snowshoe Foundation, which raises money for local charities and neighbors in need, The West Virginia Hospitality and Travel Association, Fairness West Virginia, and many other civic and chariatiable organzations throughout the region. Brian resides at Snowshoe Mountain with his dog Clicquot, a bubbly Airedale named for Brian’s favorite beverage.
General Manager & Wine Director
Lizzy Wilkes
Lizzy is Ember’s General Manager and Wine Director. With extensive hospitality, catering and restaurant expertise, she has led Ember to a superior level of service and expanded the wine cellar for an even more enjoyable guest experience.
Lizzy returned to Snowshoe Mountain in November of 2009. An alumnus of the renowned Red Fox Restaurant, she first came to Snowshoe to work with Brian in 2000. What was intended to be a sole winter season became several years with the Red Fox, as a love of life in the mountains year-round was fostered. Lizzy especially appreciated the educational experience of participating in, and then acting as instructor for, the Red Fox’s Ambassadors of Excellence class and 600 question exam: featuring Snowshoe history, extensive wine knowledge, culinary terms and menu ingredients.
After 2003, Lizzy returned home to the Chesapeake Bay region of Virginia to work with her parents in renovating and starting a bed & breakfast in her rural childhood home, a circa 1840’s Federal style plantation home on the Piankatank River near Deltaville. Hosting and catering numerous weddings and caring for guests of the Inn cemented Lizzy’s love and passion for hospitality further.
After enjoying a brief stint at the famed Trellis restaurant in Colonial Williamsburg, Lizzy was recruited by a restaurant group in the Hamptons of Long Island, New York to manage the historic restaurant The Patio of Westhampton Beach for the busy summer season. After the summer, Lizzy had the exciting opportunity to work in the Import Division for the Chef’s Warehouse, where her position included visiting the many famed NYC restaurants with costly fresh white truffles for the Chefs.
For the next four years in New York, Lizzy joined the restaurant, Stone Creek Inn, a prestigious French restaurant in Quogue that has been featured by Wine Spectator magazine on numerous occasions and is frequented by many of the famous visitors to the Hamptons in the summer. During the winters, Lizzy joined the NYC event planning forces of Eventsful. Led by Debra Morris, she enjoyed coordinating amazing events at premier venues in the tri-state area, including the Ritz-Carlton at Battery Park, the Mandarin Oriental at Columbus Circle, and private homes in Westchester and the Hamptons.
In 2010, after returning to Snowshoe for a visit to see friends, Lizzy realized that she would love to make it back to the mountains again.
Lizzy now resides at Snowshoe with her doggie, Annie, and kitty cat, Daisy. Lizzy is an avid skier, she makes time for skiing almost every day during the winter. In the summer, she enjoys the temperate weather, green mountains, and swimming holes along the Elk and Greenbrier Rivers.
Under Lizzy’s direction, Ember’s wine list has been selected to be among the best in the country, by being awarded the Wine Spectator Magazine Award of Excellence and the Wine Enthusiast Magazine Award of Distinction. Ember currently has the right pairing for just about anything with over 200 selections on the list.
When visiting Ember, feel free to ask for her assistance in selecting the perfect wine to compliment your experience.