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October 15-16, 2021
2021 Southern Foodways Symposium
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the SFA
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the SFA
October 15-16, 2021
2021 Southern Foodways Symposium

Oral Histories

The SFA oral history program documents life stories from the American South. Collecting these stories, we honor the people whose labor defines the region. If you would like to contribute to SFA’s oral history collections, please send your ideas for oral history along with your CV or Resume and a portfolio of prior oral history work to annemarie@southernfoodways.org.

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ORAL HISTORY

William Barnhardt

Willaby's

William Barnhardt was born in Richmond, in 1964. When he was a child, his parents moved to rural Urbanna, Virginia, to run a duck farm. At its height, the farm processed seven thousand ducks per day for northeastern markets. As a student at Lynchburg College, he cooked duck from his family’s farm for friends and organized local food festivals. He opened his restaurant, Willaby’s, in 1992. He maintains close relationships with local suppliers of eggs, meats, and seafood. Barnhardt moved his restaurant to the Rappahannock riverfront in 2010. Willaby’s expanded to include dinner, live music, and a brewery. Barnhardt is especially proud of his crabcakes and oyster soup, adapted from Tangier Island recipes, and his mother’s chili.

Date of interview:
2018-05-22

Interviewer:
Jessica Taylor

Photographer:
Beth Wood

Download Transcript

“

“That has been the progress of our culture, is to do things simply and to immediately gratify, because there are other things that you have to do. And nothing can be more important in your life than food. Loving people around you, maybe, yeah. But the food, that's what keeps you going.”

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