SeaGrass, Yarmouth ’s newest restaurant, presents a new philosophy on dining out. In this American style bistro Chef/Owner Stephanie Brown will offer the freshest local ingredients with some Asian, French, and Tuscan influences. But Chef Brown doesn’t want to restrict her clients to a menu, she wants to combine her passion for great food with the unique tastes of her customers.

“I shouldn’t tell you what to eat,” says Brown, “a menu is a just a guideline to what’s on offer. You’re paying me for a service.” And at SeaGrass that service is personal and individual, not mass produced. So in a departure from this culinary era where celebrity chefs rule, Stephanie Brown wants to give the dining experience back to the people.

“My ultimate goal,” says Brown, “is to get to the point where a server just tells me when you come in. Then I take the day’s ingredients and, using what I’ve learned about your particular tastes, I can create something amazing just for you.”

Stephanie Brown has been creating amazing food all her life. Hers is a long culinary education that began in her grandmother’s kitchen, helping prepare huge family meals—the kind that last for hours and hours. Stephanie found cooking to be a powerful way to connect with friends and family—a lesson reflected in the open kitchen SeaGrass.

Stephanie’s work history is all food related: Her first jobs were bagging apples at a local orchard, she baked and served tea cakes and scones at Concord Teacakes & Idlewild Farm—the original organic gourmet. There was always a job with a catering outfit to see her through college. After earning her degree in business, Stephanie worked at the Colonial Inn, Concord MA . As she was about to begin a career in finance, the Executive Chef, recognizing her talent, convinced her to enroll in the Culinary Institute of America. At C.I.A., the finest culinary school in the country, Stephanie had that rare and wonderful realization: She can make her living doing what she loves best.

While interning at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Stephanie saw a need to look beyond the culinary confines of the Northeast.

“I wanted to see what food is like across the U.S. and to understand where it all comes from.” So after graduation she set off across the country to explore the “back roads and bayous” of American cuisine. She wandered through the South, and the Southwest stopping at local spots, visiting growers, along the way developing a deep knowledge of tradition, ingredients, and a very sharp eye for quality. She wound up at the Ritz Carlton in San Francisco where she was mentored by a top European chef who kept reminding her that a great meal is a total sensory event, “You don’t just eat food—you look at it, you smell it, you hear it, you feel it!” Another lesson Stephanie brings to SeaGrass.

These days Chef Brown’s resume reads like a guide to the best of Boston : The International, World Trade Center Sebastian's, the Ritz Carlton Boston, and The Charles Hotel. During her sixteen years in the industry Stephanie has mastered both sides of the kitchen door. She’s held all positions from pot washer to line cook, through head chef, executive sous chef, and now chef owner. As event planner Stephanie organized hundreds of events from intimate weddings to state dinners for international dignitaries. Working closely with celebrities and national leaders didn’t unnerve Stephanie—except, perhaps, when she was asked to prepare a Dover sole for her idol “since before Sesame Street” legendary chef Julia Childs.

Be it ambassadors or brides, there’s a common theme cited in a stack of testimonial letters from Stephanie Brown’s clients. Again and again, the letters highlight two of Stephanie’s special skills: her creative attention to detail, and her ability to hear and translate her clients wishes with breathtaking results. SeaGrass represents the culmination of all Chef Brown’s remarkable talents along with her deep commitment, enormous enthusiasm, and her passion for providing a personal and memorable dining experience.

Presenting the SeaGrass philosophy. It may just change the way we dine out.

- Lisa Wilson