Crystal Krieger
Advanced Sommelier, Court of Master Sommeliers
Advanced Sommelier, International Sommelier Guild
Crystal was born in Covington Virginia. She grew up in White Sulphur Springs, VA. Her mother worked at the Greenbrier Resort as a server later on becoming a stay at home Mom. Recently, her father retired from Westvaco after 42 years.
Crystal began her career at the Greenbrier as a bread server. She was then promoted to a server in a very short period of time. The Greenbrier had an extensive training program for service employees. After 6 years, she decided to go explore the country. She worked in management positions for 11 years at such as The American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin and The Ritz Carlton in Naples, Florida.
She then decided to pursue a career in wine. Crystal worked at The Wine Shop at Foxcroft in Charlotte becoming the evening Manager of the Wine Bar. She began taking classes through the International Sommelier Guild achieving the 3rd Level.
Crystal began working as a server in Prime 44 at the Greenbrier while prepping for the series of tests. She passed her Certified Exam being 1st out of 39 candidates in Orlando Florida. Then, she proceeded to take a Sommelier position in The Main Dining Room to progress in her skills for the Advanced Exam. She recently passed her Advanced Sommelier Exam in September 2014. Crystal is the 1st Advanced Sommelier from West Virginia. She passed her exam in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Forty-three candidates sat for the exam, she was one of seven individuals to pass. At the time of the exam, she was 1 of 325 Advanced Sommeliers in the World.
Crystal and her husband Kyle decided they would like to share their love for food and wine by opening a small upscale bistro in Hot Springs, Va. Crystal decided to go with a small intimate list to match the cuisine. Her best asset is her palate. She wanted people to come and enjoy her craft.
She decided to make the beer selection predominantly craft beers. LCdO cocktails would be craft cocktails and classic cocktails. She believes in providing the ultimate dining experience to her guest by inviting them into LCdO.
Advanced Sommelier, Court of Master Sommeliers
Advanced Sommelier, International Sommelier Guild
Crystal was born in Covington Virginia. She grew up in White Sulphur Springs, VA. Her mother worked at the Greenbrier Resort as a server later on becoming a stay at home Mom. Recently, her father retired from Westvaco after 42 years.
Crystal began her career at the Greenbrier as a bread server. She was then promoted to a server in a very short period of time. The Greenbrier had an extensive training program for service employees. After 6 years, she decided to go explore the country. She worked in management positions for 11 years at such as The American Club in Kohler, Wisconsin and The Ritz Carlton in Naples, Florida.
She then decided to pursue a career in wine. Crystal worked at The Wine Shop at Foxcroft in Charlotte becoming the evening Manager of the Wine Bar. She began taking classes through the International Sommelier Guild achieving the 3rd Level.
Crystal began working as a server in Prime 44 at the Greenbrier while prepping for the series of tests. She passed her Certified Exam being 1st out of 39 candidates in Orlando Florida. Then, she proceeded to take a Sommelier position in The Main Dining Room to progress in her skills for the Advanced Exam. She recently passed her Advanced Sommelier Exam in September 2014. Crystal is the 1st Advanced Sommelier from West Virginia. She passed her exam in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Forty-three candidates sat for the exam, she was one of seven individuals to pass. At the time of the exam, she was 1 of 325 Advanced Sommeliers in the World.
Crystal and her husband Kyle decided they would like to share their love for food and wine by opening a small upscale bistro in Hot Springs, Va. Crystal decided to go with a small intimate list to match the cuisine. Her best asset is her palate. She wanted people to come and enjoy her craft.
She decided to make the beer selection predominantly craft beers. LCdO cocktails would be craft cocktails and classic cocktails. She believes in providing the ultimate dining experience to her guest by inviting them into LCdO.
Kyle Krieger
Certified Executive Chef
Passionate, driven, and innovative, Chef Kyle Krieger has developed his art next to some of the most talented professional chefs of modern times. A native of northern Ohio, Chef Krieger started his career in a local restaurant while attending college for business administration, his formal training started at the Greenbrier. After cooking at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Mi, he classically apprenticed at The Greenbrier. Chef Krieger honed time honored traditional cooking skills while at the same time perfecting modern cooking techniques. Promoted to Chef of the Ritz-Carlton’s flagship Grill Room in Naples, Florida after a year at the hotel, Chef Krieger developed a yearning for a more local approach to cooking. Born in the deep south, raised in the Midwest, and living throughout the east coast; fresh ingredients and artisanal products have inspired him to extract the best experience from any culinary product.
Krieger’s cooking ideology returns to a more simple time, involving relationships with the people that grow the food, locally when ever possible. He believes that local food, from a farmer that has a stake in the end product, yields higher quality food with more nutrients and flavor. Fundamental and modern cooking techniques help evolve the cuisine to an art where the simple flavors of “place” are not overpowered by the fads of “now”. As well as his duties as chef, Chef Krieger has overseen in-house salumi productions, ice sculpting programs, and sat on the Apprenticeship Committee at The Greenbrier. Chef Krieger has led kitchens at the American Club in Kohler, WI, the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, FL, Charlie Palmer Steak in Washington, D.C, and Noble’s Restaurant in Charlotte, N.C. In 2012, Chef Krieger also started a small mustard production business named The Pig Cave, LLC which sells Black Mustard nationally.
Krieger believes in creating great cuisine where the flavors and ingredients speak for themselves. A desire to be the best as a chef, leader, and cook has led Chef Krieger to search out the best of local foods and farms. Passion for the food in front of him, and the people around him, Chef Krieger drives himself to present guests with the best dining experience around.
Certified Executive Chef
Passionate, driven, and innovative, Chef Kyle Krieger has developed his art next to some of the most talented professional chefs of modern times. A native of northern Ohio, Chef Krieger started his career in a local restaurant while attending college for business administration, his formal training started at the Greenbrier. After cooking at the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, Mi, he classically apprenticed at The Greenbrier. Chef Krieger honed time honored traditional cooking skills while at the same time perfecting modern cooking techniques. Promoted to Chef of the Ritz-Carlton’s flagship Grill Room in Naples, Florida after a year at the hotel, Chef Krieger developed a yearning for a more local approach to cooking. Born in the deep south, raised in the Midwest, and living throughout the east coast; fresh ingredients and artisanal products have inspired him to extract the best experience from any culinary product.
Krieger’s cooking ideology returns to a more simple time, involving relationships with the people that grow the food, locally when ever possible. He believes that local food, from a farmer that has a stake in the end product, yields higher quality food with more nutrients and flavor. Fundamental and modern cooking techniques help evolve the cuisine to an art where the simple flavors of “place” are not overpowered by the fads of “now”. As well as his duties as chef, Chef Krieger has overseen in-house salumi productions, ice sculpting programs, and sat on the Apprenticeship Committee at The Greenbrier. Chef Krieger has led kitchens at the American Club in Kohler, WI, the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, FL, Charlie Palmer Steak in Washington, D.C, and Noble’s Restaurant in Charlotte, N.C. In 2012, Chef Krieger also started a small mustard production business named The Pig Cave, LLC which sells Black Mustard nationally.
Krieger believes in creating great cuisine where the flavors and ingredients speak for themselves. A desire to be the best as a chef, leader, and cook has led Chef Krieger to search out the best of local foods and farms. Passion for the food in front of him, and the people around him, Chef Krieger drives himself to present guests with the best dining experience around.
John Loeffler
Certified Sommelier, Court of Master Sommeliers
"Restaurant Guy", John Loeffler, has a passion for service excellence. He spent his young adult life working in many great free-standing restaurants in his native West Virginia. He started his career managing the Yellow Brick Bank Restaurant in Shepherdstown, WV. Affectionately known as the YBB, this restaurant was at one time one of the best restaurants in the state. Using fresh, local, and at times innovative ingredients, the YBB definitely gave John restaurant fever. After Shepherdstown John went on to work in a couple of restaurants in Morgantown, WV and eventually made his way back to the eastern panhandle where he was hired to manage the fine dining operations at the Bavarian Inn. It was while working there that he got engaged to be married and decided that to move up in his career he needed to move on to larger operations. From there he was hired to manage the Main Dining Room at The Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, VA. A 400 seat restaurant with 2 meal periods a day quickly gave John the high volume and large scale environment he was seeking. After several years and expansive responsibility including managing the Casino Restaurant and 1766 Grille, John was recruited to open and manage Prime 44 West, the Greenbrier Resort's new steakhouse. While at the Greenbrier John met and worked with Chef Krieger and his wife Crystal, and soon realized their shared passion for food and wine.
John and his wife, Kate, reside in Warm Springs, VA. They own and operate a little Inn and Restaurant called The Inn at Gristmill Square. They have been hands on owners since purchasing the property in 2011.
Certified Sommelier, Court of Master Sommeliers
"Restaurant Guy", John Loeffler, has a passion for service excellence. He spent his young adult life working in many great free-standing restaurants in his native West Virginia. He started his career managing the Yellow Brick Bank Restaurant in Shepherdstown, WV. Affectionately known as the YBB, this restaurant was at one time one of the best restaurants in the state. Using fresh, local, and at times innovative ingredients, the YBB definitely gave John restaurant fever. After Shepherdstown John went on to work in a couple of restaurants in Morgantown, WV and eventually made his way back to the eastern panhandle where he was hired to manage the fine dining operations at the Bavarian Inn. It was while working there that he got engaged to be married and decided that to move up in his career he needed to move on to larger operations. From there he was hired to manage the Main Dining Room at The Homestead Resort in Hot Springs, VA. A 400 seat restaurant with 2 meal periods a day quickly gave John the high volume and large scale environment he was seeking. After several years and expansive responsibility including managing the Casino Restaurant and 1766 Grille, John was recruited to open and manage Prime 44 West, the Greenbrier Resort's new steakhouse. While at the Greenbrier John met and worked with Chef Krieger and his wife Crystal, and soon realized their shared passion for food and wine.
John and his wife, Kate, reside in Warm Springs, VA. They own and operate a little Inn and Restaurant called The Inn at Gristmill Square. They have been hands on owners since purchasing the property in 2011.
Kate Loeffler
Hospitality Professional
Kate was born in Corvallis, OR and relocated to Charleston, WV with her family at the age of 5. At 18 she moved to Shepherdstown, WV to attend Shepherd College, and ended up earning a degree in Psychology. While in college she waited tables and bartended at the Yellow Brick Bank Restaurant. Upon graduation she moved to Morgantown, WV where she worked as a wine sale Apprentice for The Country Vintner of WV. After 6 months of traveling throughout the state selling wine and growing their portfolio she decided to work a little closer to home and sought a job at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Pennsylvania. Kate's always loved traveling and decided a career in the travel and tourism industry would be a perfect fit. She ended up following a more administrative career path in the Human Resources field. She recruited for Nemacolin, giving her the opportunity to travel to culinary and hospitality schools along the east coast. After Nemacolin she relocated back to Shepherdstown to work at Charles Town Races and Slots. A very different environment recruiting for casino positions which would end up coming in handy later in her career. While back in Shepherdstown she got engaged to John and from there moved with him to the little, but very familiar, county of Bath.
Kate actually grew up spending summers in Bath County. From summer camp to visiting her family's cabin, Kate was intimately familiar with the area and was excited about the opportunity to relocate there. In fact, one of the very first trips John and Kate took while dating was to visit her family's cabin and dine at the Gristmill. Once relocated, Kate got a job in the Convention Services department at The Homestead. A departure from her HR roots, but was a great learning experience. While in Convention Services she planned and managed many groups ranging in size from 12-200+. She also spent some time selling weddings and planning holidays and special events for the resort. When John made the move to The Greenbrier it was only fitting that she move there too. She went back to her HR roots filling their opening for a Recruiting Manager. Again she had the opportunity to visit and recruit from the CIA, Johnson and Wales among others. Her traveling even took her to the Philippines with the Executive Chef to recruit culinary students. It was certainly a memorable time.
Kate and John currently reside in Warm Springs, VA. She manages the inn operations of their business. She handles all catering requests, manages the accounting, marketing and front desk/reservations. She is certainly thankful for her time spent working at those great resorts.
Hospitality Professional
Kate was born in Corvallis, OR and relocated to Charleston, WV with her family at the age of 5. At 18 she moved to Shepherdstown, WV to attend Shepherd College, and ended up earning a degree in Psychology. While in college she waited tables and bartended at the Yellow Brick Bank Restaurant. Upon graduation she moved to Morgantown, WV where she worked as a wine sale Apprentice for The Country Vintner of WV. After 6 months of traveling throughout the state selling wine and growing their portfolio she decided to work a little closer to home and sought a job at Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Pennsylvania. Kate's always loved traveling and decided a career in the travel and tourism industry would be a perfect fit. She ended up following a more administrative career path in the Human Resources field. She recruited for Nemacolin, giving her the opportunity to travel to culinary and hospitality schools along the east coast. After Nemacolin she relocated back to Shepherdstown to work at Charles Town Races and Slots. A very different environment recruiting for casino positions which would end up coming in handy later in her career. While back in Shepherdstown she got engaged to John and from there moved with him to the little, but very familiar, county of Bath.
Kate actually grew up spending summers in Bath County. From summer camp to visiting her family's cabin, Kate was intimately familiar with the area and was excited about the opportunity to relocate there. In fact, one of the very first trips John and Kate took while dating was to visit her family's cabin and dine at the Gristmill. Once relocated, Kate got a job in the Convention Services department at The Homestead. A departure from her HR roots, but was a great learning experience. While in Convention Services she planned and managed many groups ranging in size from 12-200+. She also spent some time selling weddings and planning holidays and special events for the resort. When John made the move to The Greenbrier it was only fitting that she move there too. She went back to her HR roots filling their opening for a Recruiting Manager. Again she had the opportunity to visit and recruit from the CIA, Johnson and Wales among others. Her traveling even took her to the Philippines with the Executive Chef to recruit culinary students. It was certainly a memorable time.
Kate and John currently reside in Warm Springs, VA. She manages the inn operations of their business. She handles all catering requests, manages the accounting, marketing and front desk/reservations. She is certainly thankful for her time spent working at those great resorts.