Padgett Arnold, Sequatchie Cove Creamery (Sequatchie, TN)

Come with me to a valley in Eastern Tennessee filled with fresh mountain air and grass-filled pastures where cows wander and graze all day. This is the birthplace of the cheese of Sequatchie Cove Creamery, one of the South’s foremost cheesemakers, whose Dancing Fern cheese wowed the American cheese community -- and beyond -- when it debuted in 2012. Located 35 minutes northwest from Chattanooga, this creamery is the brainchild of Nathan and Padgett Arnold, who work to capture the unique taste of this place through raw-milk cheese production, a passion that Nathan pursued when he left the cove to apprentice for a time in the Savoie region of France. I’ve been sampling their selections on Southern restaurant menus for years, and not only is it addictively delicious, it’s produced through 100% solar power in a sustainable facility right on Sequatchie Cove Farm. You might never get the chance to make a visit this magical place, but one bite, and it’s as if you can feel that mountain sun as it moves across the valley.