About the Chef

Chad Blackwelder is influenced by his traditional Southern upbringing in Lee County as well as various other experiences throughout his career. He grew up in a rural setting around farms and farmers, including his grandfather. Spending much of his childhood hunting, fishing, and cooking alongside his mother and grandparents, he became interested in culinary pursuits at an early age. He learned the secrets and ways of Southern cooking watching traditional practices of canning, preserving, and candy-making. Having experienced frying whole fish next to a stream and field-dressing wild game during his youth, he was ready for the next level of his culinary career in Charleston, South Carolina, where he attended Johnson and Wales University. During his time in Charleston, he worked for a widely-considered pioneer of contemporary Southern cuisine, Louis Osteen.

After graduation in 1991, he became Sous Chef at Pinehurst Country Club in Pinehurst, NC. He then moved to Durham, NC, where he worked at the Magnolia Grill for two other Southern culinary legends, Ben and Karen Barker. During his respective three- and five-year-stints with Osteen and Barker, Chad was Sous Chef. Both Osteen and Barker have been honored as James Beard Award winners for Best Chef Southeast. Chad had the rare opportunity to assist both chefs at James Beard House dinners in New York City.

Chad spent the next seven years as an executive chef in various restaurants in the Triangle area including The Wild Turtle, Wicked Smile, Brightleaf 905, and the Inn at Celebrity Dairy. During his time at Brightleaf 905, the restaurant was named by Esquire magazine's John Mariani as one of 1999's Top 25 new restaurants in the United States.

In 2004, Chad returned to the origins of his cooking career when he moved back to Sanford to Bella Bistro. Since that time he has endeavored to create a comfortable, familiar, and contemporary Southern dining experience for his Lee County patrons. Bella Bistro is the culmination of his many experiences and influences in food, wine, and hospitality.