Urban Wren chef Taylor Montgomery departs kitchen, focuses on farm

After more than four years at Urban Wrenchef Taylor Montgomery has announced his departure.

“The time was right,” he said. “We’ve done some amazing things in the kitchen at The Wren, but a new chapter was calling me. And fall is right around the corner, a time of bounty in the Carolinas. It felt appropriate to leave Urban Wren in the capable hands of others and explore my passions – at least for the season – at the farm.”

Montgomery’s long-time chef de cuisine, Cat Beraud, has also resigned. She was part of the opening team in May of 2020.

Urban Wren opened in downtown Greenville’s Markley Station as one of the first fine dining restaurants to establish itself in the West End development zone between South Main and Academy Street. The expansive restaurant offered a culinary power duo of Montgomery in the kitchen and sommelier Eric Cooperman at the wine bar.

Cooperman, known for his wine programming for The Cliffs, departed sooner than many expected. More recently, general manager and sommelier Travis Giarratana left to buy into ownership at The Rabbit Hole in the Village of West Greenville.

The menu has retained its focus on farm-grown, elevated dining, but the once wine-centered restaurant went through iterations including cocktail campaigns and on-again-off-again brunch. The recent addition of sommelier Amy Yancey has brought the ship back to its intended concept but the loss of Montgomery and Beraud will be noticed.

When Montgomery helped open Urban Wren, it felt as if he burst onto Greenville’s dining scene, but the chef brought decades of fine dining experience with him from the kitchens of private clubs including The Dunes and Mountain Air Country Club. His plates were inventive and composed with a story of the space between field and plate.

He and his wife, Fran, grow produce and flowers at their farm, Montgomery Sky, just north of Asheville. They are well known for their large animal rescue and preservation program of Scottish Highland cattle and heirloom Valais black nose sheep.

Montgomery said he has a lineup of events scheduled at Montgomery Sky Farm, as well as a signature collaboration dinner with East Fork Pottery in August at a new food festival in Asheville called BiteMeAVL. He may have to miss his scheduled programming at Euphoria, including a chef dinner with John Ondo of Kiawah’s The Atlantic Room,

“Sometimes I would imagine our chef’s table as a whole space. I’d have to figure out how to do that but if it ever came to fruition, it would be in Greenville,” Montgomery said. “The diners are exceptional here, the type of folks you really connect with across a plate. I’m truly grateful for everyone I worked with and had the privilege of serving at Urban Wren.”