Zoë Farley
Finding the Sweetness in Life
November 2024 Issue
by Mary Hope Roseneau
Photography (top) by
Cassidy Dunn Photography
Zoë Farley is a very busy young woman. She’s mom to 8-year-old Emily and daughter to Nancy and Allen Farley. She is a restaurant manager, a student, and she will be graduating this semester from the Technical College of the Lowcountry Culinary Institute of the South.
Zoë is also impressively punctual, arriving early to meet me at the new Beaufort Harris Teeter bar area. But we weren’t drinking alcohol; we were having vanilla matcha lattes with almond milk. That was her order, and being daring, I just said, “I’ll have that, too.” With long, gorgeous brown hair and big beautiful eyes, she was calm and quite unruffled for meeting a stranger for the first time. She put me at ease even though she was being interviewed. I revealed I didn’t know what a vanilla matcha latte was, but I like trying new things. Zoë correctly described it as tasting like birthday cake. It was a tea drink, which turned out to be delicious! I didn’t think I could go wrong with a suggestion from a professional chef.
Zoë grew up in Beaufort, graduated from Beaufort High School, and started college in Charleston. Plans changed, life happened, and she was back in Beaufort before long with a sweet baby girl whose grandparents adored her. Zoë gives lots of credit to her parents for helping her to raise Emily on her own. It’s so nice when children are surrounded by grownups who will love and care for them, and this has meant the world to Zoë. She has worked full-time for the past eight years at Plum’s Restaurant in downtown Beaufort as a server, and now as manager.
But Zoë wanted to do more, so she enrolled at the Technical College of the Lowcountry Culinary Institute of the South in the Culinary Arts and Hospitality Program. TCL’s Culinary Institute is a new state-of-the-art facility in Bluffton’s Buckwalter Place. The impressive Institute building is 30,305 square feet, offering six classrooms, two computer labs, two teaching kitchens, a baking lab, a lectures theater, and a grab-and-go café and teaching restaurant! The school has several certificate and degree programs: Baking & Pastry Arts; Culinary Arts Technology; Hospitality/Tourism Management; and Restaurant Cook Skills. Zoë will earn her associates degree in baking and pastry arts,
Zoë’s family has been Disney fans for as long as she can remember. You can only imagine it was a dream come true when Zoë received a call from Walt Disney World in August 2022, notifying her that she had been accepted into their 8-month internship in the Disney College program. Not only was it a paid internship with free housing, but she was also chosen as a cast member to be a “seater” at the restaurant Hollywood & Vine. So, Emily happily stayed her grandparents, allowing Zoë to pursue an opportunity of a lifetime. She hopes to go back and work as a professional in the Hollywood Studios restaurants some day with Emily and her parents in tow.
In the meantime, Zoë continues to attend classes, work, be a great mom, and serve her church, Carteret Street United Methodist Church in Beaufort, where she cooks the big Wednesday night dinner each week alongside her dad. In addition, she has become quite a baker and pastry chef with all kinds of yummy savory and sweet treats up her professional chef’s coat sleeves. The internship at Disney opened the door to her love for hospitality and the culinary arts, and she has taken that passion to the next level in earning her degree, Keep your eyes on this girl; she’s one smart cookie with an extra sweet future ahead of her!
Up Close:
Emily’s Favorite Weeknight Meal
(Homemade by Zoë):
Baked Spaghetti Casserole
1 box Thin spaghetti noodles
1 jar favorite Red Spaghetti sauce
1 jar favorite Alfredo Sauce
1 lb. Ground beef
1 Onion, diced
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 bag shredded 3-cheese Italian blend
1 bag shredded Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese, to taste
This is a 3-layer dish:
Layer 1: Cook spaghetti noodles as directed on package. Once cooked, drain and mix with Alfredo sauce. Spread the mixture into a 9x13 greased dish.
Layer 2: Brown ground beef, onion, and garlic together. Drain and add jar of red spaghetti sauce. Spread the mixture on top of the Alfredo noodles.
Layer 3: Top with cheeses and bake at 350° until golden and bubbly.
Serving suggestion: Pair with salad and garlic bread.