You may hear chef Norwood Pryor say “buns are boring” or refer to his cuisine as “snout-to-tail” or “leaf-to-root.”
The well-established caterer and owner of Baby Bear Biscuits Southern Café is passionate when describing his moist, flaky biscuits and farm-to-table fare. He’ll be dishing up his specialties on weekends and eventually roll out to weekdays in April at his new eatery at SLO Ranch Farms & Marketplace.
The ranch will be hosting an opening soirée from 5 to 8 p.m. on March 21 for Baby Bear along with the property’s other recently launched restaurants, including Palo Mesa Pizza, Shekamoo Grill, and Sushi Table.
Hailing from Charleston, South Carolina, with a lengthy résumé at fine dining establishments on both coasts, Pryor aims to combine a dash of French technique with Carolina flavor and sustainability at Baby Bear.
“In the kitchen, a big feature we are going to be showcasing—besides amazing biscuits—is our pickling and preservation techniques,” he said. “We will be pickling and fermenting seasonal produce to use throughout the year in dishes, and we will also show off our root-to-leaf [and] tail-to-snout philosophy.”
For instance, Pryor will use vegetable trimmings “to make mashes we will ferment into flavorful vegetable-based vinegars,” he said.
“This means when we braise our turnip greens, we will do it with turnip vinegar and garnish them with some shaved pickled turnips, making a deeply flavorful and layered dish with a foundation in a few simple ingredients that are packed with probiotics from our local flora,” he continued.
“Using the whole thing—whether it’s fish, a pig, or even the veggies—is a big deal back in the South. We definitely are a waste-not, want-not culture in the kitchen.”
The menu reflects a broad range of breakfast, lunch, and dinner options, from build-your-own biscuit Benedict and johnnycakes to sandwiches, burgers, and salads. Southern specialties include fried green tomatoes, smoked chicken wings, fried chicken, shrimp and grits, and more.
Pryor honed his culinary skills at several notable Charleston restaurants, including 82 Queen, Cordavi, Carolina Yacht Club, and Oak Steakhouse.
After moving to the Bay Area in 2012, he further refined his résumé with chef gigs at Apple Inc. and Chase Center before launching his own catering firm Baby Bear Biscuits.
A decade later, Pryor and his fiancée, Kaitlyn Plante, an Arroyo Grande native, are proud to call the Central Coast home.
“I started food charity programs at Apple’s corporate campus and at the Chase Center with the Warriors, and I’m excited to lead the SLO Ranch Farms community in organizing group donations to the local food banks,” Pryor said.
“We have an event with Big Brothers Big Sisters in May … hosting a garden tour and cooking workshop for the ‘bigs’ and ‘littles,’ where they will pick produce, cook it in meals for each other, and have a fun group meal in the courtyard at the SLO Ranch Farms property.
“We are also working to support the SLO children’s orchestra with dinners to fundraise and bring the kids out and give them a space to perform during the dinners at the SLO Ranch Farms music gazebo.”
Other projects up Pryor’s sleeve are recruiting interns from Cuesta College’s culinary program for hands-on experience; using recyclable, single-serve dishes; and offering alternative delivery options.
“Sunny [Law] at Sushi Table and I are planning on sharing terrestrial-style, food-delivery bots to start, and we have been talking with multiple companies to help us get a green light from the city for autonomous delivery,” he said. “The drone delivery has so many perks I had never thought of … like the safety it provides from keeping strangers away from your home if, say, you are getting delivery for your kids while you’re away from the house.”
Pryor also plans to share his culinary wisdom via on-site classes, a podcast, and forthcoming cookbook.
Pryor’s restaurant industry-focused podcast, “Kitchen Unconfidential,” from Yes Chef Productions, “is a tool I’m going to be leveraging to cross-promote the restaurant, our catering, and online retail sales,” he said, while his cookbook “[dips] your toes into the kitchen as a newbie and flows into building on skills as you explore a few techniques from domestic and international styles that I hope gives the reader the tools to start a culinary journey that they can enjoy for a lifetime.”
The four restaurants celebrating their openings at the ranch on March 21 join the property’s other eateries—SLO Ranch Market deli, Lucy’s Coffee, Pardon My French Bakery, and Negranti Creamery—with Vintage Cheese, Paso Robles Brewing, and Plant Ivy coming soon. Space for a distillery is still up for grabs. Δ
Flavor Writer Cherish Whyte enjoyed moseying through SLO Ranch. She’ll be dreaming of Baby Bear’s biscuits at cwhyte@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Spring Arts Annual 2025.