A little more than 20 years ago, George Malkemus and Anthony Yurgaitis were just two high-powered businessmen who literally put the world on its heels (stilettos, that is) as president and vice president, respectively, of Manolo Blahnik in North and South America. They traveled around the world, escaping as often as possible to their Litchfield “getaway.” And then they started a farm. Not just any farm, but a 300-acre celebrated dairy farm in Litchfield that led to other ventures, including dairy stores in Bantam and New Haven, and their celebrated restaurant, Arethusa al tavolo, in Bantam. These days they continue with the Manolo Blahnik brand and are expanding a clothing and accessory venture with actress Sarah Jessica Parker. Jeans-clad George and husband, Tony, sat for a chat recently at the farm’s main barn.
Q: In New York City you live in a world of high fashion and celebrity friends; then you became farmers. What’s up with that?
George Malkemus: I think it’s because it started with the fact we had a home in Connecticut that was across the street from what at that time had been a horse farm. We found out it was being sold into development, and selfishly we didn’t want the view from our windows ruined, so we bought the property. Then we began researching the history of the farm and found out it was originally a dairy, one of over 4,000 dairy farms in Connecticut in its heyday. We had thought about just raising pedigree cattle and selling calves and embryos, focusing on preserving breeding. In 2008, when the recession hit, I said one day, “Why don’t we start to bottle our own milk?” and everybody went crazy saying, “You shouldn’t do that.” We rented a dairy in Bolton for a year to see if the market would embrace us. It did. We moved the bottling operation here and then added production of ice cream, butter, yogurt, the whole nine yards. And then it was the ice cream and cheese shop, and then we found Dan Magill and opened the restaurant and then Yale invited us to open a shop down there (in New Haven) and then it was the café across the street from the restaurant. We figure all those entities will provide an income that will sustain a trust that will keep everything going after we are gone and conserve our farmland.
Q: What does the farm offer that your Manolo Blahnik career does not?
GM: It’s a different kind of satisfaction. What we experience on the farm is so different than what we do in New York City. The city is not all about clothes and jewelry and being thin. People there have children and home and work with charities. But it’s the city. We come here and the people are so different. It’s a different lifestyle and, of course, there are the cattle and working with our employees here. It’s part of our lives now. It’s soothing.
Q: So is that the secret of your farming success?
GM: When this all started to take off, we wanted it to reflect the same attention to detail that the shoes we sell do. That is how we approached the farm. We are focused on detail and want our products to be the best. We won’t settle, and that means work. I love when people say to us, ‘So what’s it like to be a gentleman farmer?’ We aren’t. We are hands on. We have cattle that win blue ribbon after blue ribbon. We are going to San Diego, where our 16-year-old cow, Veronica, is going to receive an award as one of the world’s greatest cows. We are proud that we have developed a pedigree of cows that is like the pedigree of our shoes.
Q: What is your favorite chore on the farm and what’s your least favorite?
GM: I like being with the animals, seeing a new calf born. My least favorite chore is dealing with an employee who is not doing what they should be. When you are dealing with live animals, false moves can be serious.
Tony Yurgaitis: Oh, you know there are days you love this job, and then are those other days. I think my favorite time on the farm is going to the barns. I do clean stalls, but I don’t milk the cows. There is something about being there and doing what needs to be done. I love talking to other farmers about the business. The part I don’t like — paying the bills.
Q: You bought this property 20 years ago and have turned it into a business to be reckoned with. Any surprises along the way?
GM: The restaurant has been a fantastic surprise to us. It truly is farm-to-table because what we serve comes from the milk from our cattle. I think the secret of a successful restaurant is finding the right chef and letting him or her do whatever he wants when it comes to the menu. Don’t try to cut corners.
Q: So if you and Mr. Blahnik were going to collaborate on an Arethusa shoe, what would it look like?
GM: It would be a mule and it would be red. Red is the color of passion, and that’s what we are about. And a mule, well, because they are a stubborn animal and as a shoe they are hard to walk in, but incredibly sexy. It’s easy to slip your foot out of them and play footsies with someone.
Q: Has Manolo Blahnik ever tried any of your dairy products?
GM: Oh yes, he visited the farm, although he really doesn’t like being in the country, although I’m not sure people in Litchfield think this is the country. He loves milkshakes with vanilla and chocolate ice cream.
Q: What‘s new in shoes and in dairy products?
GM: In fashion we have a new line of bags coming out with Sarah Jessica Parker. And she will be launching her LBD (Little Black Dress) line with us. And as far as shoe style, classic is in.
Q: Something most people don’t know about you?
GM: God is very much a part of our lives, and we are very thankful for our lives. I was an Episcopalian who converted to Catholicism when I met Tony. We go to church every week.
Q: But the Catholic Church opposes your relationship. How do you handle that?
TY: Sometimes you have to walk around the church’s position on gay marriage.
Source: News Times
