Tom French
Executive Chef
Born and raised in England, Tom French was introduced to the intricacies of cooking at the age of 16 when he began attending culinary school. During his education, Tom was awarded an internship at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle where he cooked for the Queen of England and her guests. With his mounting experience, Tom traveled state-side after graduation and received an internship at Keswick Hall in his first years in the U.S., and began working at the Joshua Wilton House in 2009.
He has always been a driven chef, focused on incorporating French culinary techniques into his dishes and building working relationships with local farmers. Tom became the Executive Chef of the Joshua Wilton House in 2017 and recently was awarded the Best Chef in the Valley for Harrisonburg in 2018. He has a rare talent for enhancing any ingredient that he works with and is committed to providing for Harrisonburg an unrivaled culinary experience.
Bill Daulton
General Manager
Raised in Tidewater, VA, Bill Daulton has called Harrisonburg his home for the past 24 years. After attending JMU, he found a passion for restaurant management and has been a General Manager for six years. Bill met his amazing wife, Whitney Ford, at the Joshua Wilton House and even had the restaurant staff assist with his wedding. He worked at the Wilton for 10 years before taking a quick hiatus and exploring the world of fast casual restaurants. Missing the finer aspects of fine dining, he has now returned to his position as General Manager.
Bill has a passion for wine knowledge, bar programs, and all things culinary. He is an avid home cook, borrowing ideas from the dishes that Chef Tom and Jason create. He is a trained Sommelier and thrilled to be working with local wine distributors once again and finding new and exciting wines for guests to taste. Lastly, he has many plans to bring more events to the business including Wine Dinners, Cooking Demos, and Mixology Classes. Bill is very happy to have returned to the Joshua Wilton House and is looking forward to seeing many familiar faces and regulars that he has missed.
Jason Buby
Sous Chef
Originally from West Virginia, Jason Buby grew up in Staunton. His love for cooking has been present his entire life; he credits his mother for his introduction to culinary art. In 2001, he moved to Charleston, SC for culinary school. But, he found working fine dining was a more profitable learning experience, as he was training under two James Beard Award nominees. He eventually found success as Executive Chef at St. Johns Island Cafe. In 2008, he moved back to Staunton, where he continued his career under another James Beard Award nominated Chef at Staunton Grocery.
His passion for the role, which he began in 2023, is made obvious in his attention to detail and creativity. He believes that his responsibility is not only to make a delicious dish, but to showcase all of the hard work that has gone into the quality of each ingredient. Fine dining interests him most because it allows him to make the components of each dish from scratch. He loves that the Wilton House encourages him to take more culinary risks and has given him an opportunity to be creative with ingredients in ways he never has before.
Inspired by his own personal experiences, Jason is currently writing a cookbook called The Food to Recovery: Using Culinary Medicine to Heal the Body, Mind, and Soul filled with flavorful, yet simple, recipes for those dealing with addiction and recovery. He’s very passionate about using food as a way to heal by making simple, approachable, and affordable healthy meals.
Amy Mercer
Pastry Chef
Amy Mercer found her love for baking after college, when she started baking bread for fun and it quickly became a therapeutic practice for her. In 2003, her friend asked her to bake their wedding cake and, while she had never done it before, she was up for the challenge. One cake became many, and a decade later she opened a small in-home baking business in Albemarle County and taught cake-decorating classes for kids. Then, in 2017, Amy and her family moved to France, which introduced her to the world of French patisserie. While in France she briefly interned at a French bakery and was pursuing a diploma as a pastry chef, until 2020 when she and her family returned to the states.
In 2022, Amy joined the Joshua Wilton House as our Pastry Chef. She is responsible for all of the delicious focaccia, coffee cake, creme brulee, blueberry muffins, and so much more that our guests rave about. Her favorite part of her job is that it allows room for her to be creative and artistic, with both flavor and presentation. Additionally, she enjoys that her work makes people happy, because who doesn’t like dessert? Amy is also a social worker, so when she isn’t baking at the Wilton House, she spends her time as a therapist.
Meghan Lee
Inn and Marketing Manager
Hailing from Charleston, South Carolina, Meghan Lee was raised in a military family, growing up along the coasts of South Carolina and Virginia. She graduated high school in Yorktown, VA, then found her new home in the mountains at James Madison University in 2019. In 2022, she completed her B.A. in Media Arts and Design with a concentration in journalism. After college, she knew that she wanted to pursue a career that allowed her to be creative and have a positive impact on others. She explored these interests through the Disney College Program where she interned in the largest store in Epcot. This experience greatly shaped her approach to guest service and recovery, with a focus on creating memorable experiences for every guest.
She joined the Wilton House in 2023 as our innkeeper. Given her background in digital media, she quickly dove into our business media channels, taking photos and creating graphics to post online. She currently manages our social media accounts and website, in addition to overseeing our inn. Her favorite part about her role is that it allows her to be involved in several different facets of the business while also interacting with and making meaningful connections with guests.