How Corry Blanc Is Casting a New Mold in Southern Cookware Tradition

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We’ve recently been smitten with Southern cookware brands and have another crush to gush about. Blanc Creatives out of Waynesboro, VA, is the contrivance of Corry Blanc — a man who’s a downright pocketknife of expertise and did a little bit of everything in his quest to find the answer to that age-old question: What do you want to be when you grow up?

A skilled metalworker who also knows his way around a kitchen, Corry’s first skillet won Garden & Gun’s “Made in The South” overall prize in 2015, and his growing coterie of skilled artisans hasn’t stopped adding to their cookware offerings since.

Hands stirring vegetable in an iron skillet — We’re thrilled to spotlight the hand-made kitchen wonders of Blanc Creatives, whose products range from heirloom metal cookware to gorgeous everyday cutlery to intriguingly designed woodenware.

Blanc’s Beginnings

Corry began his metalworking journey working for his uncle in North Georgia. “After four years working for him, I was running the shop and managing my own crew,” Corry says. He moved to Charlottesville in 2007 and landed a job at a local blacksmithing studio where he learned to forge and move metal around differently than before — his uncle’s shop was a pure welding fabrication studio.

“In 2008, I decided to venture out on my own and focus on high-end architectural ironwork,” Corry says, “combining my forging and fabrication skills.” But around that time, the market crashed, and people were reticent to splurge on expensive ironwork for their homes. So Corry worked throughout Charlottesville’s vibrant restaurant scene and took catering gigs to pay the bills.

Person welding cookware product — Blanc Creatives was born to combine Corry’s two worlds of cooking and metalwork.

From Farmers’ Markets to Award-Winning Restaurants

Once the economy course corrected a bit, Corry’s architectural ironwork picked up, and he found himself in restaurants less and less. His metal jobs were always interesting custom commissions, and the lulls between projects gave him the time and motivation to start making products to sell at local farmers’ markets on the weekends. “Those products happened to be food-related,” Corry remarks, “and the local chefs I befriended started to place orders for my skillets.” When the skillet won Garden & Gun’s “Made in the South Awards” overall prize, it cemented Blanc Creatives as a cookware brand that was here to stay.

Roasted veggies in iron cookware skillet — “Our products are for everyone who appreciates quality kitchenware. Chefs love them, and it doesn’t hurt when the weekend warrior home cook hears that their favorite chefs also use our wares,” Corry says.

Person hammering a pan of carbon steel — Blanc Creatives’ steel pans are made of mild carbon steel, which contains less carbon than cast iron and makes the final product more ductile/pliable, less brittle, and lighter than cast-iron pans. But they perform similarly.

Blanc Creatives team of artists, chefs, and designers

Over the years, Blanc has employed a wide variety of artisans. “The early years were full of restaurant workers who were tired of long hours and weekend work,” Corry recalls. “Blanc was a place where they could hone a new craft and still stay connected to the restaurant industry and the joy of cooking.” Corry’s employed industrial design students, art school graduates, restaurant workers, factory workers, computer wizzes — you name it. “Everyone has left their mark in some form or another, which makes Blanc Creatives our company. My name is on the door, but the company is what it is today thanks to the talent that’s come through over the last 11 years.”

Spoon and wooden kitchen tools lined up against a wall — Because Corry’s undeniable talents harken back to an old-fashioned trade of blacksmithing, he taps other experts in other materials to lead different arms of the business, like woodworking.

Spread of food dishes plated on Blanc Creatives cookware products — As a primarily direct-to-consumer brand, most of Blanc Creatives’ customers are home cooks like you who hear about their products, try them out in their own kitchens, and are entirely obsessed.

A nurturing Virginia locale

Because of Waynesville’s proximity to the University of Virginia and the area’s fertile, well-kept farming industry, Blanc Creatives has boundless potential to make a mark on the culinary world. “The local Charlottesville community appreciates and supports the small businesses we have here,” Corry says. “This appreciation has allowed the farmers to hone their crafts, and because of that, the food scene here is second to none as far as small towns go — in my opinion! We truly are spoiled when it comes to good food; we have amazing produce and meats. It only makes sense that a culinary tools brand would be successful here. Plus, it’s just BEAUTIFUL!”

Blanc Creatives shop with working stations and tools — Take an in-depth peek at the Waynesboro, Virginia shop, and get alerted via their email newsletter and Instagram about open house events where you can visit the makers and shop discounted wares.

Spread on a table of food dishes and Blanc Creatives products — You’ll want to take every dish from the stovetop or oven straight onto your table to serve.

Form, function, and can we have BOTH in cookware?

Having functional and beautiful things in the home — especially the kitchen— can prove challenging these days. But Blanc combines form and function. “The original tagline for Blanc Creatives was ‘A Balance of Art and Function,'” Corry adds. “That ethos is what the company was founded on. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel or looking for a new invention; we’re taking mundane, everyday kitchen tools and putting our spin on them. If it’s something you’ll use every day, why not also make it something you enjoy looking at?”

Hands holding forged Blanc Creatives pan skillet — Details like the Y-shaped connector, hammered handles, hard-to-find sizes, and extra-long handle lengths set Blanc’s pieces apart from other companies.

Copper skillets — Get shopping HERE, and if some of your picks are out-of-stock, know that Corry and his team are likely making more by hand in their Virginia workshop as you browse.

Thanks for sharing your story with us, Corry. All images courtesy of Blanc Creatives.

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About the Author
Zoe Yarborough

Zoe is a StyleBlueprint staff writer, Charlotte native, Washington & Lee graduate, and Nashville transplant of eleven years. She teaches Pilates, helps manage recording artists, and likes to "research" Germantown's food scene.