This café is known as “the heartbeat of Saluda.” Treat yourself to dishes like mountain trout, pork chops, and the Grains, Beans & Greens Bowl, with live music as a backdrop on Thursday and Saturday evenings.
Bistro Roca’s Neapolitan pizza is topped with Peppadew peppers, Benton’s bacon, and smoked Cheddar. photograph by Tim Robison
At Bistro Roca, Chef Seth Parker takes great pride in the restaurant’s scratch-made staples, including chicken stock that simmers for hours and a rainbow of house-made sauces. He seeks out local vegetables and meats whenever possible, and the pizza dough and most of the bread is made nearby at Stick Boy Bread Company in Boone. “I think you should take the extra time and really respect the ingredients you’re working with,” Parker says.
The Market Place’s roasted scallops are served with carrot ginger soup, rice middlins, and fennel salad. photograph by Charles Harris
At the beginning of each year, Chef William Dissen sits down with local growers to flip through seed catalogs and create a plan for what he’d like to buy in the coming months. “That was a turning point for me as a chef,” Dissen says. “I can plan the seasons even better as to what I’m going to put on the menu and on the table.” Whether he’s serving up dishes like mushroom risotto or roasted scallops, the mission is always the same: showcasing North Carolina’s bounty.
With its fresh eggs and bread baked in-house, The Table brings farm-to-table full circle with its breakfast, lunch, and pastry offerings. From savory omelets to BLTs, the restaurant offers unadulterated classics prepared from scratch. “We’re not trying to be the hustle and bustle place with the five-page menu,” says Chef Deanna Clement. “We’re trying to do what the community desires and do it the best we can — and do it well.”
From sweet potato tarts to catfish stew, chef Greg Collier cooks with pretty much everything he has in the kitchen. Inspired by his granny Louise who always had a garden, Collier’s use-it-all philosophy has become standard procedure at his Charlotte eatery. “If I can make money out of waste, I’m a better businessman and a better chef,” he says. “And nobody here has to think about it. They know. Everybody is thinking, ‘We can’t throw this away.’”
Saint Jacques’ Chilean sea bass medallions are served with spicy chard and a ragout of garlic, herbs, and beans. photograph by Anagram Photo
The couple behind the Burke Manor Inn and its restaurant, Saint Jacques, whisk their guests away for locally-sourced French fare and Old-World elegance — all without leaving Guilford County.
Seafood dishes (clockwise from left) like eggs Benedict with crab cakes, fish tacos, and shrimp and grits are hallmarks of Spoon River’s brunch menu. photograph by Baxter Miller
Less than a block away from Belhaven’s marina, Spoon River has great access to fresh seafood, no doubt, but there are other ways the restaurant ensures that its food is locally sourced.
Southern Smoke BBQ’s barbecue sandwich, succotash, and potato salad are classics with a slight twist. photograph by Anagram Photo
Matthew and Jessica Register founded Southern Smoke in 2010, and their passion for quality ingredients and love for the outdoors inspired their farm-to-table concept. “I grew up eating vegetables that you grow in the summertime. We grow our own produce, and I think a lot of restaurants have gotten away from that,” Matthew says. Southern Smoke BBQ is open on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but if you’re going for lunch, you’d better get there quick: The restaurant opens at 11:30 a.m., and closes when they sell out.
From its northernmost point in Corolla to its southern terminus on Cedar Island, this scenic byway — bound between sound and sea — links the islands and communities of the Outer Banks.
Us? An icon? Well, after 90 years and more than 2,000 issues celebrating North Carolina from mountains to coast, we hope you’ll agree that we’ve earned the title.
After nearly a century — or just a couple of years — these seafood restaurants have become coastal icons, the places we know, love, and return to again and again.
One of the last old-school fish houses in Onslow County stands sentry on the White Oak River. Clyde Phillips Seafood Market has served up seafood and stories since 1954 — an icon of the coast, persevering in pink.
