This café is known as “the heartbeat of Saluda.” Treat yourself to dishes like mountain trout, pork chops, and the roasted red and golden beets salad, 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.”
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 and Friday, 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.
North Carolina is known for many things, but nothing more important this week than the qualities of endurance, resilience, and hope.
By day, this adventure park in the Triad is a fall festival to die for. By night, the undead come alive for Halloween tricks. Welcome to one man’s vision of year-round merrymaking.
North Carolina’s border dances across the mountains as it traces four different states. Life here can be more remote, but good neighbors are never far away.
The Blue Ridge Parkway stands out among America’s national parks: Unfurling across six Appalachian mountain chains, it connects dozens of rural communities and binds together generations of families through shared memories.
