When an inventor and his wife came to Asheville in the 1970s, he brought a far-out, ethereal sound, and she brought a cookbook full of recipes.
North Carolina’s Rice Revival
Eastern North Carolina was once home to thousands of acres of Carolina Gold rice. And then, about a century ago, those rice fields disappeared. In Pamlico County, this heirloom crop is back — and coming to menus across the state.
Rice Among the Hmong in McDowell County
Carolina Gold is making a comeback in fields out east, but here are two sides to North Carolina’s rice revival.
The Family That Cooks Together
A family with ties to multiple Latin American countries gathers to break bread. The matriarch prepares the food. Her son-in-law pulls together all of the disparate elements into a Charlotte restaurant dynasty.
Young, Scrappy, & Hungry at Leah & Louise
At a restaurant in Charlotte, the award-winning owner and chef has taken preservation to a whole new level. In his kitchen, nothing — and we mean nothing — gets tossed in the trash.
Dining on (Oak) Island Time
No rush: The clocks on the walls of Oak Island Restaurant are just for decoration. All you really need to know is whether it’s Chicken & Dumplings Thursday or Fried Fish Friday.
Oak Island, Over Easy at the Old Bridge Diner
On the way to work or headed home from the beach, post up in a booth at the Old Bridge Diner for breakfast and lunch classics — pancakes to patty melts to popcorn shrimp — all day long.
The Wonderful World of What-A-Burger
The 1960s architecture, croaking call boxes, and carhops toting plastic trays stacked with steaming fries and frosty shakes: What-A-Burger — the beloved North Carolina chain, not the popular Texas franchise — is a living remnant from a time when cars were king.
Hungry? Try These 7 Classic North Carolina Drive-Ins
Here are a few regional classics of the Happy Days era.