On Chef Nicholas Peek’s menu, classic Southern ingredients are used in creative new ways. photograph by Tim Robison

Golden-brown asiago and cheddar cheeses cover the contents of a small cast-iron skillet, concealing a mixture of sautéed tomatoes, herbs, and scratch-made chowchow. The steaming-hot dish is a popular choice for diners seeking a cozy escape from the chill of a Smoky Mountain winter at Birchwood Hall Southern Kitchen in Waynesville. It may not be the traditional tomato pie they were expecting — biscuit crumbles stand in for piecrust — but the items on the menu created by Chef Nicholas Peek, a Fairview native, are inspired by his own childhood traditions.

To him, southern Appalachian cooking isn’t just a collection of recipes or a trend to follow; it’s a way of life. “People go and start a homestead and think, ‘Oh, this is southern Appalachian cuisine,’” Peek says. “But when you’re raised in poverty, you work with what’s around you.”

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Peek recalls a modest upbringing in Buncombe County, where he was raised by two talented home cooks. He remembers his father picking tomatoes in the family’s yard and experimenting with whatever was on hand. His dad didn’t follow a recipe for tomato pie, his signature dish, but he often served it with “biscuit toast.” These were broiled, dried-out biscuits, a way to preserve leftovers.

The decor at Birchwood Hall Southern Kitchen embraces Appalachian flair, with rustic farmhouse accents, antler chandeliers, and more.  photograph by Tim Robison

When Peek opened Birchwood Hall in 2017, his menu featured this childhood favorite served with gourmet toppings. “When I wrote the menu, I said, ‘Hey, Dad, I’m doing biscuit toast,’” Peek remembers. “He said, ‘You know that’s not a thing, right? We were just poor.’”

Now, in Peek’s restaurant decorated with antler chandeliers, Mason jars full of pickled vegetables, and stone columns flanking a bourbon-forward bar, customers cut into the cheesy crust atop his tomato pie to scoop up crumbles of biscuit toast — and enjoy the ingenuity found in kitchens across Appalachia.

Try the creamy grits topped with bourbon-sorghum-glazed pork belly and popcorn — with a side of house-made pickles. photograph by Tim Robison

Although his parents aren’t chefs, Peek inherited their resourcefulness and creativity in the kitchen. He’s carried those traits with him throughout a career spent working for other Southern chefs and, eventually, to his own restaurant. A look at Birchwood Hall’s menu shows that he hasn’t strayed far from his roots. Southern ingredients star in most dishes and feature in unexpected pairings: Grits are topped with pork belly, a bourbon-sorghum glaze, and popcorn; chicken livers from Joyce Farms in Winston-Salem are crafted into a pâté rather than fried; and “country-fried” precedes “portobello” in a vegetarian twist on the classic steak. Here it’s served with root vegetable puree and a goat cheese cream sauce.

The menu has changed some since Birchwood Hall’s early days, but a reverence for local ingredients, no matter how small or ordinary, has remained.

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Long before he ever set foot in a professional kitchen, Peek’s first job in the food industry was on his grandparents’ farm in South Carolina. When he was a kid, his grandfather gave him and his sister two rows to plant and tend spring onions. “Papaw would make a deal with Piggly Wiggly to sell the product we grew, and he’d take his cut for the land,” Peek says. This lesson in the value of hard work and understanding where food comes from inspired Peek’s view of southern Appalachian cuisine. Birchwood Hall is his way of sharing that perspective.

Save room for banana pudding: A popular parfait-style version of Peek’s mom’s classic recipe is topped with walnut brittle and, of course, vanilla wafers. photograph by Tim Robison

As customers finish their meals, those who’ve saved room for dessert often order another of Peek’s childhood favorites: banana pudding. Peek tested a few different recipes created by chefs he’d worked with, but none measured up to his mom’s, which featured a blend of cream cheese, condensed milk, heavy whipping cream, and pudding mix, layered with banana chunks and vanilla wafers. Even after Peek and his siblings moved out of the house, they’d find a large bowl of banana pudding waiting for them whenever they visited.

Although his mom didn’t consider her dessert restaurant-worthy, Peek developed a popular parfait-style version of the treat — with her blessing, of course — and it’s been a fixture on the menu ever since. It’s a simple delight of pantry staples, but its success reflects the timelessness of the food that Peek was raised on. No matter his age, a bite of Mom’s banana pudding takes him right back to his woodstove-heated childhood home, where he and his family turned a little into a lot.

Birchwood Hall Southern Kitchen
111 North Main Street
Waynesville, NC 28786
(828) 246-6111
birchwoodhall.com