/ Dinner /
Appalachia Rising: The James Beard Award–recognized Chefs Defining Modern Appalachian Cooking
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 8
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
THE RESTORATION HOTEL
ASHEVILLE, NC
$250 PER PERSON
All ticket sales + donations fund directly our industry-leading honorariums for our culinary + beverage presenters
Camille Cogswell is an award-winning Pastry Chef based in the Asheville area of NC. She received a James Beard Award for Rising Star Chef of the Year in 2018, was named one of Forbes 30 under 30 of 2020 and was a 2020 Food and Wine Best New Chef. Cogswell recently returned to the mountains of NC.
Cleophus Hethington, a Miami native, is a passionate chef driven by the flavors, ingredients, and dishes of the African diaspora. Starting as a home cook and serving in the U.S. Navy, Hethington embarked on a successful culinary career after an internship at Yardbird Southern Table & Bar. He cooked at renowned establishments across the country, including The Cypress Room, Alter, Matador Room, Le Sirenuse, Four Seasons Surf Club, The Optimist Atlanta, Lazy Betty & Benne on Eagle.
In 2017, Hethington founded Griot House (fka Ębí Chop Bar), a pop-up dinner series celebrating African diasporic food. Inspired by his roots, he launched Triangular Traded Spices, offering small-batch, organic, and bold spice blends. His culinary talents were recognized when he became the Executive Chef at Benne on Eagle, earning acclaim and a nomination as a finalist for the James Beard Foundation Awards.
Currently serving as the Chef de Cuisine at Zak the Baker in Miami, Hethington contributes to the bakery’s recognition by the Michelin Guide and its Michelin Bib Gourmand and James Beard Foundation Award as finalist for “Best Bakery”. He takes pride in evolving Griot House and Triangular Traded Spices, integrating new techniques while honoring the culinary traditions of the African Diaspora.
Darren Fallon is Director of Beverage at The Restoration Hotel Collection. Originally starting out as a server in 2015, he quickly transitioned into bartending where his passion and expertise for mixing spirits and developing unexpected flavor profiles earned him the title of Director of Beverage for The Restoration’s two hotels in Charleston and Asheville where he oversees the cocktail program for four different restaurant concepts. A life long learner at his craft, Darren has won the Iron Bartender and Battle of the Decades competitions in Charleston, and attended Bourbon Camp and Tiki By the Sea in New Jersey.
Dean Neff – a James Beard Foundation semifinalist for “Best Chef Southeast” – opened Seabird, his first solo venture with wife Lydia Clopton, in 2021. Seabird – the seafood restaurant and oyster bar – is devoted to North Carolina’s coast, and housed in a historic landmark building in downtown Wilmington. “We’re passionate about the foodways that make Wilmington so distinctive,” said Neff. Originally from Savannah, Georgia, Neff’s obsession with the sea began with family weekends spent fishing for the evenings’ supper. After working with celebrated chefs Hugh Acheson and John Fleer, Neff was drawn back to the seaside community, and resolved to support sustainable seafood and fishing from small-scale fishermen and women. Prior to opening Seabird, Neff was the chef/owner of Pinpoint in Wilmington, recognized by Southern Living as a “Best New Restaurant in the South.” Now at Seabird, Neff offers “Seabirdie” oysters farmed exclusively for Seabird, and changes the menu daily based on back door deliveries from coastal foragers. Seabird’s menu celebrates the season with Neff’s adept coastal cooking. Within months of opening, Eater named it “Essential” and “Beach Restaurant of the Year,” and John T. Edge gave it a “Seafood Salute” in Garden & Gun. Fans from Reader’s Digest and Hemispheres to The Local Palate have praised it as one of THE reasons to visit Wilmington today. While he and his team honor the seasons and the seaside food culture so unique to Wilmington on the menu, Neff is also an outspoken champion of the NC Oyster Trail and Cape Fear River Watch.
Born & raised in Norlina, NC. I am the pastry chef at Leah & Louise in Charlotte, NC. My main focus is reinventing the southern dessert table with a focus on Carolinian ingredients and tradition.
At both Rhubarb and sister café-bakery-pantry The Rhu, Fleer brings the relaxed atmosphere of his previous pastoral posts to downtown Asheville. Broadening his approach with a freestyle Appalachian-American cuisine well-suited for its location at the city’s vibrant crossroad, he celebrates local foods, producers, and purveyors to serve the very best of what the seasons have to offer.
Vivian is named after Josiah’s grandmother who was a driving force in his culinary upbringing as she hosted grand dinner parties in a Julia Child-like fashion during his childhood in Georgia. He is a self trained chef who has built his career working in the industry since he was 15. After moving to Asheville from the Chicago food scene, Josiah and his wife opened Salt & Smoke, a permanent food truck at Burial Brewing that aimed to get his culinary style out there—albeit on paper plates! After two years of garnering a great reputation he was able to open Vivian in the River Arts District wear he focuses on American food that embraces old work European traditions. His food is clean, with limited elements to a plate, but with each one promising big, robust flavors. The menu changes frequently as we shift seasonally based on what our incredible farmers have to offer!
Chef Katie Button is a TV host on Magnolia Network, and co-founder of Asheville, North Carolina’s beloved Cúrate, a JBF Award-winning collection of restaurants with an online marketplace and wine club, and culinary journeys that create exceptional and experiential access to Spanish culture.
Meherwan Irani is a chef and restaurateur changing the perception of Indian food in America through his growing restaurant and spice empire in the South’s most essential culinary cities. He is a leading voice in the industry’s conversation around diversity and cultural exchange. In 2022, Meherwan’s flagship restaurant in Asheville, Chai Pani, was named Outstanding Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation. Meherwan was named by TIME Magazine as one of the “31 People Changing The South” and is a five-time James Beard Foundation Awards semifinalist for Best Chef: Southeast.
As Co-Founder, Chef and CEO of Chai Pani Restaurant Group, Meherwan leads a growing team across seven locations: Chai Pani Asheville, Chai Pani Decatur, Botiwalla Atlanta, Botiwalla Charlotte, Buxton Hall Barbecue,and spice brand Spicewalla, which has two outposts in Asheville and Atlanta. The third Botiwalla will open in West Asheville in the summer of 2023.
Meherwan grew up in Ahmednagar, in the midwestern state of Maharashtra in India, and he came to the U.S. at age 20. In 2009, he and his wife and business partner, Molly, introduced Asheville, North Carolina, to the colors, flavors and faces of India with Chai Pani.
Sahar Siddiqi is the Chef de Cuisine of Chai Pani Decatur, the Indian street food restaurant known for changing the perception of Indian food in America. She is a first-generation Pakistani-American (or American-Pakistani, as her father insists) who grew up outside New York City, attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, and worked her way through renowned kitchens including State Bird Provisions in San Francisco and Atlas in Atlanta. Sahar came to the Chai Pani Restaurant Group in 2019 and two years later she was promoted to lead the kitchen as CDC. In 2023, the James Beard Foundation recognized Sahar as a semifinalist for Best Chef: Southeast. She currently lives in Atlanta’s EAV neighborhood with her spouse and (soon to be) two daughters.
Shannon Healy owns the craft cocktail bar, Alley Twenty Six, in Durham, NC. In 2022, the restaurant was a finalist for Outstanding Bar Program in the James Beard awards. It was the first North Carolina bar or restaurant nominated in this category since it started in 2012.
Vivian is named after Josiah’s grandmother who was a driving force in his culinary upbringing as she hosted grand dinner parties in a Julia Child-like fashion during his childhood in Georgia. He is a self trained chef who has built his career working in the industry since he was 15. After moving to Asheville from the Chicago food scene, Josiah and his wife opened Salt & Smoke, a permanent food truck at Burial Brewing that aimed to get his culinary style out there—albeit on paper plates! After two years of garnering a great reputation he was able to open Vivian in the River Arts District wear he focuses on American food that embraces old work European traditions. His food is clean, with limited elements to a plate, but with each one promising big, robust flavors. The menu changes frequently as we shift seasonally based on what our incredible farmers have to offer!
Sheri Castle is the host of The Key Ingredient, an Emmy-winning cooking show from PBS NC. She is also an award-winning professional food writer, recipe developer, and cooking teacher known for melding stories, humor, and culinary expertise. She writes regularly for a number of publications and is a Contributing Editor for Southern Living. The Southern Foodways Alliance named her one of 20 Living Legends of Southern Food, calling her The Storyteller.
Sheri grew up in her beloved Blue Ridge Mountains and now lives in Pittsboro, NC. She’s fueled by farmers markets, great stories, cool weather, and the occasional shot of bourbon or buttermilk. Keep tabs on her through shericastle.com.
Tom Leiner, originally from NYC, has been in the Wine Business for over 30 years, in retail sales, importing, and Fine Wine Distribution. He has travelled to France, Spain, Italy, as well as throughout California and Oregon. His favorite grape is Pinot Noir. He lives in West Asheville, NC.
The first legal distillery in the state of Mississippi, Cathead was founded in 2010 by friends and blues fans, Austin Evans and Richard Patrick. Located in the heart of downtown Jackson, the distillery currently produces seven award-winning, small batch spirits—Cathead Original Vodka, Cathead Honeysuckle Vodka, Cathead Bitter Orange Vodka, Bristow Gin, Hoodoo Chicory Liquor, and Old Soul Bourbon Whiskey—as well as a line of canned cocktails, Cathead Sparkling. Cathead Distillery was named a 2020 James Beard semi-finalist for Outstanding Spirits Producer and is celebrated not only for its authentic products, but a strong commitment to their community.
Coffee you can trust from seed to cup.
We curate and roast coffees of exceptional quality with unmatched attention to social and environmental responsibility.
As the first U.S. female gin distiller inducted into the Gin Guild, Melissa Katrincic’s 20+ years as a marketing executive informs her role as President & CEO of Conniption Gin, a growing national U.S. brand. A Bryn Mawr physics graduate, she is a champion of women’s STEM education.
Eda Rhyne is a small batch distillery that showcases the abundant flora of the Southern Appalachians, and specializing in Amaros. We make award winning spirits using foraged ingredients from the forests of Western North Carolina and whiskey from heirloom NC grown grains.
We pride ourselves on truth, integrity, and pure American spring water. Rising naturally from a spring in the Ouachitas, The Mountain Valley spring water filters through granite-based aquifers collecting all the pure, healthy, goodness from the land. Our water is sodium-free with a naturally detoxifying pH and rich blend of calcium, magnesium and potassium.
PURE SOURCE SINCE 1871
Mountain Valley is the same multiple award-winning clean, pure, premium American spring water it’s always been. Bottled right at the source, in The Ouachita Mountains, U.S.A since 1871
From a humble fruit comes a Noble Cider. We started with a simple mission and very little cash! With great apples from Lewis Creek Farm we were able to become Asheville’s first hard cider company. Now we make a variety of things…mead, spritzers, wine, and cider of course!
Our small-batch American Single Malt Whiskey and Genever Inspired Gin capture the unique flavors of the region and celebrate Appalachian farmers, producers, and artisans. Crafted from locally grown and malted barley, Oak & Grist spirits reward the curious and excite the connoisseur.
With over 200 brands and sales in more than 180 countries, we offer something for every taste and celebration.
Our portfolio spans the spectrum of tastes and occasions, moving at pace with the latest trends. From much-loved, established brands to the latest innovations, we provide products, tastes and experiences for people to enjoy as part of celebrations big or small.
We are dedicated to one thing at Diamond Brand: practicing, preserving, and elevating the art of tent making. Since relocating to Asheville in 1942, we’ve been manufacturing and hiring locally, because we believe in reviving the craft of sewing. See what our customers have to say about our gear.
Got to Be NC is an initiative on behalf of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services to promote North Carolina agricultural products and goods. Our mission is to promote and expand markets for North Carolina agricultural products both domestically and internationally in support of our state’s $95+ billion plus food, fiber and forestry industries.
In 2005, the Goodness Grows in NC program was rebranded as Got to Be NC. From then to now, our work with North Carolina growers and agricultural organizations continues to raise the awareness and availability of North Carolina products to consumers both locally and around the world.
