Highlands may be small, but its dining scene is anything but— here top-tier chefs serve up bold flavors and culinary surprises around every corner. And as every food lover, whether visiting or resident knows, the chefs of Highlands work magic with Southern ingredients, elevating classic Southern recipes with their own flair. It’s their creative spirit that has turned this small town into a culinary mecca. And it’s why we thought it would be fun to ask these chefs to share their favorite Southern foods.
Boiled peanuts are one of the most Southern things you can eat – salty tender boiled peanuts are a classic snack throughout the South. “Served Cajun-flavored, of course,” says Adam Bresnahan, morning chef at the Ruffed Grouse Tavern, who likes his peanuts best when boosted with the bold flavors of New Orleans.
What’s more Southern than boiled peanuts? Maybe collard greens? They’re what thrills Root & Vine chef, Kalen Fortuna. “Nothing in Southern food speaks to me as loudly as collard greens,” Kalen says. Like his grandfather, he grows them at home, enjoying them around a table with loved ones. “The pot liquor alone can cure just about any ailment.”
Chef Aaron Kulzer at the newly opened Highlands Supper Club, loves biscuits and gravy so much it’s what he eats on his way to work every day. For the country breakfast on the brunch menu, his buttery biscuit with its gentle crust serves as a vehicle for even more deliciousness – think venison gravy.
Nothing says summer like tomato pie. At Dusty Rhodes Superette, co-owner Kitty Schultz loves tomato pie almost as much as her customers who line up for the store’s house made vibrant rendition - made with vine ripened tomatoes and topped with extra sharp cheddar cheese.
Highlands Smokehouse features owner Bryan Lewis’s, favorite, Brunswick Stew – a combination of chicken, pork, tomatoes, lima beans, in a deep and rich potful of Carolina comfort.
Crisp and tangy, fried green tomatoes are a revered Southern comfort food. It’s Ryan Adoulette’s, owner of 4118 Kitchen and Bar, most beloved of all Southern foods, and the main component of the restaurant’s epic BLT - a towering stacker leveled up with bacon, lettuce, and garlic aioli on sourdough bread.
Southern ingredients shine through on Chef Kevin Turner’s menu at Lakeside Restaurant, He’s particularly enamored with pork belly. In one of his all-time much-loved creations, seared slow smoked pork belly, scallops, and heirloom tomato chutney come together in one divine dish.
At Oak Steakhouse at the Skyline Lodge, chef Matt Weinstein is quick to sing the praises of his most desired Southern meal – “fried chicken with gooey mac’ cheese is my love language,” he says. He offers up a variation of the iconic dish on the restaurant’s brunch menu – chicken fried steak, “a close second to my first love.”
At his namesake restaurant DonLeon gives one of the South’s most iconic dishes, and his all-time favorite, Shrimp Gumbo his own spin. Giving the gumbo its rich flavor and maximum depth, means preparing it with a bacon roux, and plenty of chicken and topping it off with fresh shrimp sautéed to order.
Every summer Chef Massimiliano Prioietti of Paolettis Restaurant looks forward to the boxes of just picked, juicy fragrant peaches that arrive at his kitchen door. When they do, he marinates them with mint and a balsamic glaze and combines them with ahi tuna and arugula for a summertime dish that is “very simple and refreshing.”
The pleasures of a Lowcountry boil are not lost on Rachel Lewicki, owner of The Secret Garden. It’s a one-pot mix, a “boil” of the Lowcountry’s peak summer offerings – a marriage in comfort food heaven of fresh shrimp, spicy andouille sausage, tender corn and tiny potatoes.