Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024 - 79

Because of the life he has led, he says he doesn't
have any " granny's knee " stories about learning how
to cook Southern. But his Western North Carolina
friends say he is as Southern as they are now.
" I've finally embraced my Southernness, " he adds,
pointing to the smoked bologna sandwich with pimiento
cheese, tomatoes and lettuce from the " Meaty
Handhelds " section of his very broad menu. The sandwich
is enclosed not in brioche bread or croissants.
Goff's bread of choice is Texas toast.
" There are five ingredients that, to me, represent
North Carolina or Appalachia, and they are pork, collards,
sweet potatoes, peanuts and sorghum, " he proclaims.
Goff
adds butter to sorghum from
Muddy Pond in Tennessee to make
a topping for the Tastee Diner's fried
chicken and pancake. It's typical of
how he modifies classic dishes using
regional ingredients. The chicken is
a boneless thigh atop a pancake that
more than covers a dinner plate and is
about an inch thick.
" With the more traditional chicken
He was fined $2,000 for sleeping under a
bridge in San Diego when the authorities knew
he had little more than a few coins to his name.
Knowing that restaurant employees across the city
don't get off work until midnight or after, Goff stays
open until three o'clock in the morning to accommodate
them.
This is a restaurant with a " dive vibe, " overseen
LEFT TO RIGHT: Steve
Goff says the Tastee Diner
allows him to embrace his
Southernness.
Goff says a pancake is a
perfect foundation for
fried chicken.
and waffles, the waffle is too hard and
doesn't absorb enough stuff, " Goff
says. " I want my chicken grease to be
absorbed in there, and the pancake is
a great vehicle for that since it's texturally pleasing with
your crunch and your soft. "
A favorite among the Tastee Diner staff is the ShiGoff
takes great pride
in making his own hot
sauce, and every batch is
different.
by a photograph of famed French culinary artist Auguste
Escoffier on the dining room wall and perfumed
by smoked chicken wings. But more
importantly, it's a restaurant with a
deep social conscience and a mission
to improve the world around it, guided
by a punk rock fan and ex-addict,
who tells his story openly, in the hope
that it can be an inspiration for other
people.
Fred and Jill Sauceman study and celebrate
the foodways of Appalachia and the
South from their home base in Johnson City,
Tennessee.
pley Farms Beef Chopped Cheese, a sprawling sandwich
made with local beef and dressed with American
cheese, mornay sauce and onions.
The sweet tea is local, too, from the Asheville Tea
Company, and the restaurant's coffee comes from just
up the street at Cooperative Coffee Roasters.
There are hot-sauce bottles on every table. They are
unlabeled because the sauces do not come from a commercial
producer. They are made at the restaurant,
and, as our server told us, no two are the same, since
the additions to the pepper mash could be watermelons,
cucumbers or any fruit left over from a catering
event that might create a sweet and heat balance.
Outside, accessible from the sidewalk, is a reminder
of Goff's former life on the streets. The " give box " is a
wooden structure with shelves.
" At the end of the night, any food left over is placed
in it, " Goff says. " Sometimes I'll make a can run. People
drop off cans. It's a neighborhood thing. They'll put
blankets in there when it's cold-anything that can be
used by people on the streets. We have a high homeless
population right here on Haywood Road. "
JULY/AUGUST 2024 79
Blue Ridge Country July/August 2024

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