Blue Ridge Country March/April 2021 - 24

Places: EXCELLENCE THROUGH ADVERSITY
FAR LEFT: Chicken and
waffles are served with
pimento cheese grits, at Rocky's
Hot Chicken, Asheville.
LEFT: The Bean Barn is an
East Tennessee institution, as
is told in this documentary
film.
BELOW: Spartanburg's
Beacon Drive-In has served
" a-plenty " since 1946.

locally sourced, including country ham
and trout. Bowls of soup beans are topped
with the garden-clearing relish called
chow-chow, purchased from the market
just down the hill.

Rocky's Hot Chicken, Asheville,
North Carolina. Former Whole Foods
and Earth Fare executive Rich Cundiff
now runs three Rocky's Hot Chicken establishments: in Asheville and in Arden,
North Carolina, and in Greenville, South
Carolina. While fully acknowledging the
hot chicken tradition begun by Prince's in

Nashville in the 1940s, Cundiff has created a version that rivals any we have found
in Music City. He patiently explains the
gradations of heat and coaches diners to
work their way up the scale gradually and
carefully. We often order a three-tender
plate, with three different levels of heat,
and a syrupy waffle on the side. Other
side dishes like sweet potato casserole
hearken back to Cundiff's grandmother's
Thanksgiving table.

The Stoney Knob Café, Weaverville,
North Carolina. Quite simply, this is one
of the best restaurants in the region, and
the food is even better once you learn its
story. Gus Dermas left his native Greece
for New York City in 1947 before eventually opening a restaurant in Greensboro,
North Carolina. At a time in Greensboro
when African American college students
were being turned away from the local
Woolworth's lunch counter purely because of their race, Dermas welcomed
them to his diner. " We're all human beings, and everyone deserves a good meal, "
he told his customers. Dermas moved to
Weaverville in the far western part of the
state and opened the Stoney Knob Café
in the 1960s, originally as a meat-andthree, serving Southern favorites like fried
chicken and liver and onions. When his
sons John and Yotty bought the place in
1992, they began adding spanakopita and
lamb shanks, dishes that reflected their

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Greek heritage. Today, the fare is international-as the brothers put it, " Cuisine
from Near and Far. "

The Beacon Drive-In, Spartanburg,
South Carolina. We think very highly
of places that create halls of fame and
memorial walls to show appreciation
for their employees. Employee longevity
at The Beacon is among the best in the
business. Since 1946, its most popular
item has been the chili cheeseburger. The
Beacon claims to serve more sweet tea
than anywhere else in the country-over
1,200 gallons a week, sweetened with
about 3,000 pounds of sugar. The Beacon
has its own lingo, starting with the term
" A-Plenty, " meaning a sandwich platter
topped with both French fries and handbreaded Vidalia onion rings.

Pomegranate on Main, Greenville,
South Carolina. The kebabs, stews and
rice dishes of Persia have fascinated us for
years. In a once-dangerous and run-down
section of Greenville, Hashem Bassam
serves this ancient cuisine, carrying out
the restaurant's theme from pomegranate martinis to pomegranate-marinated
beef kebabs cooked over an open fire to
pomegranate chocolate chip ice cream for
dessert.

Wade's, Spartanburg, South Carolina. Wade and Betty Lindsey started serving food to millworkers and their families
in 1947, and the restaurant is still thriv-

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Blue Ridge Country March/April 2021

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country March/April 2021