12 Small Towns With Outsized Culinary Reputations Among Food Travelers

4. Asheville, North Carolina: Mountain Cuisine and Craft Beer Capital

Surrounded by the Blue Ridge Mountains, Asheville has evolved from a modest mountain town of 95,000 into one of the South's most dynamic food destinations, earning recognition as a craft beer capital while simultaneously developing a distinctive Appalachian cuisine that celebrates both traditional mountain foodways and contemporary culinary innovation. The city's culinary renaissance began in earnest during the 1990s when a new generation of chefs arrived, drawn by the area's natural beauty and abundance of local ingredients, from heritage apples and wild ramps to grass-fed beef and artisanal cheeses produced by small-scale farmers throughout the surrounding mountains. Asheville's food scene is perhaps best known for its incredible concentration of craft breweries—more per capita than any other U.S. city—with establishments like Highland Brewing Company and Wicked Weed Brewing creating complex, locally-inspired beers that pair perfectly with the region's hearty, flavor-forward cuisine. The town's restaurants, including James Beard Award winners like Sean Brock's work in the region and Katie Button's Cúrate, have gained national attention for their commitment to preserving and elevating traditional Appalachian cooking techniques while incorporating global influences and modern presentations that appeal to sophisticated palates. What makes Asheville's culinary scene particularly compelling is its deep connection to the surrounding landscape, with chefs foraging for wild mushrooms, sourcing heritage grains from local mills, and working closely with mountain farmers to preserve heirloom varieties of vegetables and fruits that have been grown in the region for generations, creating a truly place-based cuisine that reflects the unique character of the Southern Appalachians.