When Asheville appears on national television this May, it won't be the first time the world has taken notice of what's happening in our mountain city. And every time, there's more to the story than any headline can hold.
In Season 23, Episode 12 of Top Chef — "Appalachian Celebration," airing on Bravo Monday, May 25 at 9 PM EDT — the remaining contestants travel to Asheville for a community-focused challenge: prepare a feast for 200 diners using local Appalachian ingredients. They'll shop with $300 budgets, prep at Union Exchange, and serve their dishes in the woods, with just 90 minutes to feed 200 people a meal rooted in this place.
Three of our own are at the center of it all. Ashleigh Shanti, Top Chef alum, James Beard Award winner, and owner of Good Hot Fish, serves as the local guide, the one introducing the contestants to Asheville's food scene and what makes it worth the journey. William Dissen of The Market Place and Meherwan Irani of Chai Pani join the judging panel. The episode brings Foodtopia into living rooms across the country and, inevitably, sparks a question in the minds of curious viewers: What exactly is going on up there in those mountains?
The answer is harder to contain than a highlight reel. And that's the whole point.
Accolades are a kind of shorthand — a nod toward something real that can't fully be captured in a headline. The chefs representing Asheville on a national stage didn't build their kitchens in a vacuum. They built them inside a food community that hums with the energy of farmers, foragers, brewers, line cooks, and family-run spots that could fill a season of episodes on their own.
"Today, Asheville stands among the best food cities in the country not because of scale or luxury," Dissen reflects, "but because it built a collaborative culinary culture where independent restaurants, local producers, and sustainability-minded chefs genuinely shape the economy and the character of the city itself."
He's describing something you can feel the moment you sit down anywhere in this city, from a white-tablecloth dining room to a packed strip mall booth. Meherwan Irani puts it plainly: "Thriving restaurants that fly under the radar are the real litmus test of a city's culinary scene. It's the quality of the smaller under-the-radar spots that truly speaks to a city's culinary depth."
So we asked the chefs: Where do you go when the cameras aren't rolling?
William Dissen
Jersey South Bagel Co. doesn't need an introduction in certain circles — but it deserves one everywhere else. "They do it right," Dissen says. "Hand-made bagels, stretched in-house, boiled in malted water, and baked to a golden perfection. Their bagels have all of the right crisp and chew at the same time."
Regina's West Side found its way onto Dissen's brunch rotation, but he wants you to know that's only half the story. "Don't sleep on their dinner. Chef Kat Fitzgerald is having a lot of fun with dinner food. Her pepperoncini dip, half chicken, and smoked salmon rangoons are spectacular. The independent vibe is strong here."
Flour is where Dissen goes when the biscuit craving hits. "Their biscuit sandwiches are among my favorites," he says. "The mortadella focaccia sandwich has all of the right balance and is worth the stroll down Wall Street."
Meherwan Irani
Irani gravitates toward the kinds of places that don't advertise — they just fill up.
Wild Ginger Noodle is at the top of his list, full stop. "A trip there makes me feel like I'm back in the Bay Area — it's in a strip mall off a busy road, family-run, always packed, and consistently delicious. It's not just good Vietnamese for Asheville, it's great Vietnamese cuisine period. Chef Aileen is absolutely brilliant."
For all-day breakfast with Latin soul, he heads to Abeja's House Cafe. "All-day breakfast is one of life's great pleasures, and Abeja's pulls it off with a scrumptious Latin flair." He adds, with characteristic wit: "Also, they have the tiniest hood I've ever seen in a kitchen."
A newer addition to his regular rotation is Forager on Wall Street, where the pastrami sandwich stopped him in his tracks. "They make their own rye bread for God's sake! Roman's has always been my go-to, and with Forager in the mix, Asheville is finally on its way to a world-class sandwich scene."
Ashleigh Shanti
Shanti has been one of the most consistent voices shaping Asheville's culinary identity — and one of its most honest. "The restaurants here are hidden gems," she told Eater in 2023. "You have to dig around to find them."
For Shanti, the real Asheville reveals itself away from downtown. She heads to Leo's House of Thirst, an eclectic wine bar that embodies the city's anything-goes spirit, and Golden Pineapple rounds out her short list of places she returns to again and again. She's also pointed to Neng Jr.'s and chef Silver Iocovozzi as a standout voice in the city's scene — their Filipinx American menu, she says, is inspiring.
Her read on the broader scene cuts to the heart of what this piece is about. "Media holds on to three to five restaurants and forgets to look at anything else," she told Eater. "There are so many chefs and owners that have a commitment to making this city great."
What the Spotlight Reveals
The chefs who welcomed Top Chef to Asheville are proud of their city — and they're the first to point away from themselves.
What the cameras will capture is a fraction of the story. What it points toward is a food culture with roots that run deeper than any single kitchen, any single accolade, any single episode. It's built on the kind of trust between chefs, farmers, foragers, and guests that takes a decade to earn. \
That's the Asheville paradox at work: a mountain city that never stopped growing, deeply-rooted and ever-evolving, grounded in tradition and restless with new ideas. Where a James Beard–recognized chef and a family-run noodle shop in a strip mall are both, in their own way, essential.
The Top Chef Asheville episode airs on Bravo Monday, May 25 at 9 PM EDT.