When Birchwood Hall Southern Kitchen opened in April of 2017 in downtown Waynesville, Executive Chef Nicolas Peek already had a clear vision for his farm-to-table restaurant: To bring a collaboration between the chef and the farmer and create a menu that celebrated the best of Appalachian and Southern cuisine, utilizing the highest quality possible local and regional ingredients. Now, in 2018, having recently passed their first major milestone of being open for a full first year, Birchwood Hall—the name is an homage to a historic Civil War-era home that had also been on Waynesville’s Main Street—is steadily amassing a regional reputation for both its true (as in “non-stereotypical”) Southern authenticity and its consistent support for local farmers and food suppliers
On that first point, explains Peek, “The greatest hurdle that we have overcome is the thought of Southern cuisine in our area. We knew that we would be battling the preconceived pretentiousness of our chef-driven concept, but we faced more adversity in the way that the population was under the impression that Southern foods are those greasy, diner, deep fried dishes that we all enjoy from time to time. The idea of ‘authentic’ Southern food has become muddled.”
