The inside of Good Hot Fish in Asheville, North Carolina, is small, in contrast to the powerful smell of flavors that hit you from the outside as you walk up to Chef Ashleigh Shanti’s restaurant. Good Hot Fish is a counter-service fish fry that offers more than just perfectly seasoned, golden-fried fish. Shanti is also serving nostalgia from two different fronts.
As you walk up to the counter and look down, there’s a yellow counter filled with Jet Magazine cover copies. It reminds those who know of those moments spent at grandma’s with copies of the issues piled up in the corner. Then, between the good hot fish sandwich, sweet potato cabbage pancake, and the baked macaroni and cheese, it feels like you’re at a Friday fish fry or Sunday dinner at another family’s home.
As one Google reviewer put it: “This is a no frills, get in, smash great food in your face and leave content kind of place.”
On any given day that it’s open (Wednesday – Sunday), there’s likely a line for Chef Shanti’s restaurant, where she showcases Black Appalachian (or Affrilachian) cuisine.
Affrilachian is a term that describes the unique experiences of Black people who live in Appalachia. Chef Shanti is also one of the few Black chefs in the city who serve Affrilachian cuisine, which blends foraging with West African and Southern soul food influences. She is also leading Asheville’s culinary renaissance, spotlighting Black food culture and traditions.
Changing The Narrative In Asheville, North Carolina
Asheville has long been regarded as a top city for art, outdoor adventure, iconic scenery, and, of course, its food scene. Situated in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Asheville is a self-proclaimed “foodtopia” where chefs welcome the challenge of proving the town is a culinary hub.
This region of the country prides itself on self-sufficiency and resiliency. In cooking, that usually shows up as using what Mother Nature gave you and emphasizing heritage cooking practices such as curing, foraging, and pickling to provide farm-to-table delights.
But Asheville’s food culture follows national trends — heavily dominated by white ownership and leadership. According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Black or African Americans made up 12.5% of the 470,681 chefs and head cooks in the U.S. in 2023. While there isn’t any statistical data on the exact percentage of Black chefs in Asheville, Black residents in Asheville make up 10.4% to 12% of the total population.
As the Asheville Black Cultural Heritage Trail points out, Asheville was once home to a thriving scene of Black-owned restaurants, but urban-renewal projects intentionally dismantled Black-owned business districts and forced many of them to close.
Margaret Harrison, whom the community called Sista, was impacted by urban renewal. She owned a restaurant, The New Ritz Cafe, for over 30 years before rising rents forced the closure of her original location in 2001.
As Travel Noire previously reported, the East Riverside Urban Renewal Project destroyed more than 1,000 Black-owned homes and businesses on Asheville’s Southside alone. The project forced the relocation of half the city’s Black population and severed generational wealth. It was one of the largest displacements of Black residents in the Southeastern United States.
Sista’s Legacy Continues
More than 20 years later, Sista’s daughter and granddaughter, Rhonda and Khiyara Wynn, are carrying out her legacy that was ripped away. The mother-daughter duo recently opened the takeout restaurant Sistas on Montford to honor their matriarch.
“This is a very big deal for us,” Khiyara told Travel Noire. “The area where my grandmother’s restaurant was located and where we’ve opened was all predominantly Black. Now, not so much. It’s also a huge deal because there aren’t many spaces that cater to authentic Black food in Asheville.”
The Wynn family’s return isn’t an isolated story. Across Asheville, a new generation of Black chefs and restaurateurs is emerging, staking their claim and cooking with intention. Some of them never left.
Grandmother’s Kitchen Meets Rooftop Restaurant At Capella On 9
At the rooftop restaurant and bar, Capella on 9 at the AC Hotel in downtown Asheville, it can be hard to get a seat for dining, especially on the weekend. It’s a popular restaurant known for its braised short rib and incredible views. There’s another rarity here: Rakim Gaines is one of the few chefs in the city who is helming the kitchen as executive chef.
Capella on 9 is labeled as a Spanish tapas restaurant, but Chef Gaines adds his personal touches, incorporating what he learned from growing up cooking and eating soul food.
“I always recommend the short rib here. We braise it for about 3.5 hours in Spanish red wine, but I also threw some pepperoncinis in there, so it’s like a Mississippi pot roast because that’s what I grew up on.”
Gaines is an Asheville native. He has “Soul Food” tattooed on his fingers, representing his roots. He remembers holding a spatula as early as five, and growing up cooking with his grandmother and mother. His childhood was filled with family get-togethers, cookouts, and Sunday dinners after church with what he recalls as “good food.” Chef Gaines brings these elements and memories, rooted in Black culinary traditions from his early years, to the guest experience at Capella on 9.
“I grew up on soul food. I love soul food and being able to share elements of that with guests,” he says.
Food As Cultural Reclamation
For Chef Shanti, the Wynn family, and Chef Gaines, their work is personal before it is professional. They’re cooking from memory — grandmothers’ kitchens, Friday fish fries, Sunday dinners after church — and transforming their memories into a seat at the table for visitors.
“Being one of the only Black male executive chefs in town is super big,” Gaines tells Travel Noire. “I want to bring soul food to this town.”
That mission extends beyond any single plate or restaurant. Black chefs and restaurateurs in Asheville are quietly doing what urban renewal took away.
“The small uptick that I’ve seen in my eight years in Asheville is just, to me, a necessary progression when you look at the amount of Black-owned restaurants Asheville possessed historically,” said Chef Shanti. “After experiencing erasure, there typically becomes a deep desire to leave a legacy, and the resurgence of Black-owned businesses has a lot to do with that.”
Asheville has always had a food story. Black chefs are finally getting to tell their own version of it, and it tastes like coming home.
