Ask a Highlands Chef What They Crave and You Get Boiled Peanuts, Collards and Tomato Pie

By Jon Tharp, Broker  ·  September 22, 2026

The morning chef at the Ruffed Grouse Tavern in Highlands wants his boiled peanuts Cajun-flavored. The chef at the newly opened Highlands Supper Club eats biscuits and gravy on the way to work every day. Ask the people running the kitchens in this small town what Southern food they love most, and the answers say a lot about why the Chamber calls it a culinary mecca.

The Highlands Chamber put that question to eleven local chefs and owners, and the responses read like a menu you would want to work through over a long weekend. Several of them have reworked those dishes in their own way for their restaurant menus.

Which Southern dishes do Highlands chefs love most?

Adam Bresnahan, morning chef at the Ruffed Grouse Tavern, likes his boiled peanuts with the flavors of New Orleans. At Root & Vine, chef Kalen Fortuna says nothing in Southern food speaks to him as loudly as collard greens. Like his grandfather, he grows them at home and eats them around a table with loved ones. "The pot liquor alone can cure just about any ailment," he says.

Aaron Kulzer at the Highlands Supper Club puts a buttery biscuit on the brunch menu's country breakfast and tops it with venison gravy. At Dusty Rhodes Superette, co-owner Kitty Schultz's pick is tomato pie. The store's house-made version, with vine-ripened tomatoes and extra sharp cheddar, has customers lining up.

What else made the list?

Bryan Lewis at Highlands Smokehouse goes for Brunswick stew, a deep potful of chicken, pork, tomatoes and lima beans. Ryan Adoulette at 4118 Kitchen and Bar names fried green tomatoes as his favorite Southern food. They anchor the restaurant's BLT, stacked with bacon, lettuce and garlic aioli on sourdough.

Chef Kevin Turner at Lakeside Restaurant is partial to pork belly. One of his favorite creations pairs seared slow-smoked pork belly with scallops and heirloom tomato chutney. At Oak Steakhouse at the Skyline Lodge, chef Matt Weinstein says fried chicken with gooey mac and cheese is his love language. His brunch menu offers chicken fried steak, which he calls a close second.

DonLeon, at his namesake restaurant, builds his shrimp gumbo on a bacon roux with plenty of chicken and finishes it with fresh shrimp sautéed to order. At Paolettis Restaurant, chef Massimiliano Prioietti looks forward every summer to boxes of just-picked peaches arriving at the kitchen door. He marinates them with mint and a balsamic glaze and combines them with ahi tuna and arugula. Rachel Lewicki, owner of The Secret Garden, appreciates the Lowcountry boil: fresh shrimp, spicy andouille sausage, tender corn and tiny potatoes in one pot.

What does this say about eating in Highlands?

The Chamber says Highlands may be small, but its dining scene is anything but, and it credits the chefs' creative spirit with turning the town into a culinary mecca. The list above makes a good case for the label.

You can read the full roundup from the Highlands Chamber at https://www.highlandschamber.org/articles/post/southern-foods-local-chefs-love/.

If a weekend of eating your way through Highlands has you wondering what it would be like to live within reach of these kitchens, Jon Tharp is glad to talk about the Highlands market whenever you are ready.

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What restaurants are in Highlands?

Restaurants featured by the Highlands Chamber include the Ruffed Grouse Tavern, Root & Vine, Highlands Supper Club, Dusty Rhodes Superette, Highlands Smokehouse, 4118 Kitchen and Bar, Lakeside Restaurant, Oak Steakhouse at the Skyline Lodge, DonLeon, Paolettis Restaurant and The Secret Garden.

What Southern foods do Highlands chefs love?

Local chefs point to boiled peanuts, collard greens, biscuits and gravy, tomato pie, Brunswick stew, fried green tomatoes, pork belly, fried chicken with mac and cheese, shrimp gumbo, summer peaches and Lowcountry boil.