North Carolina's bartender, chef and distillery of the year are all in Asheville

ASHEVILLE - An Asheville chef, distillery and bartender won big at the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association’s Chef Showdown Sept. 30, taking home three of the four available awards.

Asheville’s Chemist Spirits won both Distillery of the Year and Mixologist of the Year at the Durham event. Aux Bar's Steven Goff completed the trifecta with his Chef of the Year win. 

"The chefs created three different rounds of a dish that should represent the state of North Carolina with as many local ingredients as possible, and distill what you feel about hospitality and cooking into the dish," Goff explained. 

Goff, with partners Mike and Darlene Moore, opened Aux Bar in downtown Asheville in 2018. The menu showcases Goff's style: a preference for local and pickled things and a deft hand with uncommon parts, from duck gizzards to beef hearts. 

True to the chef's form, Goff's dish wasn't exactly conventional: beef cheeks with smoked veal brain aioli with farro tabbouleh. Also on brand for the chef was the fact that everything in his winning dish — from the meat to the grains to the eggs in the aioli — was locally sourced.

Ignoring advice, Goff recreated the same dish for all three rounds. "I felt that dish really embodied what the competition is about," he explained. 

Hidden in that dish was a story about a local farm helping people in a big way. The produce in the tabbouleh came from Recovery Ventures Corporation, a Black Mountain-based residential treatment program for alcohol and drug dependence.

RVC, as it's known, offers a Horticulture Therapy Program, where residents grow produce under the supervision of a certified Horticultural Therapist, with hydroponic lettuce, hothouse produce and field crops sold to support the program. 

Goff's dish will be available at Aux Bar, 68 N. Lexington Ave., beginning Oct. 23.

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Chemist brings home two awards

Chemist's double win was made even more impressive in that it's only in its second year. It's also one of more than 80 distilleries in the state. 

Founder Debbie Word explained the secret to the distillery's success in a press release. 

“We use as many local, Appalachian-grown botanicals as we can, and distill everything in a traditional, Old World style, on copper pot stills over direct-fire heat and using vapor infusion."

Chemist makes a citrus-forward American gin, a barrel-rested gin, Apple Eau de Vie and a series of Bierbrand collaborations with local craft breweries.

This fall, the distillery plans to release a Navy Strength Gin rested on orange peels and wild ginger. Single-malt whiskeys, made from North Carolina-grown grains, are also in the works.

Jonny Burritt, brand ambassador for Chemist spirits, won North Carolina Mixologist of the Year with his Belle Époque dessert cocktail. 

“I started with the soft, floral notes of Chemist American Gin, and then riffed off of the Twentieth Century Cocktail to create a nice, bright, citrusy and refreshing dessert drink,” said Burritt, also the founding General Manager of Antidote, Chemist Distillery’s adjoining cocktail lounge. Find it at 151 Coxe Ave.

Make the Belle Époque

Add ingredients to a shaker and fill with ice. Shake well for 10 seconds, strain into a chilled coupe glass, and spritz with the bitters.