Blue Ridge Parkway Foodie Tour, Part 3

The northern miles of the North Carolina section of the Blue Ridge Parkway pass through 11 counties, where the food offerings are steeped in traditions as rich and varied as the mountains themselves. Flavors, cooking methods and delicious meals often reach back to decades long past. What they have in common – from Eggplant Napoleon to 14 percent butterfat ice cream – is a dedication to excellence.

Elkin, N.C.: It’s Not Thursday, it’s Split, Bone-in Chicken Breast Day at Harry’s Place

“It’s fried chicken and deviled eggs and iced tea during the day. At night it’s crab legs and ribeye steaks and beer.”

That’s how owner Teresa Smith Ray describes Harry’s Place, a business started by her father in 1954, in a building built by her grandfather in the 1930s.

Harry’s Place is the living room of Elkin, N. C. In a former pool hall, barber shop and cab stand; diners sign their names on a clipboard and wait for tables – in the hallway, in the bar, outside. Conversation is constant.

“It’s like coming home,” Ray says.

The menu hasn’t changed in three decades. At this neighborhood restaurant bordered by Elkin Creek and the railroad, Thursday is rarely called Thursday. It’s chicken day. Split, bone-in breasts are pan-fried and accompanied by three vegetables, from a selection of about a dozen. Clara Darnell, an 18-year veteran of the Harry’s Place kitchen, starts frying at 4 a.m.

Weekday customers are mainly local, in this Surry County community where textiles once were king. On weekends, however, the town’s push for tourism yields a largely out-of-town clientele, many on tours of Yadkin Valley wineries.

“There are about 15 wineries within 15 miles of Harry’s,” Ray tells me.

Despite the changing face of the Yadkin Valley economy, though, Harry’s Place means continuity and comfort.

Harry’s Place, 135 Front Street, Elkin, North Carolina, 336-835-9693

Sparta, N.C.: With the Flour Flying, the Brown’s Pork Chops Can’t be Far From Ready

With 10 children in Walter and Vivian Brown’s family, not everyone could go to church. Someone had to stay home and cook. Usually that job fell to Doug Brown. “There was flour everywhere,” says Brown, as he recalls cooking for his parents and nine brothers and sisters in Sparta, N.C.

Brown started in the restaurant business when he was 16. Now he and his wife Vera run Brown’s Restaurant in downtown Sparta, and Brown is still slinging flour.

His most popular floured creation is pork chops. Brown spreads his hands about four feet wide to show me the size of the pork loins he uses. All the chops are hand-cut, to make sure they’re thick enough and stay juicy enough. The seasoning is light. The frying is quick. The result is profound.

“We had a man here who eventually ate 100 pork chops,” Brown says. “He would let us know how many he was up to, every time he came in.”

In the Christmas-tree-growing county of Alleghany, hearty food is valued. Mashed potatoes, cooked apples and pinto beans are on the Brown’s Restaurant menu every day.

Saturday mornings bring a flurry of North Carolina liver mush orders. And, says Brown, “the kids love pancakes and French toast.”

Members of the Brown family are constantly present at the restaurant: Doug, Vera, their sons Kydric and Fredrick. Air Force veteran David Evans serves as de facto host, busing tables, seating diners and dispensing information about the gorgeous county of Alleghany.

“Twelve hours is a short day for me,” Brown says. “Sometimes it’s 15 or 16. But I love seeing people enjoying their meal.”

Brown’s Restaurant, 115 Jones Street, Sparta, North Carolina, 336-372-3400

Barbecue Soaked With Local Flavor at North Wilkesboro, N.C.’s Brushy Mountain Smokehouse & Creamery

Smoked for 14 ½ hours over hickory wood, the hand-pulled, vinegar-infused pork barbecue at the Brushy Mountain Smokehouse and Creamery in North Wilkesboro, N.C., captured the attention of Chef Bobby Flay and is a favorite of local NASCAR legend Junior Johnson.

Located along the Boone Trail Highway, the barnlike restaurant celebrates the history of its region, from moonshine to NASCAR, from chicken processing to Merlefest, the annual gathering of acoustic musicians held in memory of guitarist Doc Watson’s son. An album cover on the wall pays homage to North Wilkesboro native William Oliver Swofford, best known as Oliver, whose “Good Morning Starshine” was one of the most popular songs of the late 1960s.

In the competitive world of North Carolina barbecue, says Brushy Mountain’s manager Daniel Harrison, “The main thing is to stand apart. Our barbecue is a very moist, wet style, and you don’t even have to add sauce.”

But for those who do, owner Jeff Swofford has created a sauce that merges North Carolina traditions. “It’s a mix between vinegar and a tomato blend,” according to Harrison. “It’s about two-thirds vinegar and one-third sweet.”

In yet another effort to stand apart, Swofford and his staff concocted the Barbecue Cruncher. Pulled pork is rolled into a flour tortilla, deep-fried, and served with a side of sauce. Harrison says it’s a great way to introduce children to barbecue.

As coda to a barbecue meal, there is 14 percent butterfat ice cream, house-made. The Brushy Mountain ice cream repertoire consists of about 70 flavors, served in waffle cones made on the premises. A staff favorite is Brushy Mountain Mud Pie, combining chocolate ice cream, coffee, Oreo cookies and chocolate chips.

Brushy Mountain Smokehouse and Creamery, 201 Wilkesboro Boulevard, North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, 336-667-9464

Mountain Tradition Galore at Shatley Springs in Crumpler, N.C.

“It’s just country cooking,” declares Ella Mae Ham, who has managed the Shatley Springs Inn for 35 years. The bountiful side dishes served in the style of a boarding house largely reflect the traditional cooking of the North Carolina mountains. Mashed potatoes, creamed corn, pinto beans, baked apples, turnip greens, green beans, and boiled cabbage are to be expected.

The surprise? Rutabagas. The root vegetable is more popular in Scandinavia than in the U.S. But Lee McMillan, who has owned Shatley Springs in Crumpler, N.C. since 1958, insists on them every day.

At Shatley, rutabagas are cooked with ham hocks. As are pinto beans. As is cabbage.

“We added rutabagas a couple of years ago, and people love them,” says the aptly named Ham.

Since around 1890, visitors to Martin Shatley’s former farm have drunk and bathed in the spring’s waters, claiming relief from skin diseases, stomach ailments, rheumatism and “nervous disorders.”

An equally compelling draw nowadays is the inn’s family-style food, from fried chicken and country ham to a finale of banana pudding.

Shatley Springs Inn, 407 Shatley Springs Road, Crumpler, North Carolina, 336-982-2236

Eggplant Napoleon at Blowing Rock, N.C.’s Storie Street Grille

Bernie Keele is the only restaurant owner I’ve ever met who has discovered an enzyme. With a Ph.D. in biochemistry from North Carolina State University, he made a career of university teaching and administration. Now, with his wife Joan, he owns The Storie Street Grille in downtown Blowing Rock, N.C., where the menu is dominated by regionally grown and harvested products.

“We research every ingredient on your plate,” says the former professor, as he shares a spoonful of Smoked Gouda Grits.

Keele’s talents even extend to construction. He did all the carpentry work in the restaurant. Accents of wormy and curly maple occur throughout, and the V-grooved floors are made of hard maple.   

For its architecture, its colors and its blend of flavors, the dish that will forever live in my memory from Storie Street is a design marvel as well. Eggplant Napoleon is a stack of lightly fried eggplant rounds, layered with fresh mozzarella, marinated zucchini, tomatoes, a roasted red pepper spread made with goat cheese, tomato aioli and reduced balsamic vinegar. Storie Street’s devotion to regional products even extends to moonshine. NASCAR legend Junior Johnson’s “Midnight Moon” flavors the cream sauce that enrobes the restaurant’s Carbonara Penne Pasta.

Storie Street Grille, 1167 Main Street, Blowing Rock, North Carolina, 828-295-7075

As Local as it Gets at Lenoir, N.C.’s Wine Cellar and Bistro

“We fry nothing. There is no deep-fat fryer. And the majority of our ingredients are local,” says Tina Nordan, owner of The Wine Cellar and Bistro, in downtown Lenoir, N.C.

The restaurant’s connections to Caldwell County run deep. Chef Susan Collins is locally educated, a product of the culinary program at nearby Caldwell Community College. Of one local organic farm that produces heirloom vegetables, Nordan says, “We take whatever they have whenever they have it.”

One of the most acclaimed local offerings is goat cheese, from the Ripshin Goat Dairy near Lenoir. In Happy Valley on the Yadkin River, Liza Plaster and William Early raise American Saanen dairy goats on natural pasture and create handmade, farmstead goat cheeses from April to November. Their farm has been in the family for six generations.

Ripshin goat cheese is celebrated at the bistro in various ways, from appetizer plates to turkey wraps to spinach salads. A recent Valentine’s Day menu featured this 19-word dish: Granny Smith Apples Caramelized in Carriage House Apple Brandy, Served Warm Atop Toast Medallions with Ripshin Dairy Goat Cheese. The brandy is about as local as it gets: distilled right next door.

The building that houses the bistro dates to 1892, when it was known as the State Theater, a venue that hosted Vaudeville performances as well as promotional visits for movies by the likes of Lash LaRue, Gene Autry and Roy Rogers.

The Wine Cellar and Bistro, 128 Main Street, NW, Lenoir, North Carolina, 828-754-2829

Sorrento’s of Banner Elk: As Authentically, Exquisitely Italian as it Gets

A basic rule of dining out: The more a restaurant owner invokes the memory of his grandmother, the better the food. Antonette Accetturo, a native of Sicily, died at the age of 103 in New Jersey in the fall of 2011. But her spirit will forever guide her grandson’s restaurant in Banner Elk, N.C.

Sorrento’s Bistro is solidly and proudly Italian. Owner Angelo Accetturo and his family have created, in ski-resort country, a place as true to Italian tradition as any Manhattan trattoria. In fact, Sorrento’s would not be out of place on a side street in Palermo.

The Tortellini Sorrento is Mrs. Accetturo’s recipe, and it’s now being prepared by the family’s fourth generation. The pasta is served in what the staff calls a “pink sauce,” primarily cream, colored with tomato and seasoned with prosciutto and sautéed onions.

The marinara sauce is a Sicilian heirloom recipe, too. “Start with good tomatoes,” Accetturo implores. “Good tomatoes, basil, a touch of salt and pepper, and first-press olive oil make a light sauce. This is not the kind of sauce you cook all day. Forty-five minutes and it’s done.”

Sorrento’s is located in a corner among Banner Elk’s Village Shops. Just follow the arias of the Italian tenor over the loudspeakers and keep walking as the smell of sizzling garlic intensifies.

Sorrento’s Bistro, At the Village Shops, Banner Elk, North Carolina, 828-898-5214

Morganton, N.C.’s Starlight Fish House: Flavors of the Old Fish Camps

The Starlight Fish House outside Morganton, N.C., is a holdout. In fact, some people around Burke County still refer to it as a fish camp. Its rural setting, its longtime family ownership, and its fried fish, hushpuppy and coleslaw fare reflect the fish camps that flourished in the Tarheel State around the time of World War II.

Fred and Mary Moses opened the Starlight in 1974 and named it as Fred was staring at the heavens on the spot where the place was built.

“Fred’s personality had a lot to do with his being successful,” says his nephew, Randy Beausoleil. “He was always giving back to the community, helping churches, sponsoring ball teams.”

The Starlight still makes use of laminated menus that carry advertising, promoting the local funeral home, alignment and brake services and gospel radio.

The price of a platter of perch, flounder, catfish, oysters, scallops and shrimp is as rooted in the 1970s as the paneled walls.

The Starlight Fish House, 560 Amherst Road, Morganton, North Carolina, 828-437-0033

Famous Louise’s Rock House Restaurant Near Linville Falls, N.C.: Where Strawberry-Rhubarb Rules

“I was pulling rhubarb when I was 12 years old,” says Louise Henson, proprietor of Famous Louise’s Rock House Restaurant, just off the Blue Ridge Parkway near Linville Falls, N.C. “My grandparents, Pink and Madge Johnson, grew it. They would peddle it, take it down east, around Durham and Winston-Salem, and sell it out of a pickup truck.”

A 57-year veteran of the restaurant business, Henson serves strawberry-rhubarb pie and sells strawberry-rhubarb jam at this mountain restaurant built in 1936. “I buy rhubarb locally, and quite a few people give it to me,” she adds.

Three counties converge in the restaurant. The food is cooked in Avery County, picked up by the servers in Burke and consumed in Avery or McDowell. Louise pays taxes in McDowell.

She proudly promotes country cooking. Every other Thursday is dumpling day.

Famous Louise’s Rock House Restaurant

23175 Rockhouse Lane (Linville Falls Highway), Near Linville Falls, North Carolina, 828-765-2702

Spruce Pine, N.C.’s City Drive In: Eight-hour Chili and Foot-long Dogs

The undulating awning at the City Drive In is one of the most recognizable structures in Spruce Pine, N.C. Since 1950, diners have parked their cars under that blue wave, where curb hops continue to serve chili-smothered hamburgers and foot-long hot dogs.

The eight-hour chili recipe is the same as it was on opening day. City Drive In hot dogs are, fittingly, supplied by Carolina Pride.

Saturday mornings mean sausage gravy seasoned with bacon grease, made in the large black iron skillet that owner Mike Long’s mother once used, to feed her seven children.

The City Drive-In, 670 Oak Avenue, Spruce Pine, North Carolina, 828-765-4480

Totally Secret Sauerkraut at Burnsville, N.C.’s Garden Deli

The last stop on this leg of our tour is a cultural crossroads. Edward Yuziuk, son of Ukrainian immigrants, moved to Burnsville, N.C., in 1968 and started the town’s newspaper, the Yancey Journal. After he sold the newspaper, he opened the Garden Deli in 1987 on the town square. Yuziuk died in 1997, but the restaurant continued, under the ownership of his son, Greg, and Greg’s wife, Hiroko. The Yuziuk family’s “totally secret” sauerkraut recipe traveled from Ukraine to Manhattan’s East Village, where Edward grew up, and Edward’s Japanese daughter-in-law now makes it for Garden Deli pastrami Reuben sandwiches.

“Our bread is authentic New York rye, the same bread that is used by the Carnegie Deli,” Greg says.

As an economics student at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, Greg enjoyed the Greek grilled cheese sandwich served by Hector’s on Franklin Street, so he added it to the Garden Deli menu. Melted American cheese is seasoned with oregano. The sandwich is packed with lettuce, tomato, and onions and served on lightly grilled pita bread, with the Greek cucumber sauce, tzatziki.

“The pita is handmade and hand-stretched,” says Greg. “We use Old World supplies.”

Greg says his father “showed me everything” about the food business. That knowledge has been shared with Hiroko, who makes about 80 pounds of chicken salad every week and plates it up in four-ounce servings.

In the hands of the Yuziuk family, food traditions of Ukraine, Japan, Manhattan, and North Carolina converge on the well-laden plates of the Garden Deli.

The Garden Deli, 107 Town Square, Burnsville, North Carolina, 828-682-3946

More Dining Options

We asked chambers of commerce, convention and visitors bureaus and other organizations from the counties featured in the accompanying article to share dining recommendations for their area in 10 categories.

Surry County

Trio Restaurant (Best Dinner For Two; Best Downtown Dining)

247 City Hall Street, Mount Airy

336-719-0131

The Harvest Grill at Shelton Vineyards (Best Scenic View)

286 Cabernet Lane, Dobson

336-366-3590

Olympia Restaurant (Best Family Dining)

602 Linville Road, Mount Airy

336-786-7556

The Snappy Lunch (Best North Carolina/Regional Cuisine)

125 North Main Street, Mount Airy

336-786-4931

Thailand Cafe (Best Ethnic Restaurant)

647 W. Independence Boulevard, Mount Airy

336-786-8480

Barney s Restaurant (Best Breakfast)

206 North Main Street, Mount Airy

336-786-8305

The Downtown Deli at Old North State Winery (Best Business Lunch)

308 N Main Street, Mount Airy

336-786-8600

13 Bones (Best Little Roadhouse)

502 S Andy Griffith Pkwy, Mount Airy

336-786-1313

Goobers (Best Place to Take Visitors)

458 North Andy Griffith Pkwy, Mount Airy

336-786-1845

Alleghany County

River Rock Grill (Best Dinner for Two)

58 Blue Ridge Street, Sparta

336-372-2695

Nikola's Restaurant & High Meadows Inn (Best Scenic View)

10498 Hwy 21 South, Roaring Gap

336-363-6060

The Pines of Sparta (Best Family Dining, Best Breakfast)

577 N Main Street, Sparta

336-372-4242

Motley's BBQ & Catering (Best North Carolina/Regional Cuisine)

4917 Hwy 113, Laurel Springs

336-359-2191

La Mexicana Restaurant (Best Ethnic Restaurant)

665 S Main Street Box 11, Sparta

336-372-7788

Mustard Seed Cafe (Best Business Lunch)

38 S Main Street, Sparta

336-372-7444

Brown's Family Restaurant (Best Downtown Dining)

115 Jones St., Sparta

336-372-3400

Freeborne's Eatery & Lodge (Best Little Roadhouse)

14300 US Hwy 18 S, Laurel Springs

336-359-8008

Buckaroo's Grille (Best Place to Take Visitors)

9431 Hwy 93, Piney Creek

336-359-2825

Wilkes County

Sixth and Main (Best Dinner for Two)

210 Sixth Street, North Wilkesboro

336-903-1166

Saddlebrook Restaurant (Best Scenic View)

476 Meadow Road, Ferguson

336-973-5706

Mama Zoe's Seafood Shack (Best Family Dining)

1200 Central Street, Wilkesboro

336-848-7203

The 50's (Best Breakfast)

109 West Main Street, Wilkesboro

336-838-5050

Tipton's Bar-B-Que (Best Business Lunch)

1840 Winkler Street, Wilkesboro

336-667-0669

Branciforte's Brick Oven (Best Downtown Dining)

810 Main Street, North Wilkesboro

336-838-1110

Harold's Restaurant (Best Little Roadhouse)

1748 Hwy. 115 South, North Wilkesboro

336-667-4210

Brushy Mountain Smokehouse and Creamery (Best Place to Take Visitors)

201 Wilkesboro Blvd., North Wilkesboro

336-667-9464

Watauga County

Joy Bistro (Best Dinner for Two)

115 New Market Centre, Boone

828-265-0500

Rowland s at Westglow Resort & Spa (Best Scenic View)

224 Westglow Circle, Blowing Rock

800-562-0807

Dan l Boone Inn (Best Family Dining)

130 Hardin Street, Boone

828-264-8657

Proper (Best North Carolina/Regional Cuisine)

142 S. Water St., Boone

828-865-5000

Makoto's Japanese (Best Ethnic Restaurant)

2124 Blowing Rock Road, Boone

828-264-7976

Melanie s Food Fantasy (Best Breakfast)

664 West King Street, Boone

828-263-0300

Vidalia (Best Business Lunch)

831 W. King St., Boone

828-263-9176

Cafe Portofino (Best Downtown Dining)

970 Rivers Street, Boone

828-264-7772

Blue Ridge Diner (Best Little Roadhouse)

7568 US Highway 421 S, Deep Gap

828-265-1999

Woodlands BBQ (Best Place to Take Visitors)

8304 Valley Boulevard, Blowing Rock

828-295-3651

McDowell County

Mountain View Restaurant (Best Scenic View)

5253 NC Highway 226, Spruce Pine, NC

828-766-9670

Big Lynn Lodge (Best Family Dining)

10860 NC Highway 226-A, Little Switzerland, NC

828-765-4257

Famous Louise s Rock House Restaurant (Best Breakfast)

23175 Linville Falls Highway, Linville Falls, NC

828-765-2702

Switzerland CafÈ and General Store (Best Business Lunch)

9440 NC Highway 226-A, Little Switzerland, NC

828-765-5289

Bruce's Fabulous Foods (Best Downtown Dining)

63 South Main Street, Marion, NC

828-659-8023

Countryside BBQ (Best Place to Take Visitors)

2070 Rutherford Rd., Marion, NC

828-652-4885

Ashe County

Fraser's Rest & Pub (Best Low Country/Southern)

108 South Jefferson Avenue W., Jefferson, NC 28694

(336) 246-5222

River House Country Inn (Best American/Eclectic)

1896 Old Field Creek Rd., Grassy Creek, NC 28631

(336) 982-2109

Smoky Mountain Barbecue (Best BBQ)

1008 South Jefferson Avenue W., Jefferson, NC 28694

(336) 246-6818

Caldwell County

Hannah's Bar-B-Q (Best BBQ, TIE)

3198 North Carolina 127, Hickory, NC

(828) 294-4227

Hog Wild Bar-B-Que (Best BBQ, TIE)

137 Blowing Rock Boulevard Lenoir, NC 28645

(828) 754-7032

The Wine Cellar & Bistro (Best American/Eclectic & Wine Bar)

128 Main Street NW., Lenoir, NC 28645

(828) 754-2829

Avery County

Jackalope's View Restaurant at Archer s Mountain Inn (Best Scenic View)

2489 Beech Mountain Parkway, Banner Elk, NC 28604

828-898-9004

Dunn's Deli (Best Deli)

134 Main St E, Banner Elk, NC 28604

(828) 898-6731

Louisiana Purchase (Best Low Country/Southern)

397 Shawneehaw Ave, Banner Elk, NC 28604

(828) 963-5087

Stonewall's (Best Steak/Seafood)

344 Shawneehaw Ave, Banner Elk, NC 28604

(828) 898-5550

The Ham Shoppe (Best American/Eclectic)

124 Broadstone Rd, Banner Elk, NC 28604

(828) 963-6310

Burke County

Abele's (Best American/Eclectic)

2156 South Sterling St, Morganton, NC 28655

(828) 433-5400

Churchill's Rest & Pub (Best American/Eclectic, TIE)

108 East Meeting St, Morganton, NC 28655

(828) 433-9909

Judge's Riverside Rest (Best American/Eclectic, TIE)

128 Greenlee Ford Rd, Morganton, NC 28655

(828) 433-5798

Yancey County

Nu Wray Inn (Best American/Eclectic)

102 Town Square, Burnsville, NC 28714

(828) 682-2329

Garden Deli (Best Deli)

107 Town Square, Burnsville, NC 28714

(828) 682-3946

Hilltop Rest (Best American/Eclectic)

107 W Main St., Burnsville, NC 28714

(828) 678-9123

Mitchell County

In the Garden (Best Vegetarian/Organic)

117 W Main St., Burnsville, NC 28714

(828) 682-1680

Chalet Restaurant (Best Dinner for Two)

Intersection of Hwy 226A & Blue

Ridge Parkway, Little Switzerland, NC 28749

828-765-2153

Mountain View Restaurant (Best Scenic View)

Highway 226 S, Blue Ridge Parkway, Spruce Pine, NC 28777

828-766-9670

Shepherds Table (Best Family Dining)

14701 Hwy 226 S, Spruce Pine, NC 28777

828-765-0870

Knife & Fork (Best North Carolina/Regional Cuisine)

61 Locust Street (Spruce Pine, NC 28777 (United States

(828) 765-1511

China Wok (Best Ethnic Restaurant)

12105 S 226 Hwy, Spruce Pine 28777

828-766-8811

DT's Blue Ridge Java (Best Breakfast)

169 Locust St, Spruce Pine, NC 28777

828-766-8008

Stuart's On the Green (Best Business Lunch)

2360 Swiss Pine Lake Dr, Spruce Pine, NC 28777

828-765-6589

The Pizza Shop & Dry County Brewing Company (Best Downtown Dining)

615 Oak Ave, Spruce Pine, NC 28777

828-765-4583

Bama-Que (Best Little Roadhouse, TIE)

14480 Hwy 226 N, Spruce Pine, NC 28777

828-765-4227

Bonnie & Clyde's Drive In (Best Little Roadhouse, TIE)

2660 Hwy 226 N

Bakersville, NC 28705

(828) 688-2233

City Drive In (Best Place to Take Visitors)

670 Oak Ave, Spruce Pine, NC 28777

828-765-4480

Vote for Your Favorite Parkway County for Dining

For this issue’s set of Blue Ridge Parkway counties and for the next issue’s set of counties, we are seeking reader input to select a favorite culinary county for each edition. Those four winning counties (voting for the first two sets of counties has already ended) will then become the Parkway Foodie Tour Final Four, and after voting in the fall, we will present the overall winner in our January/February 2013 issue.

To vote for your favorite dining county for this issue’s 11 North Carolina counties – Surry, Alleghany, Wilkes, Ashe, Watauga, Caldwell, Avery, Burke, McDowell, Mitchell, Yancey– visit BlueRidgeCountry.com/foodieballot. Your vote will also put you in the running for a $250 gift card to be awarded to one voter. The winner will be announced at the end of the Foodie Tour series.

And the Winner is...

Congratulations to Rockbridge County, Va., winning culinary county for Part 1 of this series, and Patrick County, Va., winning culinary county for Part 2. Rockbridge and Patrick are now in the running to win a feature article in our Jan/Feb 2013 issue. Final Four voting begins Sept. 24.

About This Four-Part Parkway Foodie Series

Our four-part Blue Ridge Parkway Foodie Tour  features an installment in each issue from March/April through September/October, with each highlighting a food stop in some of the 29 counties the parkway touches.

March/April covered parkway milepost 0-105 and visited the Virginia counties of Nelson, Augusta, Rockbridge, Amherst, Bedford, Botetourt.

May/June covered miles 106-219 in the Virginia counties of Roanoke, Franklin, Floyd, Patrick, Carroll, Grayson.

This issue: MP 220-355. The North Carolina counties of Surry, Alleghany, Wilkes, Ashe, Watauga, Caldwell, Avery, Burke, McDowell, Mitchell, Yancey.

Sept/Oct: MP 356-469. The North Carolina counties of Buncombe, Henderson, Transylvania, Haywood, Jackson, Swain.

The writer for our series, Fred Sauceman, is head of the Division of University Relations at East Tennessee State University, where he teaches a course entitled The Foodways of Appalachia. He writes a monthly food column, “Potluck,” for the Johnson City Press and authors the “Flavors” page for Blue Ridge Country. His stories about food and Southern culture are heard on “Inside Appalachia,” a radio program produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting.  “Food with Fred” appears monthly on WJHL-TV, the CBS affiliate in Johnson City, Tenn. Sauceman is the author of a three-volume book series, “The Place Setting:  Timeless Tastes of the Mountain South, from Bright Hope to Frog Level,” about the foodways of Appalachia.  A member of the Southern Foodways Alliance, he is the editor of that organization’s book “Cornbread Nation 5:  The Best of Southern Food Writing,” published by the University of Georgia Press.