These notable North Carolina

chefs are on the rise

By ERIC GINSBURG

Beyond North Carolina’s biggest cities and best names, there’s a legion of profoundly talented chefs who are leaving their mark and setting their sights on something bigger. A few of them are poised to take the state by storm. Here are five of North Carolina’s chefs on the rise—culinary talents who are making meaningful contributions to the dining scene, each in their own genuine way.

JORDAN RAINBOLT / Owner of Native Root / Winston-Salem, NC

Some chefs try to dazzle diners by sourcing obscure and expensive ingredients or purposefully making menus unintelligible. Not so with chef Jordan Rainbolt. “My approach to cooking is simple,” she says. “I do my absolute best to respect the ingredients that are available and that represent the land in the most honest way.”

Her reverence shows through in her cooking, which doesn’t have to hide behind pomp. Rainbolt’s business, Native Root, celebrates the “indigenous roots of the South” and draws on her own Choctaw and Cherokee heritage.

But she doesn’t stop there, also pulling from her training in South Korea. Rainbolt works diligently to “push boundaries between familiarity and curiosity” through pop-up dinners and private events, offering patrons something most have never experienced.

That leads to pop-up menu options like tempura-coated crunchy wings with a cherry chile sauce, steelhead trout bao with pickled cabbage, or a Wagyu ribeye with apple.

LUKE OWENS / Owner of Native Fine Diner and Julep Contemporary Kitchen / Greenville, NC

Growing up, Luke Owens didn’t always know if there would be food on the table.

“My dad would make a pot of spaghetti on Sunday night, and that’s what we would eat every single day that week,” Owens recalls. That’s where the chef learned to stretch and preserve ingredients, and how food could represent a way to care for someone.

Recognizable to some from his time as executive chef at the famed Chef and the Farmer (as well as from Vivian Howard’s eponymous TV show on PBS), Owens founded and runs two restaurants of his own. Previously named runner-up for “Chef of the Year” by the state restaurant association, Chef Luke hopes to foster connection and comfort through each dish. His seasonal menu offers dishes like baked oysters with Gruyère, a daily catch served with sofrito and a koji broth, and a crispy spaetzle mac & cheese small plate.

Savannah miller / Owner of Savvy Hospitality LLC and Chef de Cuisine at M Tempura / Durham, NC

Years before she became a finalist on Bravo’s Top Chef, Savannah Miller’s parents taught her a lesson about service.

“Growing up, my mother worked in healthcare, and my father served in the military,” she explains. “I watched them serve others long before I knew what that meant, and I know it’s the reason I am in the hospitality industry now.”

She’s certainly cut out for it. Miller helped M Tempura land on Bon Appetit’s list of “Top 50 Best New Restaurants” in 2019 and win “restaurant of the year” in the local daily soon after. Top Chef allowed her to flex some of her own culinary style, something she’ll be doing more of going forward, through pop-ups and other ventures.

At M Tempura, guests enjoy the multicourse omakase menu in particular, but all dishes are about deft execution with minimal intervention to let the raw ingredients dazzle. In her own cooking, Miller leans “more into my Southern roots and New England training,” using nostalgic flavors to give diners something unexpected, especially in her preparations of vegetables and seafood.

CHRISTOPHER PRIETO / Owner of Prime Barbecue, Primo Latin Cuisine, and (forthcoming) Prime STQ / Knightdale, NC

Barbecue aficionados need to know about Christopher Prieto. His chops are dizzying—Prime Barbecue, his restaurant, garners critical national acclaim, and the chef once earned a perfect score for his brisket from the Kansas City Barbecue Society.

Maybe you’ve seen him on the Food Network’s Barbecue Brawl, Man Fire Food, Chopped, or Barbecue Pitmasters. He’s in the process of opening Prime STQ, which will “reflect my Texas roots, North Carolina home, and Puerto Rican heritage,” he shares. On top of that, Chef Prieto is working on a branded line of seasonings and sauces.

At all of his locations, smoked meat is the star, whether that’s brisket nachos at Primo Latin Cuisine or pork ribs at Prime.

keith rhodes / Owner of Catch, Tacklebox Kitchen, and more / Wilmington, nc

Food-obsessed North Carolinians across the state know the name Keith Rhodes—twice named a James Beard Awards semifinalist for “Best Chef: Southeast”—or at least his moniker “One Bad Chef.” He’s competed on Top Chef, been name-checked in the New York Times, and his Catch Restaurant was heralded by USA Today as a “Best Restaurant of the Year.”

Diners at Catch, his flagship, can enjoy dishes like Champagne-steamed mussels with saffron-basil butter, baked oysters with jerk collards and pimiento cheese, and crispy lobster tails with lemon pepper broccoli and Cognac lobster sauce.

Rhodes’s work also has a social mission, partnering with Gullah Geechee Cultural Heritage Corridor, among other efforts. “What drew me to the industry was a lack of diversity and wanting to inspire my people with dedication, discipline, and change,” he says.

Expect him to keep his foot on the gas, with at least one new project in development.

Photography of opening dish by Savannah Miller, courtesy of M Restaurants; Luke Owens by John Park; Christopher Prieto by Azul Photography; this story appears in our Spring 2025 issue.

Going North