To Appalachia, with Love

Written By: Marjorie N. Deal | Issue: April 2024 | Photograph By: Susan Renfro

Steak Tartar

When chef-turned restaurateur Curtis Higgins met Executive Chef Kalen Fortuna in the Fall of 2023, it was culinary destiny – a pact to create a tasting tribute to this land and the bounty it provides.

Curtis hails from Colorado, and he brings to Highlands 35 years of food and wine expertise. He opened the popular Main Street restaurant, Primary in 2022 and introduced Roots & Vine to foodies and wine lovers of the Plateau late last year.

Chef Kalen’s journey to the Highlands culinary scene began at an incredibly early age, helping his Lebanese grandmother in her Detroit restaurant. There he learned about plate settings, herbs, and flavors – but especially he learned the importance of heritage and foodways.

Kalen grew up in Charleston, South Carolina, and at the age of sixteen lobbied for a job at Peninsula Grill. He had found his calling. Since then, he has worked for and learned from some of the best chefs in the Southeast. He eventually became Executive Chef of the award-winning Little Palm Island in the Florida Keys – and 15 years after his first restaurant job in Charleston, became the Executive Chef of Peninsula Grill.

Dry Aged NC Yellowfin Tuna

During those years of traveling, Kalen honed his craft to appreciate, incorporate, and depend on the ingredients he found regionally. And he recognized the beauty of slow food.

Which brings us to a mid-March reservation at Roots & Vine. Walking into soft grey hues and warm wood, the ambiance heightened by flickering flames, the feeling of specialness wraps you like a gentle hug.

Our waiter Ken presented the menus – envelope style with a wax seal. It’s a Love Letter to Appalachia – a tasting experience, prix fixe with choices.

You can choose, and if you’re a wine enthusiast, should choose a wine pairing – expertly curated by Curtis – for each dish’s particular flavors. Swirl. Sip. Repeat. Heaven.

Not only are the ingredients used to create these tasty masterpieces locally sourced from the Appalachian region, but they commissioned local potter Frank Vickery to craft the plate ware. Frank reveals, “This has been a wonderful experience. Chef Kalen had clear ideas. He wanted ware that would visually enhance the food pairings in size, shape, and color. Initially, I presented some ideas, and we worked together to create each piece, experimenting with different glazes, textures, and colors. It has been an honor to be a part of this unique creative process.”

Roasted Local Lamb

It’s true what they say: You eat with your eyes first. And this concept isn’t lost on Kalen and his staff. Each dish is artfully crafted and lovingly presented.

The meal began with Salted Sweet Honey Rolls house made by Sous Chef Rose Rumpel. This pull-apart goodness, served with cultured butter, blackberry chutney and sunflower crumble – are all house made. In fact, most every item in each dish is house made with local ingredients. I’ll try not to be repetitive.

On this particular evening (the menu rotates with the local purveyors’ harvests and offerings), Steak Tartar was a first choice. It’s made from wagyu beef tenderloin, with sorghum yolk and foie gras. Sorghum yolk is an egg treatment where the yolk is separated and soaked in sorghum simple syrup. Chef Kalen explains, “it gives the egg a sweet, fudge-y texture – a little tighter and thicker…” So tasty! And these eggs are locally raised at 3 Barn Farm in Franklin.

The Dry Aged North Carolina Yellowfin Tuna is Kalen’s ode to his grandmother with Lebanese treatments of tabli, labneh, and macrona. A dish that is traditionally made with lamb, he chose a North Carolina Yellowfin Tuna that is dry-aged in house. It is a delicious mash-up of his Lebanese heritage and Appalachian training. The dish was paired with a 2021 Longboard Pinot Noir.

“The umami Lebanese flavors complement the smooth and silky tannins and bright fruit of the Pinot Noir,” Curtis said. “The wine’s red fruit flavors, such as cherry and raspberry, can enhance the dish’s flavors, while its earthy and sometimes spicy notes can add complexity to the overall experience.”

Executive Chef Kalen Fortuna and Sous Chef Rose Rumpel

And we concur – with exclamation marks!

We then gleefully chose the Roasted Local Lamb – and it is the height of savory. A heritage breed sirloin cut, it is pipped with ground lamb sausage made with local herbs and then wrapped in caul fat – the epitome of their whole animal philosophy. But let’s talk about carrots, baby. Kalen dry ages local carrots, dips them in wagyu fat, ages again and purees with carrot-infused brown butter. It’s beautiful. It’s delicious. It’s a triumph of old southern flavors in a bold new presentation.

If the sensory feast for the eyes and palate leaves you wanting to pay homage to Chef Kalen, you’ll have that chance when the Wagyu course is presented. Or, more accurately, celebrated.

Chef arrives with a small brown vial as the course is placed before you, from which he christens the dish with a special soy sauce from Kentucky. There really are only two things to say about the Wagyu. One is cliche, but you’ll probably realize you were using the term incorrectly until now. And that is, melts in your mouth. Literally. The other is flavor, a flavor that defies description, except to say it has a decidedly Asian accent, and that its single raison d’être is to complement this Wagyu.

Cream Pie n’ Cider

And finally, the Cream Pie n’ Cider was the dessert of choice. A cinnamon brioche doughnut with apple butter made from local apples, and topped with oatmeal ice cream. It’s an explosion of sweet flavors, spices and textures that marked the ending of a most memorable dining experience.

As we begrudgingly headed out to be reunited with reality, Ken handed us another gift – a handmade bar of citrus oil tallow soap. You guessed it, made in-house.

Root & Vine’s Love Letter to Appalachia tantalizes the senses – and touches the heart. Like me, Curtis and Kalen weren’t born on the plateau. But – like me – they’re passionate about highlighting the goodness that’s found here.