Get Your Hot Buns

Written By: Luke Osteen | Issue: April 2024

Charlie Hudson

Charlie Hudson is trained as a physicist and when you look back at his career in the food industry, it describes an arc that would make a mathematician smile – professional chef for 30+ years in restaurants, resort hotels, country clubs, food trucks, teaching culinary school, research and development for a commercial trout operation and consulting for discerning chefs.

And that clear path has led him to Charlie’s Hot Buns, his bustling new bunnery/bread boîte/doughnut desmesne
in Sapphire.

In a way, the location has an air of inevitability – Charlie has roots in this part of the mountain – having lived here full-time since 2018 and spending plenty of time on extended visits throughout his life, and his wife’s family have been here since the late 1800s.

And the location gives his offerings a unique, homemade flavor.

“We carry locally roasted coffee from Pisgah Roasters, sodas from Devil’s Foot Brewing in Asheville, and I use honey from a local beekeeper out of Sylva, Honey Mountain Bee Farm, in the Honey Orange Glaze,” he says. “We have also received a tremendous amount of support from our friends and neighbors in making Charlie’s Hot Buns a reality. We have a neighbor who is a graphic designer and she designed our logo and t-shirts. Other friends and neighbors helped us with business numbers and development of the name “Charlie’s Hot Buns.” But above all else, I owe huge gratitude to my wife Sally for supporting me in this venture.”

Of course, at the center of all this, are dozens and dozens of his exclusive Charlie’s Hot Buns, enormous confections embiggened to a size that we’ve all secretly wished for.

“Made with love and care, these buns are freshly baked to perfection, filling the air with the irresistible aroma of cinnamon and sugar,” Charlie says. “You can dip or spread the Honey Orange Glaze on Charlie’s Hot Bun.”

You can order these creations online at charlieshotbuns.com (allow 24 hours’ notice) and pick them up at his Sapphire shop, or you can find them at Crossroads Custard in Cashiers, Cashiers Farmers Market (in season), Native Prime Provisions at Ingles Shopping Center in Cashiers, and High Country Wine and Provisions in Highlands.

And doughnuts sporadically pop up on the bill of fare at his Sapphire location (18825 Rosman Highway in Sapphire), and his marvelous breads and, in particular, exquisite yeast rolls.

In fact, when you consider the vast array of goods produced, you marvel that this man has time to sleep: Original Charlie’s Hot Buns; Jumbo Cinnamon Buns with a honey orange glaze; Yeast Rolls; Sesame Slider Buns; Sesame Hamburger Buns; Focaccia, Sesame Cocktail Crackers. And in development – not always guaranteed to have them at the shop – Doughnuts (Cinnamon Sugar, Chocolate Ganache, Honey Orange Glaze), Croissants, Croibun (a Cinnamon Bun made with croissant dough); Bagels, and Sourdough Boules.