A Month of Recognition
October brought plenty to celebrate across Asheville and Western North Carolina, from major national recognition to fall travel features, new collaborations and a few memorable reasons to gather around the table.
For the second consecutive year, Soprana Rooftop Cucina was named a MICHELIN Recommended restaurant in the MICHELIN Guide American South, returning after its first recognition in the Guide’s inaugural regional selection in 2025.
It’s an especially meaningful distinction for a restaurant still in its first few years. From the beginning, Soprana has paired Italian technique with ingredients sourced from Western North Carolina, all from a rooftop overlooking the Blue Ridge Mountains. This month, that work earned recognition from MICHELIN once again, with the team joining restaurants and hospitality professionals from across the region at the annual MICHELIN Guide ceremony in Nashville.
And Soprana wasn’t the only OFTB client earning national attention.
OFTB clients Vinnie’s Neighborhood Italian and Jettie Rae’s Oyster House were both named among Tripadvisor’s 25 Best of the Best Casual Dining Restaurants in the United States for 2026, coming in at No. 15 and No. 21, respectively. The two Scheffer Group restaurants were the only Asheville spots to make the list.
The recognition traveled beyond Tripadvisor, too. A Charlotte Observer story highlighted Vinnie’s and Jettie Rae’s among just four North Carolina restaurants to make Tripadvisor’s national Best of the Best restaurant lists, with the story reaching additional readers through syndication. A second feature, These 4 North Carolina Restaurants Were Just Named Among America’s Best, took a deeper look at both Asheville restaurants and the stories behind them.
For Eric Scheffer, October brought an opportunity to reflect on just how much Asheville’s restaurant landscape has changed. He joined On the Blue Ridge to look back on more than 25 years in the city’s food scene. The conversation spans building and sustaining restaurants, navigating Covid and Hurricane Helene, and the role tourism plays in Asheville’s local economy.
Fall Looks Good on Western North Carolina
October’s travel coverage gave readers plenty of reasons to spend fall in the mountains.
Black Mountain had a particularly strong showing, with Bev’s Steak and Oak & Grist Distilling featured together in two different stories. WNC Magazine’s Fall 2026/Winter 2027 issue included both in Fall for Black Mountain, with Bev’s among the places to eat and Oak & Grist among the places to raise a glass.
Both appeared again in ManTripping’s roundup of mountain getaways for fall. Its three-day Black Mountain trip starts with a stay at fellow OFTB client Firelight at Shope Creek, then builds out the itinerary with hiking and fly fishing, a tour and tasting at Oak & Grist and dinner at Bev’s.
Farther into the mountains, The Retreats at Spring Creek landed in TravelPulse’s roundup of destinations designed to help adults rediscover play. The 80-acre preserve near Hot Springs was recognized alongside destinations around the world, with TravelPulse singling out its handwoven TreeWeaves net suspended above a rushing mountain creek.
And fall looked particularly good from above Asheville. Asheville Citizen Times food and dining reporter Tiana Kennell included both Soprana and fellow OFTB client The Montford Rooftop Bar in her 2026 guide to Asheville rooftops for fall leaf season. The story was also syndicated, extending the seasonal coverage beyond Asheville.
New Reasons to Gather
The Majestic teamed up with fellow Asheville brand Spicewalla on a Chinese Five Spice blend inspired by the balance of flavors at the heart of the restaurant’s cooking. The collaboration earned local coverage from AVLtoday and made its way into the home kitchen with The Majestic’s recipe for Cantonese crispy pork belly.
The Majestic also caught the attention of Vessel Magazine. In Catching Light, Vessel founder and editor in chief Blair Knobel included the restaurant in her Soul Good Dispatches, sharing The Majestic among the experiences that left an impression as summer gave way to fall.
At Jettie Rae’s, another Asheville collaboration made its return. The Pearl Oyster Pilsner, created with Fonta Flora Brewery, returned October 19 for its second year. Brewed with whole oysters and shells, the limited-release pilsner also landed in The Local Palate’s roundup of eight beverages for fall, where its crisp, mineral-driven character earned it a place among the drinks made for the South’s lingering warm-weather days.
And in Blowing Rock, Café Violette made October a month for gathering around the table, hosting not one but two wine dinners. A French Harvest Dinner took the team to Betsy’s Barn in Todd for an evening of French wine, food and live bluegrass, followed later in the month by an Alsace wine dinner back at the restaurant.
October felt like a beautiful snapshot of what we love about this industry. There were major accolades and national headlines, but there were also collaborations, shared tables, fall getaways and stories that gave people another reason to discover somewhere new.
We’re grateful to the writers and editors who continue to find these stories worth telling, and even more grateful to the clients who give us so much to talk about.
On to November!
