Good Hot Fish

Asheville has climbed the ranks this century to become the newest great American city. It's not just the city's location, which convenient to Charlotte and Atlanta as well as the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Asheville has made its name on culture, becoming a beer city even as Drop of Sun Studios launched local artists like Wednesday, Indigo De Souza and MJ Lenderman. 

The city has also become a destination for world-class chefs such as James Beard Award semi-finalist Ashleigh Shanti. North Carolina native Shanti came up championing Southern food and worked in restaurants around the world. During her two years as opening chef de cuisine of Benne on Eagle, a fine dining Southern restaurant, the Asheville restaurant picked up recognition from press all over the country. 

She could have easily stayed on that track, but Shanti decided to set out on her own path. After a break, she launched Good Hot Fish with a series of pop-ups in Asheville, Nashville, and Staunton, Virginia. When Burial Beer Company, the local brewery where she'd been making pop-up appearances, purchased the building next door to convert it into a concert venue, Shanti took the opportunity to open Good Hot Fish in a permanent space. It opened in early 2023. 

The restaurant serves food you'd expect to find at a Black Appalachian fish fry, available year-round at a small lunch counter located above Burial Beer Company. The menu is limited, and based largely around what's fresh and available. On a December day, choices included (from least to most expensive) whiting, catfish, trout and flounder. The fish plate is the most popular item; it comes with a choice of fish breaded, battered or blackened, along with hushpuppies, pickles, tartar sauce and a choice of two sides. Other items are available too, including cabbage pancakes, a shrimp burger and trout bologna. 

The food is simple but delicious, served on a green cafeteria plate. The catfish was perfectly seasoned, complemented with sweet hushpuppies that melt in one's mouth. The potato salad was topped with green onions, while stewed tender mustard greens and collards were enriched by tender chunks of ham. Good Hot Fish has a limited amount of seating inside and on a small porch outside. Many customers take their food to go, with some heading next door to Burial to match their meal with local craft beer.