Fine Dining’s Leading Ladies

Across the South, more women are wielding the knives and making masterful menus in what have traditionally been male-dominated kitchens—leading exciting eateries that are reawakening palates and reinvigorating communities.

“I don’t think of myself as a ‘woman chef,’” Asheville’s Chef Katie Button is quick to point out. “I think of myself as a chef who works and works hard.” But she acknowledges that while half of culinary school enrollees are women, “when you go up the ranks, to chef de cuisine, executive chef, or chef-owner, that number drastically drops.” Fortunately, that’s beginning to change, and Button—mother of a 1-year-old—is hopeful the industry can better support women to help them achieve a work-life balance in these highly demanding positions.

Meet four creative forces behind six of the region’s most acclaimed restaurants.

Katie Button: “The coolest Spanish tapas spot in the country” Food & Wine magazine said about Cúrate, the family-owned, Biltmore Avenue restaurant of Button, one of the mag’s “Best New Chefs” of 2015. Button trained at restaurants in D.C., L.A., and Spain before opening Cúrate five years ago. Since then the restaurant and its chef have earned countless accolades, Button was named a James Beard Rising Star Chef Semi-Finalist for three consecutive years, and 2014 brought the opening of Nightbell, an Asheville restaurant and lounge with Button’s modern interpretations of classic American food. On the menu for 2016: her first cookbook and a Cúrate expansion.

Cassidee Dabney: At the helm of one of the top restaurants in the South is Cassidee Dabney, who last year was promoted from executive sous chef to executive chef at The Barn, the restaurant of the luxury hotel and resort Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tenn. Dabney’s background includes training at the New England Culinary Institute and stints in Germany, Boston, Atlanta, Hawaii, Arkansas, and Wyoming, much of which was spent at Four Seasons resorts.

Shelley Cooper: Shelley Cooper is the executive chef and head of culinary operations at two of the most exciting young restaurants in east Tennessee: Terra Mae, opened in Chattanooga in late 2012, and Dancing Bear Appalachian Bistro, opened in Townsend in 2015. Cooper was born in Memphis, with family tables always filled with farm-fresh Southern bounties. Her culinary career has taken her to resort kitchens in Hilton Head, Florida, New Zealand, L.A., Alaska, and Hawaii.

Keri Downing: Named a Rising Star Chef by StarChefs magazine in 2014, Keri Downing is the chef and owner of IvyWild, an old steam laundry building transformed into a progressive American fine dining restaurant in 2010. Located in the college town of Sewanee, Tenn., IvyWild is committed to seasonal and local ingredients. In addition to her feature in StarChefs—highlighting such exotic creations as smoke trout cheesecake and celery sorbet—her dishes have been showcased in The Local Palate and Tennessee Home & Farm.