LGBTQ+ Chefs and Restaurateurs Are Transforming Raleigh Into a Southern Culinary Hotspot

Raleigh is emerging as a Southern culinary destination where queer chefs, brewers, restaurateurs and hospitality leaders are reshaping the region’s culinary identity through inclusivity, innovation and deeply local storytelling.

From MICHELIN-recognized kitchens to vegan Southern comfort food, these culinary leaders are building a more expansive vision of what Southern flavor looks and tastes like.

Ashley Christensen, long considered the matriarch of Raleigh’s modern culinary movement, continues to reinvent Southern cuisine through seasonal, ingredient-driven cooking at Poole's Diner, a MICHELIN-Recommended restaurant celebrated for elevating classic comfort dishes with locally sourced products and contemporary technique. Christensen’s national culinary influence has helped position Raleigh as one of the South’s most dynamic food cities.

At Brewery Bhavana, acclaimed MICHELIN-Recommended brewery, dim sum restaurant and flower shop, Head Brewer Katie Eells is pioneering the craft beer scene. Starting as one of the first female brewers in Wisconsin, Katie has battled bad beers and biases across the country. Eells' thoughtfully developed brews pairing seamlessly with global cuisine and Raleigh's modern culinary culture.

Fiction Kitchen has become a cornerstone of Raleigh’s innovative dining scene by reimagining Southern comfort food through a fully vegan lens. Operated by wife-duo Caroline Morrison and Siobhan Murray, the restaurant demonstrates how plant-based cuisine can honor Southern traditions while expanding accessibility and sustainability within regional food culture.

Together, these culinarians reflect Raleigh’s broader culinary landscape — one where Southern food traditions are preserved, honored and reimagined through diverse perspectives and lived experiences.

Photo credit: Visit Raleigh/Keenan Hairston