In Stuart, Pickle & Ash honors Appalachian cuisine.
A must-stop on Route 58 in Patrick County, Pickle & Ash is a restaurant, bar, market, and local gathering place that’s taking a fresh approach to Appalachian cuisine.
“We live in a bucolic area where folks have been growing and cooking their own food from scratch for generations,” says owner Chelsea Raby. “We cook in a way that people can identify with, but we also find new ways of preparing the foods that folks have been growing for years. Our name comes from our love of food preservation, especially pickling, and cooking with fire—or ash.”
The menu, built on hyper-local ingredients from more than 20 farmers, food artisans, breweries, wineries, and other purveyors, changes with the seasons. Look for tacos filled with pulled pork—hickory smoked on-site—and topped with butternut squash crema, cranberry salsa, and candied jalapeños. Peach chutney complements the wood-roasted bone-in pork chop, served with roasted garlic grits, honey brown butter rainbow carrots, or white wine-braised cabbage with apples.
“We host lunch, dinner, and brunch, and we stock our market with entrées, soups, salads, and baked goods,” Raby says. “And our cocktails are custom blended with fresh seasonal produce. Our coffee is roasted locally as well.”
Outdoors, firepits and games beckon. And locals gather for trivia nights, beer and wine dinners, parties, and workshops. “Pickle & Ash is most definitely a labor of love,” says Raby. “It is a tremendous amount of work, which is why you don’t find places like ours very often.” PickleAndAsh.com
This article originally appeared in the February 2023 issue.
