“We want to make sustainable product choices, but we are also passionate about maintaining a work environment where our staff feels supported. We want each and every job in the restaurant to be a job that allows people to balance their lives and their families with their work. We strive to offer benefits that take care of our employees, and are living wage certified by Just Economics, a local group that calculates those metrics for our area.”

Vegetable paella, made from scraps including mushroom stems and tomato skins; fried squid sandwich with wild-caught American squid and shrimp-shell aïoli.

A two-time James Beard Foundation award nominee, Chef Katie Button has upheld the culinary standards she absorbed in the kitchen at el Bulli while raising the bar for sustainability in western North Carolina. At the terrifically cosmopolitan Cúrate, the honey drizzled over salt cod fritters, the beef in the albondigas, and the egg accompanying the ensaladilla rusa all come from local producers. So do the plates on which they’re served; a local potter came up with new colors to enhance the restaurant’s aesthetic.

Don’t miss this forward-thinking, unique restaurant next time you’re in the area.