The Heritage Table

After being forced to turn his restaurant into a to-go sandwich shop during the pandemic, chef Rich Vana has brought The Heritage Table back to its former glory, where it sits among the best farm-to-table restaurants in the area. As part of the reopening, Vana focused his team on using all parts of each animal and plant that comes through the kitchen and bringing that sustainability to a Southern-inspired menu. Dishes like wagyu beef shoulder, chicken pot pie or fried green tomatoes may be tinged with a syrupy Southern accent, but the casual excellence across the menu is easily understood.

Top Pick: If ramen were invented in the South, it would be Heritage Table’s Whole Beast. The ingredients vary with the seasons, but on our winter visit, chunks of smoked dark meat chicken, house-made chicken meatballs and chopped Wagyu flatiron steak were poised atop a base of thick noodles, then topped with braised greens, a pickled egg and kimchi fermented in house.