Tupelo Honey Cafe

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Tupelo Honey Cafe is a restaurant chain based in downtown Asheville, North Carolina, specializing in Southern cooking.{{cite news|url=http://travel.nytimes.com/travel/guides/north-america/united-states/north-carolina/asheville/55211/tupelo-honey-cafe/restaurant-detail.html|title=Asheville Restaurants: Tupelo Honey Café|work=The New York Times|accessdate=2009-04-19}}{{cite web|url=http://www.visitnc.com/journeys/articles/taste-north-carolina/2/asheville-tupelo-honey-cafe|title=Asheville: Tupelo Honey Cafe|work=visitnc.com|publisher=Taste North Carolina|accessdate=2009-04-19}} {{Dead link|date=October 2010|bot=H3llBot}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/americas/you-have-all-the-time-in-the-world-in-north-carolina-808332.html|title=You have all the time in the world in North Carolina|last=Nurden|first=Robert|date=April 13, 2008|via=independent.co.uk|work=The Independent|accessdate=2009-04-19|location=London}}{{cite news|url=http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/sep/20/asheville_an_ideal_mountain_getaway16498/|title=Asheville an ideal mountain getaway|last=Quick|first=David|date=September 20, 2007|work=charleston.net|publisher=The Post and Courier|accessdate=2009-04-19|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120723151121/http://www.charleston.net/news/2007/sep/20/asheville_an_ideal_mountain_getaway16498/|archivedate=July 23, 2012}}

The restaurant was established in 2000 by Sharon Schott.{{Cite web|url=http://mountainx.com/food/food-news/1130tupelohoney-php/|title=Tupelo Honey Cafe|last=Lunsford|first=Mackensy|website=Mountain Xpress|date=30 November 2005 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-21}} The company has since expanded to 26 locations across 17 states.{{Cite web| title = Our Southern Food Restaurant Locations {{!}} Tupelo Honey Cafe| work = Tupelo Honey| accessdate = 2023-04-12| url = https://tupelohoneycafe.com/locations/}}

==History==

Original owner Sharon Schott, after traveling around the US, recognized the need for a restaurant that could offer locals and tourists a taste of the south but with healthy ingredients. On December 7, 2000 Tupelo Honey Cafe opened their downtown Asheville North Carolina location.{{Cite web| title = Tupelo Honey Cafe| accessdate = 2023-04-12| date = 2006-01-15| url = http://www.tupelohoneycafe.com/about.htm| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060115033522/http://www.tupelohoneycafe.com/about.htm| archive-date = 2006-01-15}} In 2008 the cafe was purchased by Stephen Frabitore, seeing it as the ideal business to run during his retirement although he had never worked in the industry before. Frabitore grew the team with large investments into the company's headquarters to enable it to support multiple locations.{{Cite web| last = Taylor| first = May 2019 Rachel| title = Tupelo Honey Bringing Southern Charm Across the Country {{!}} FSR magazine| date = 3 June 2019| accessdate = 2023-04-12| url = https://www.fsrmagazine.com/nextgen-casual/tupelo-honey-bringing-southern-charm-across-country}}

Brian Sonoskus was executive chef at the cafe from 2001 to 2016. During his tenure he co-authored two Tupelo Honey cookbooks: Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen, Tupelo Honey Cafe: new southern flavors from the Blue Ridge Mountains.{{Cite book| publisher = Andrews McMeel| isbn = 978-1-4494-0064-4| last = Sims| first = Elizabeth| title = Tupelo Honey Cafe: Spirited Recipes from Asheville's New South Kitchen| date = 2011-04-05}}{{Cite book| publisher = Andrews McMeel Publishing| isbn = 978-1-4494-4614-7| last = Sims| first = Elizabeth| title = Tupelo Honey Cafe: new southern flavors from the Blue Ridge Mountains| location = Kansas City| date = 2014}} Eric Gabrynowicz, a 2011 James Beard Foundation semifinalist for Rising Star Chef USA, was named executive chef and vice president of culinary operations.{{Cite news| pages = –12| last = Lunsford| first = Mackensy| title = Tupelo Honey Cafe taps chef Gabrynowicz| work = Asheville Citizen - Times| location = Asheville, N.C., United States| accessdate = 2023-04-04| date = 2016-10-15| url = https://www.proquest.com/docview/1829061660| id = {{ProQuest|1829061660}}}}

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Tupelo Honey began the Tupelo Honey Employee Relief Fund (E.R.F) to help provide additional support to team members facing unexpected hardships. The profits from every order of biscuits goes directly to the fund. The fund is now called the Tupelo Honey Relief & Development Fund and had raised $575,000.{{Cite web| title = A Look at Our Southern Food Menus {{!}} Tupelo Honey Cafe| work = Tupelo Honey| accessdate = 2023-04-13| url = https://tupelohoneycafe.com/menu-unified/}}