Mike Bean is a local chef with Finest Deli (though temporarily on hold) serving up fresh eats at farmers markets in Buncombe County. He serves on On Track WNC‘s Board of Directors and quickly shifted his cooking skills to support meal operations with World Central Kitchen to keep the people of Western North Carolina fed in the wake of Helene. Mike is a big advocate for empathy, sandwiches, and ingredient sourcing from local farms.
What gets you excited about preparing meals made with local ingredients? What has made it possible for you to do so?
The first part is that we always want to serve the most delicious food. Using locally grown ingredients—grown, produced, raised by people that we know and trust—just tastes better. I barely shop at grocery stores now because all the produce is just so much better here. Whether it’s something that is special to you, like Black Trumpet Farm’s gray oyster mushrooms or whether it’s something that is looked down on as a cheap food like J4 Cattle ground beef—our food tastes better because we use local ingredients. Why are we able to do it? Because we have an awesome local network of producers who are passionate about their food and are passionate about feeding people. We want to put together these beautiful meals, but do it at an approachable price point. Jay and Gwen of Black Trumpet are psyched to see that we put together a mushroom sandwich every week. Normally, their mushrooms are so exquisite that they are most often used at high-end restaurants. We can put something out that is affordable for every day.
You clearly love to feed people—is that why you started Finest Deli?
I do. In high school to college to now, I’ve always hosted family dinners with friends. When I worked in media telecommunications, I would still host big dinner parties. When I had a change in my career, I was deciding what it is that I wanted to do, and feeding people was very near the top of my list. They say you should write what you know—I know food and I know feeding people. Some of it is selfish! I want better sandwiches around town. I think that we make some pretty banging sandwiches, and it’s even better when you use the local goods.
What are your favorite foods to prepare?
We do a really good chopped cheese made with J4 cattle 24-day dry-aged ground beef raised out of Morganton. Anna and her family raise some beautiful cows. That’s a sandwich I picked up when I lived in New York City and we brought it here. We get a lot of people who come through for the chopped cheese specifically. We use Lee’s One Fortune Farm tomatoes and greens.
We do a shroom filet that’s our veg spin on that famous chicken chain that not everyone is a big fan of. So, we do a shroom filet that is a Cajun-seasoned lions mane grilled up with Serotonin Ferments pickles and house-made honey mustard that we make with Wilderkin Beekeeping honey. Sometimes we’ll have folks come and get it Tuesday and then Wednesday. If you’re feeding someone the same sandwich two days in a row and they come back week after week, we’re doing something right.
Also, our pork green chile which is a personal favorite. We do a breakfast burrito version using Dry Ridge Farm pork and eggs, Tiny Bridge Farm green chiles, Flying Cloud Farm onions and other peppers. That’s like a Denver, New Mexico specialty. We worked with Ed [Graves of Tiny Bridge] to raise those green chiles specially here in North Carolina. Early on at the market I mentioned it to him that I love green chiles and he said that it was going to be a pet project for him. He dedicated a big portion of his field to my green chiles, which made me so happy.
At the start of Helene, what brought you to pivot to cook with World Central Kitchen (WCK)?
I love feeding people and I love helping people. I was able to combine those things and provide relief and nourishment—really build community through food, which is so powerful. It’s almost difficult to talk about, but it is something that I believe in so strongly. The people that operate WCK are truly some of the most caring people I have ever met. They help you set up this huge, high-powered, logistical cook and distribution operation, but all of it is rooted in caring for the community and helping people not focus so much on figuring out how to get their food needs met.
We found this farm off of Route 19 in Burnsville—they were absolutely devastated. They hadn’t had a hot meal since the storm, which was over a week. No one had been in to visit them. They were eating cold canned goods. We got them connected to food the next day, and then we connected the hundred people or so that live in their holler. Now they all know each other by name. They ate dinners together in some of the toughest times in their lives when they were dealing with property loss, loss of life, and disruption to their lives. Our food got them to connect with each other in a way that they never have before. It was absolutely one of the most beautiful moments I have ever seen.
What’s the future of Finest Deli?
Well, Finest Deli, we got our start here at the West Asheville Tailgate Market with Vinny along with Lyric over at River Arts District Farmers Market and we will absolutely be coming back to these markets as soon as my mission with WCK gets to a stable place. While things are improving rapidly, there are still huge needs in Swannanoa and Black Mountain. The permanent WCK staff is leaving in the next week or so, so I’m going to be managing the phase out and transition to long-term feeding. I’m happy that I get to do it. I’d rather be responsible for the tough hard work than wonder what’s going on with it. When the time is right we will definitely be back at markets.
Hopefully, we will have some other good news to share in the near future. Follow us on Instagram at @finestavl and maybe you will learn a little bit more. It should be good news but I promise it will all be rooted in local food sourcing and community meals. We want to get people together for beautiful, nourishing, delicious, delicious at all roots in delicious, food that is affordable and approachable.