Anyone who has visited Western North Carolina could easily describe it as a transporting experience with its picturesque postcard qualities as it engages the senses. The sight of the Smoky Mountains, the sound of abundant waterfalls, the heady scent of rhododendrons in bloom, the feel of cool summer evenings, and the taste of fresh-from-the-farm seasonal cuisine. As far as the latter, the award-winning culinary team at High Hampton Resort in Cashiers certainly captures those flavors with exceptional creativity and technique.
FLOWER sat down with husband-and-wife executive chefs Scott and April Franqueza, who spearhead the savory and sweet experiences at the resort, to discuss the magic behind the meal. April is one of five James Beard finalists for best pastry chef and baker in 2025; the winner will be announced on June 14.
Photo by Molly Harris
Chefs Scott and April Franqueza in the Dining Room at High Hampton .
FLOWER: Tell us a little about your background and your journey to High Hampton.
April: We met at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, and honed our skills in New York City. Scott worked for Thomas Keller and Daniel Boulud, so he learned a lot about French-based cuisine, and I worked at both Magnolia Bakery and Jacques Torres Chocolate. I also studied French pastry making in Nice. Blackberry Farm in Tennessee was always on our radar, and when we were ready to leave the city, that’s where we landed. When Blackberry decided to relaunch High Hampton, they approached us about heading the culinary team.
Scott: We joined during the pandemic when there was no equipment and still dirt on the floor. We started the culinary program literally from the ground up. High Hampton reopened in 2021, and we’ve been here ever since. It’s such a beautiful area, and the summers can’t be beat; they are the best.
Photo by Ingalls Photography
In addition to fantastic food, the Dining Room serves up views of Hampton Lake and Rock Mountain.
What is your approach to planning a menu and capturing that farm-to-table taste?
Scott: Our goal is to represent the area. I love my menu to tell a story about time and place, so it’s intensely seasonal. I also pull from my prior experiences in New York and from growing up in New England. First and foremost, you have to consider your guests. Here, they are well-traveled and are sophisticated about food, so that impels me to make my menu diverse, exciting, inventive, and intelligent.
What’s an example of a New York favorite that you interpreted with a North Carolina twist?
Scott: Well, I’m very fond of that classic New York bagel with lox. When we first opened, one of the favorites was a deconstructed ode to those flavors. We took local trout and coated it with an “everything bagel” type of seasoning. We grilled it and placed it on a buttermilk sauce reminiscent of cream cheese and then added re-roasted potatoes instead of bread and topped it with some pickled onions. It looked beautiful, and it definitely tasted like a bagel and lox. While I’m not a Southern chef, I work with Southern ingredients to create fresh interpretations using my classical training.
Photo by Sarah Rau
With few exceptions, the menu is made up of local ingredients like trout from Sunburst, a third-generation Cashiers Valley trout farm.
Photo by Sarah Rau
Certified organic beef comes from Jennings Farm in Athens, Tennessee—another third-generation family farm.
Does the menu change every night or just seasonally?
Scott: It changes every night, but the menus go into rotation. For example, you will have different cuts of beef; chicken or quail; and whatever fish the market is producing—trout, snapper, fluke, or drum—we go back and forth. We always run two different pastas—one is typically a stuffed pasta like agnolotti and the other is a flatter noodle. When I’m searching for inspiration, I really do let the produce tell the story and go from there. I also get inspiration from my team—they are diverse, multi-cultural, and have worked at other restaurants too. There is a definite sense of collaboration throughout our menu.
Where do you source your food? Any tried-and-true purveyors?
Scott: During the spring and summer seasons, around 80 percent of our menu comes from the Southeast. Of course, trout is in our backyard. We use Sunburst, a third-generation trout farm, and we get much of our beef from Jennings Farm in Athens, Tennessee. It’s another third-generation family business where everything is certified organic. Most of our organic dairy products come from Hickory Hill Milk in Edgefield County, South Carolina—this is a fourth-generation dairy farm. Working with these family-owned businesses is a true pleasure—they are all so passionate about their work.
If I use anything outside the Southeast, it has to be 100 percent the best. I fly in tuna from Hawaii once a week; nothing can beat the flavor. I do purchase some cold-water seafood such as oysters and scallops from New England. Maybe I’m biased being from Massachusetts, but I find them to be the best.
We never purchase anything from large food companies, and we don’t use anything that is out of season. Nowadays, you can get hothouse tomatoes year-round, but they are usually mealy; and the winter strawberries from Mexico are not very flavorful. At the peak of the season, we start preserving produce, and while it won’t be quite the same as a fresh tomato on your burger, you’ll have tomato jam that will evoke that taste of summer. We pickle green beans, cucumbers, and others—almost anything that comes in the spring and summer. One big preservation project for us is green garlic that we purchase mounds of—the other chefs think I’m obsessed to keep ordering it week after week, but I want to have that taste year-round. We a use a confit technique for it.
Photo by Sarah Rau
Pastry Chef April Franqueza's lemon poppy seed cake, made with Meyer lemon curd and lemon buttermilk frosting.
What is your approach to creating the dessert menu?
April: While our guests are sophisticated when it comes to food, not everyone is adventurous, so we make sure we balance classic choices with more experimental ones. Also, some guests want to finish the meal with a rich chocolate dessert while others prefer something light and bright like a sorbet or a fruit-based compote. We want guests to choose their adventure. And we always have a cake on the menu. Our most beloved ones are our Southern chocolate cake with salted caramel butter cream icing and our layered coconut cake. They have been on the menu since we opened and have a cult following; one guest purchased a bunch to give out as Christmas gifts! We have even started offering the chocolate and coconut cakes by the slice, so guests can enjoy them outside of dinner time.
Just like the savory side, we focus on what is in season, so I rotate the cakes. For example, I’ll use Georgia peaches for what I call my peaches-and-cream cake. It’s almond-vanilla layers with fresh peach compote in between and buttercream on the outside. It’s simple, but it’s everything you want a peach cake to be. When it’s peak strawberry season, we make tons of strawberry ice cream and freeze it for the rest of the year—people love having that flavor off-season.
Photo by Molly Harris
This sampling April's desserts and sweet treats includes (clockwise from top left) an Espresso Martini, Chocolate Covered Blackberry (devil’s food cake with blackberry sherbet, and dark chocolate mousse), Strawberry Shortcake Sundae: with crème fraîche and gooey butter cake, and Blueberry Sorbet with lemon mousse, thyme, and toasted pavlova
What are some dishes that we can expect from the summer menus?
Scott: I know it sounds simple, but my peaches-and-tomato salad is a crowd favorite. We candy pecans and add some smoked chili flakes for a burst of flavors. We finish it with plenty of fresh herbs—a basil, mint, and parsley mix and a coating of olive oil and sea salt. I definitely love the corn that we get from Georgia—it’s a summer highlight for me. I craft a corn blend that might remind you of the creamed corn pudding your grandmother might make but with a twist. I slowly cook the corn over the stove and I grill it as well. I take the corn off the cob and add in some smoked peppers. I often serve it with roasted rack of lamb and top it with pickled cucumbers for a crisp refreshing note. I also love bringing in fresh oysters on the half shell. We add caviar to the top of the oyster to make it overly luxurious with a variety of mignonette sauces.
Photo by Molly Harris
Fresh vegetables, raised on the property at High Hampton.
April: We have a High Hampton version of a strawberry sundae that we serve all summer. Its’ a gooey butter cake with notes of vanilla, almond, and lemon with a shortbread crust, strawberry ice cream, and a topping of strawberry crumbles on top. It’s a nostalgic take on the classic strawberry Good Humor ice cream bar. When we have Meyer lemons in the house, I make a lemon poppy seed cake with lemon curd filling. This summer, we are debuting a piña colada pavlova. The meringue is crunchy and crisp on the outside but marshmallow-like on the inside with whipped coconut cream and shaved lime ice granita and a rum-and-pineapple jam with pineapple sorbet topped with dehydrated pineapple chips. It’s an explosion of flavor—the coconut whipped cream coats your mouth and then acidic flavors such as lime wake up your palate.
What’s something that may surprise us about the High Hampton dining experience?
April: Everything is made fresh in-house by our pastry team; nothing is outsourced—all the sour dough bread, hamburger buns, ice cream, sorbet, pizza dough, cinnamon rolls, biscuits, danishes, and coffee cakes. For breakfast, everything is made that morning. There’s nothing like a fresh-from-the-oven croissant. I don’t think anywhere else in Cashiers does this. I’m very passionate about our laminated dough, which I make every weekend. It’s a long process that takes a couple of days, but it’s one of my favorite things to do because it involves such precision and accuracy—and it never goes underappreciated.
Summer Fun at High Hampton
Photo by Sarah Rau
With its bark-sided exterior, wrap-around porches and rustic wood-paneled interiors, the charming Inn at High Hampton embodies the very essence of rustic mountain luxury.
Photo by Molly Harris
Hampton Lake is ideal for paddling the day away or finding a quiet spot to fish for bass and trout.
Photo by Molly Harris
Situated between the dahlia gardens and the Fitness Studio, the tennis and pickleball courts, developed under the direction of Andy Roddick, provide mountain views in every direction, as well as match and open play opportunities for every level of player.
When not enjoying the delicacies crafted by Scott and April and the team, you’ll find plenty to experience without stepping foot off the resort.
If you want to capture some of the freedom of your youth, whether it’s memories of sleepaway camp or simply going to the pool or playing tennis with no set agenda, High Hampton offers plenty of activities to conjure up that sense of endless summer. Swim, canoe, kayak, or fish on Hampton Lake; play a memorable round of golf at the Tom Fazio-designed golf course; enjoy racket sports; or take a hike to experience panoramic views of the mountain landscape. If you want to be low-key, start up a friendly game of croquet—perhaps the winner is rewarded with a slice of coconut cake! With cooler nights, you can end the evening watching the sunset from the inn’s front porch and appreciating this special place that envelops you with its charming embrace.
Learn more about the resort and plan your trip at highhampton.com.
Dahlia Days
Photo by Molly Harris
Guests exploring the dahlia garden during Dahlia Days.
Inspired by the vibrant blooms of the Dahlia Garden, FLOWER Magazine is returning to High Hampton for three days of color and inspiration. Join us at the Inn with FLOWER Magazine Founder and Editor-in-Chief Margot Shaw and special guests Ann Mashburn, Suzanne Kasler, and Christopher Spitzmiller to explore flowers, fashion, design, and more. High Hampton’s very own dahlia gardener Drew English will accompany the event to provide expert input and celebrate the history of dahlias at the Inn. Learn more about the event held August 24-27, 2025.
SPONSORED BY HIGH HAMPTON
By Alice Welsh Doyle
