PRESS RELEASE from Ruka’s Table
Highlands, N.C. (September 9, 2014) Executive Chef Justin Burdett of Ruka’s Table in Highlands, N.C., is now serving a full lunch menu available daily from 12 p.m. through 3 p.m. Additionally, chef Burdett also offers to cook “off-menu” for patrons, allowing them to enjoy his culinary creativity, in lieu of ordering a la carte off the menu.
Chef Burdett’s style of cooking utilizes local, seasonal ingredients and his philosophy is to use every part of the product. Chef Burdett makes every item in house, including cheeses, breads, vinegars, sorbets and desserts. “I find inspiration in my southern Appalachian ancestry, which is rooted in local and seasonal ingredients. It’s a style of cooking that my grandparents and those before them practiced for centuries. My culinary style is a homage to them; its foundation is in the same tradition, but I’ am adding my own artistic interpretation to keep it fresh on the plate,” states Chef Burdett.
The new lunch menu consists of the following dishes, but changes based upon seasonal availability:
Soups & Salads
Local Lettuce, Heirloom Tomatoes, Cucumber, Croutons, Buttermilk Dressing $7
Peach & Tomato Salad, Vidalia Onion, Cucumber, Basil, Hot Pepper Vinaigrette $7
Summer Corn & Vanilla Bean Soup, Brown Butter $5
Heirloom Tomato Soup, Black Pepper, Basil $5
Sandwiches
Served with your choice of side
Ham & Cheese, House Cured Ham, Swiss Cheese, Multigrain $10
Chicken Salad, Lettuce, Tomato, Multigrain $9
Egg Salad, White Bread $8
Griddled House Made Pimento Cheese, Sourdough $8
B.L.T., Nueske’s Bacon, Heirloom Tomato, Local Lettuce, Multigrain $10
Ruka’s House Burger, Brasstown Beef, Humboldt Fog, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion $12
House Roasted Brasstown Beef, Havarti, Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Mustard $10
Sides
Fried Potatoes with Aioli
Fried Okra
Squash Slaw
Grilled Corn with Citrus Butter
Recent chef’s tasting dinner items included:
Cauliflower espuma, cauliflower mushrooms, cauliflower rice stir fried with quail egg, scuppernong grapes, pickled concord grapes, trout roe
Grilled Yukina Savoy, juniper vinaigrette, parmesan cheese, fried chicken skin, boquerones
Braised Lobster, lobster consommé, tomatoes, lobster mushrooms, sunflower sprouts
Seared Daikon radish braised in butter, radish juice reduced to a gastrique with sorghum, pickled radish, raw radish, radish sprouts
Seared Scallop, grilled peaches, raspberry puree, juniper vinaigrette, trout roe, micro greens
Fried Veal Sweetbreads, kimchee, cucumbers, sorghum reduction, micro greens
Ribs in a sorghum reduction with serrano chilis, collard slaw with apples, celery and radish
For more information about Ruka’s Table and chef Burdett, visit www.rukastable.com.
About Justin Burdett
As the executive chef of Ruka’s Table since the summer in 2012, chef Burdett fuses his extensive knowledge and experience of farm-to-table practices with his devout passion for locally sourced and foraged products and authentic Southern fare. In March 2013 and 2014, Food & Wine named chef Burdett one of the top new chefs in the southeast with The People’s Best New Chef contest and in November 2013, StarChefs.com™, the award-winning online magazine for culinary insiders, announced chef Burdett one of its 2013 Carolina Rising Stars Awards honoring up-and-coming chefs and culinary professionals who represent the vanguard of the contemporary American dining scene. Burdett was honored as a new-and-notable chef at the 2014 Charleston Wine + Food festival for the new-and-notable chef’s dinner, an invitation only extended to three national chefs. Additionally, Burdett cooked his farmstead feast at the James Beard House in early April of 2014, highlighting his artistic culinary spin on his Appalachian roots.
About Ruka’s Table
Located in the mountain town of Highlands, N.C., Ruka’s Table offers a variety of inventive dishes, showcasing sophisticated Southern flavors. The restaurant proudly partners with local farms to sources fresh proteins and produce in support of the local slow food movement. Every dish is made from scratch, including its cheese, with seasonal and local ingredients, to invoke a homemade feel along with its authentic and rustic menu.
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