Meet PCG Member – Steven Goff: Punk Rock Chef

Piedmont Culinary Guild member Chef Steven Goff’s story doesn’t start off in a predictable way.

The young chef-to-be didn’t grow up in his family’s kitchen, watching his mother cook or learning hands-on with a grandmother. Instead, Steven had a bit of a crazy childhood.

Born in Richmond, California, Steven’s family moved to Greenville, South Carolina when he was in elementary school. His fellow students picked on him and his California style, and he felt judged that his mother, a lunch lady, and stepfather, a truck driver, weren’t bringing home as much money as others.

“I wasn’t a very happy child,” said Steven.

Fast forward to high school, when Steven walked away from home at age 15.

“I was incredibly punk rock. I always had a giant Mohawk, got tattoos, funny hair, funny clothes, and I had a criminal record. So you can either work in construction or work in kitchens. I chose kitchens.”

For the next eleven years, Steven hopped from city to city, essentially homeless with criminal record following him around. But everywhere he went, he cooked. No matter where he was (California, New Orleans, Atlanta, Charleston, Raleigh, and Asheville, to name a few), Steven found himself in the kitchen.

“I chose kitchens because they were just like punk rock,” he said. “Fast, energetic, phonetic.”

When Steven was 21, he tried enrolling in culinary school to receive proper training, but he hadn’t built a credit history, so he couldn’t get approved for a loan.

In 2003, Steven moved to Asheville, North Carolina, where he quickly found himself in trouble when he was arrested at a protest. This setback caused a delay in his true love for the city. But he eventually found his way, attending Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College in 2006 and meeting his future wife.

While Steven always claimed that he “didn’t do southern cuisine” because of his birthplace, he had a change of heart when he learned to use local products from wherever he was to “pay attribute to the history” of the cities he cooked in. He typically builds his recipes based on history books rather than cookbooks.

Steven opened his first restaurant, King James Public House, in Asheville, but after issues with investors, he closed it down. He then moved to Raleigh, North Carolina, in 2015 where he helped a friend open Standard Foods as their butcher.

Steven has always been adamant about a no-waste policy, working with whole animals from “nose to tail.” He saw a lost of waste living on the streets and developed a strong distaste for waste of any kind.

“A no-waste policy is what I live on,” he said.

That was also the year he was introduced to the Piedmont Culinary Guild by Chef Chris Coleman of Stoke in Charlotte.

“I first met Steven through the Competition Dining Series,” said Chris. “He was the only Asheville chef that was coming down to Charlotte to compete, and I was a huge admirer of the work he was doing up there. I remember talking to him about the Guild at the media day meet-up for the Series at Bonterra and encouraging him to check it out since he wanted to be more connected with what was happening in Charlotte and across the state.”

Steven loved the idea of joining a community of like-minded chefs, so that’s exactly what he did. Since joining the PCG, he’s participated in various events, such as the PCG Food & Beverage Symposium and the Farm To Fork tasting at Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden.

He says he is also grateful for the people he’s met and realizes his PCG membership is an excellent way to continue to meet more.

“Networking is one of the most important things you can do in the food business,” he said.

While he has ample farmers to work with in Asheville, he enjoys partnering with Charlotte purveyors (like mushroom grower Hiram Ramirez of Urban Gourmet Farms) when working events in this area. He’s also a firm believer in the popular phrase “all ships rise” and says that “all of North Carolina needs to be together” and “be a united front.”

Since joining the Guild, Steven opened Brinehaus Meat + Provisions food truck in Raleigh and moved it (and his family) back to Asheville. In February of this year, he opened his new restaurant, Aux Bar, in an old punk rock club he used to hang out at in 2003. Talk about full circle.

“When I came here [Asheville], I was a homeless guy with nothing. Now I have a career and a wife and a daughter. I’m still learning to make good food, but I’m on the right path.”

As for his future with the Piedmont Culinary Guild, Steven hopes to create a PCG sister guild in his home city to keep “progressing ideals and values to other chefs, farmers and artisans across the state.”

Only time will tell where this punk rockstar chef goes next.

Profile written by Allie Papajohn