Ashleigh Shanti is chef and creator of Asheville, North Carolina-based pop up fish fry, Good Hot Fish. Her cuisine honors Black foodways while also paying homage to her coastal Virginia upbringing where she stripped collard greens before she could walk.

After earning her Bachelor’s in Marketing at Hampton University, Ashleigh studied Culinary Arts at Baltimore International College. She honed her skills at a variety of restaurants ranging from Northern Italian to classic French but Southern Appalachian cuisine is her culinary love language. Ashleigh was awarded 2019 Eater Young Gun and named a 2020 finalist for James Beard “Rising Star Chef of the Year” award during her tenure as Chef de Cuisine at John Fleer’s Benne on Eagle. She can currently be seen competing on Bravo’s Top Chef Houston.

When she’s not in the kitchen, Ashleigh can be found outdoors- birding, foraging or hiking the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains with her 10 year old Vizsla, Roux and her lovely partner, Meaghan.