The Restaurant Guys Eric Scheffer | Building Restaurants and Community in Asheville
Why You Should Listen
- From television and advertising to building Asheville’s restaurant scene
- How fine dining, farm-to-table thinking, and wine culture shaped a food town
- The 2008 crisis and a pivot to neighborhood Italian that lasted
- What Hurricane Helene revealed about restaurants as community lifelines
The Banter
Restaurateurs Mark Pascal and Francis Schott set the table with stories starting with Mark’s Uber Eats account taking a hit when his kids order Papa John’s. The banter detours into “taste credit scores,” childhood jobs, and practical tips on chopping onions without the tears.
The Conversation
Eric Scheffer, a defining voice in Asheville’s food scene, shares how he left Los Angeles for a then-sleepy mountain town with few restaurants, buying a modest space and transforming it into The Savoy—white tablecloths, a serious wine program, and a dining scene energized by transplants and early farm-to-table momentum. The Guys explore what made Asheville fertile ground prior to the 2008 financial crisis and Eric’s pivot toward affordable, nostalgic Italian-American comfort that resonated deeply, along the way touching on Cindy Lauper, a makeover for a bank loan, and why collaboration beats competition.
The Inside Track
Hurricane Helene becomes the proof point: restaurant people feed people. Eric describes coordinating water, reopening kitchens, helping operators get online, and leaning on relationships to mobilize quickly. The Guys connect this to their core belief that independent restaurants aren’t food dispensaries; they’re community infrastructure.
Timestamps
00:00 – Welcome to The Restaurant Guys
02:00 – Uber Eats scandal & childhood hustles
08:00 – Introducing Eric Scheffer: from Brooklyn and LA to Asheville
17:45 – Cindy Lauper and fitting in North Carolina
20:25 – Hurricane Helene: restaurants feeding the community
32:21 – Wrap-up and the Guys’ take on “B markets”
Guest Bio
Eric Scheffer is a restaurateur and hospitality leader based in Asheville, North Carolina. Originally from Brooklyn, he left a career in television and advertising to build The Savoy into a nationally recognized fine-dining destination with a serious wine program. After the 2008 financial crisis, he shifted toward neighborhood-driven concepts and became a founding force behind the Asheville Independent Restaurant Association.
Info
https://www.thescheffergroup.com/
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