Over Yonder • "Over Yonder" is a new destination restaurant in Valle Crucis, near Blowing Rock, Boone, Banner Elk, and Linville in The Western North Carolina High Country mountains. Designed, owned and managed by the award-winning Mast Farm Inn, "Over Yonder" restaurant tells the story of historic Appalachian cuisine in a picturesque setting atop the rolling hills and peaks of Valle Crucis, North Carolina. Located across from the Original Mast General Store, a few hundred yards from The Mast Farm Inn. See menu & pricing below.
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Over Yonder opened on Tuesday, June 3rd, 2014, and serves lunch & dinner on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, & Saturday from 11:00AM to 8:00PM, and Sunday from Noon to 8:00PM. Closed on Tuesday. While reservations are not required and most times seating is immediate, wait times can vary by day, season or holidays. If your party is on a tight schedule or averse to waiting call (828) 963-6301 for reservations or use the online reservation form available by clicking here.

PRESS RELEASE | Valle Crucis, North Carolina, May 25th, 2014 | OVER YONDER: A NEW RESTAURANT BY THE MAST FARM INN AND CHEF ANDREW LONG | "Over Yonder" is the latest initiative by the owners of the award-winning historic Mast Farm Inn and Chef Andrew Long, now also a partner at The Mast Farm Inn. Chef Andrew Long has for years created a following of enthusiastic diners in The High Country, Over Yonder is a new restaurant that tells the story of historic Appalachian cuisine in a picturesque setting atop the rolling hills and peaks of Valle Crucis, North Carolina at 3608 North Carolina Highway 194, across from the Original Mast General Store, formerly the location of the restaurant 1861 Farmhouse.

Valle Crucis is North Carolina’s first rural historic district and the entire community is officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Visitors and locals alike enjoy taking in cool mountain air at the community park, hiking the sacred grounds of the old Episcopal Mission, and fishing for trout in the Watauga River. Over Yonder offers a relaxing break from the recreational activities of the valley, whether sharing a skillet of stone ground gouda grits or just sipping on a frosty mason jar of beer on the porch. No visit to The High Country is complete until you visit The Original Mast General Store, which has been serving Valle Crucis since 1883 and continues to be a daily stop for locals looking to restock the pantry or mail a letter. Over Yonder, just up the hill overlooking the store, continues the theme of authentic rural Appalachian living.

Over Yonder resides in the "Hard" Taylor house, built by Henry Taylor in 1861 with hickory and hemlock milled directly from his own land. On entering the building, the two rooms on the left showcase the brick that Henry crafted by hand from his own brickyard. Henry’s son Thomas Hardester "Hard" Taylor expanded the house around 1895 adding amenities such as indoor plumbing and a closet in every bedroom, otherwise unheard of in Valle Crucis at that time. The Hard Taylor house also played an important role in the community, serving as the Post Office, until it later moved across the street, to the Original Mast General Store, where it resides today. Hard Taylor and his wife Vicki served as postmasters until 1928, and their original certificates naming them to their positions are still hanging on the wall near the entryway.

A new chapter begins in the Hard Taylor house as it is transformed into Over Yonder by The Mast Farm Inn and Chef Andrew Long. Long welcomes the opportunity to expand his culinary vision with the new outlet, but faithful fans of The Mast Farm Inn need not worry, he remains the executive chef and in the kitchen of the Inn’s restaurant Simplicity.

Says Long, "We are ecstatic about the potential of Over Yonder as the perfect setting to really pay homage to the Southern traditions of our little pocket of Appalachia. We will continue the theme that we present at Simplicity: local, ingredient-driven cuisine and garden-based cooking, it will just be on a more casual level. Think grits and soup beans, potlikker and chow chow."

Luke Taylor, a veteran of local establishments Bistro Roca and Crippen’s Restaurant as well as Long’s sous-chef at Simplicity at The Mast Farm Inn, will helm the kitchen at Over Yonder. "You won’t find a chef around here that has the respect for traditional Southern Food that Luke has", states Long. "He’s a true student of our craft, always preserving the past with techniques of the present".

Over Yonder features a large, wrap-around porch with stunning views of the valley, and a large back porch where diners can relax near the pond and the large organic garden, designed and managed by Long’s wife Megan, who also manages the micro farm at The Mast Farm Inn. "We’ve always had great relationships with our local farmers", says Long, "and now we have two amazing gardens from which we can pull fresh home-grown foods". In keeping with the theme of historic Appalachian dining, the garden at Over Yonder will produce fresh vegetables that will be used for pickling and chow chow, featured on the restaurant’s burger and pimento cheese dish, respectively. "It surprises some folks when I tell them a lifelong dream of mine has been to have a restaurant with a seriously amazing cheeseburger", says Long. "But details matter in cooking as they do in all things, and it’s the details that make a great burger". The "Valle" cheeseburger features dry aged pastured beef, local hoop cheese, house made pickles and mayo, and fresh cut ribbon fries tossed in pork fat, rosemary, and sea salt.

Asked if there are any other concepts developing for The Mast Farm Inn Long chuckles, "Definitely. But we think baby steps are best when it comes to opening restaurants. For now we just want to focus on amazing casual lunches at Over Yonder and exceptional fine dining at The Mast Farm Inn."

Click here or on the graphic above to see, print or download the "Over Yonder" menu

Media Contact & For More Information
Chef Andrew Long
The Mast Farm Inn
2543 Broadstone Road
Historic Valle Crucis
Banner Elk, North Carolina 28604
Phone: 828.963.5857
E-Mail: andrew.long@themastfarminn.com

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The Mast Farm Inn is an award-winning historic country inn & restaurant in the Valle Crucis Historical District of North Carolina, which has been welcoming guests since the 1800s. The Mast Farm Inn is a Historic Hotels of America hotel, a Select Registry Inn, and is on The National Register of Historic Places.

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