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John C. Fleer
James Beard Award winner
- Discipline
- Other
i. Biography
John C. Fleer has been chef owner of Rhubarb in Asheville, North Carolina, since 2013, and the work has been grounded in Southern cuisine, Appalachian cuisine, and farm-to-table cooking. In Asheville, the region itself becomes part of the method: produce from the surrounding hills, local rhythms, and the food traditions that sit behind the plate all shape the way Fleer cooks. The result is a body of work that reads as steady, local, and attentive to context.
The Path
Training at Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill gave John C. Fleer an early framework of discipline and curiosity before he entered professional kitchens. That education sits behind a career built on exacting standards and strong rooms, where precision and instinct had to work together. Early on, he served as personal chef at Mary Tyler Moore, a role that reflected a high level of trust in his taste and steadiness. The most consequential stretch of his career ran through a sequence of kitchens that kept sharpening the same approach. As executive chef at Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee (1992–2007), John C. Fleer became associated with cooking that draws on landscape and season. He then worked as chef at Canyon Kitchen in Cashiers, North Carolina (2009–2015), another mountain setting where Southern and Appalachian sensibilities had room to register clearly. Across both places, the work stayed focused on ingredients, place, and discipline rather than novelty. Asheville, North Carolina, became the most sustained center of his career. At Rhubarb in Asheville, North Carolina (2013–2024), John C. Fleer’s work took a defined shape as chef/restaurateur, with the restaurant reflecting a rooted and regional point of view. He also served as co-owner at Benne on Eagle in Asheville, North Carolina (2018–2024), extending that presence in the city. Since 2013, he has worked in Asheville, and since 2016 he has been owner of The Rhu, continuing a body of work tied closely to the region and its foodways.
The Work Today
Since 2013, Asheville, North Carolina has remained the center of John C. Fleer’s professional life, and the cooking there continues to draw from Southern cuisine, Appalachian cuisine, and farm-to-table work. Those categories are not treated as abstractions; they show up as an approach shaped by local ingredients, regional traditions, and the practical discipline of working with what the place gives. The style is direct, local, and built from established foodways. Across Rhubarb, The Rhu, and his years at Benne on Eagle, John C. Fleer’s Asheville work has been marked by continuity. The roles change, but the underlying method does not: a chef-owner refining a voice that treats Southern cooking with care, keeps Appalachian cooking specific, and lets sourcing guide the menu without forcing a concept. It is a body of work built on consistency, place, and a close read of region.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of John
What is John C. Fleer's current role?
As of 2026, John C. Fleer is Chef Owner.
Where did John C. Fleer train or study?
John C. Fleer trained at Duke University and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
What recognition has John C. Fleer received?
Outstanding Chef, James Beard Foundation (Semifinalist) (2020).
