Chef Nate Allen gave up his Los Angeles life eight years ago to open restaurant Knife & Fork in Spruce Spine, North Carolina, an old mining town with a population of about 2,500.

Radishes so pink they hurt to look at, soft green beans as vibrant as jade, intoxicatingly aromatic lavender, fresh yoghurt made from goat’s milk, the curly, spicy stem of the garlic plant: Knife & Fork’s menu is an ode to the seasons and nature herself. This is exactly why chef Nate Allen came back to North Carolina:

‘In California I could get everything, all the time. Here in North Carolina we’re bound by micro-seasons: some products are only available for a few weeks a year before disappearing again.

Amazing.’