Breakfast

Breakfast matters more here than in most towns, because everything good in this valley happens early. Elk in Cataloochee at first light, the ski lifts at open, the Parkway before the haze sets in. All of it wants you fed and moving before the day gets away from you.

The valley’s two breakfast rooms are the classic mountain kind: pancakes, eggs, country meat, coffee that keeps coming. Neither is quick on a summer Saturday, so build in the wait or get there when they unlock the door.