The following article originally appeared on the Asheville Independent Restaurants’s AIRfare newsletter. Subscribe for additional local restaurant coverage.
Trevor Payne applies the folly of putting square pegs in round holes to his philosophy on opening a restaurant. “I am a big believer in not forcing a concept into a location, but rather thinking about what the location needs,” he says.
The menu for Tall John’s — the restaurant Payne opened on Montford Avenue in October — is the culinary realization of an elevated neighborhood tavern with a nod to classic bistro fare. Steak tartare, Caesar salad, roasted chicken, and a cheeseburger with fries are mainstays. The beverage program complements that with cocktails like a tall Tom Collins renamed a John Collins, a rum daiquiri, and that sultry cold-weather warmer, a Negroni.
The interior of the three-level, wood-sided building that has historically been a market, a church, and most recently, Chiesa restaurant, has been opened up to create a space without divisions or zones. “From the [open] kitchen I can see the bar and people at the bar can see the kitchen,” says Payne. “We have 11 seats at the kitchen counter, 14 at the bar proper and 22 in the dining room. Everyone is together and it’s lively and fun.”
It’s the welcoming space he envisioned for the neighborhood his wife, Lillian, grew up in and they visited from their former home in Portland, Oregon, every year. “I had my eye on this building since it became a restaurant nine years ago,” Payne explains. “When we moved back here in May 2020, and my first location in the River Arts District didn’t work out, I made a cold call on this building. Once this started to become a possibility, I pivoted from my original full-on diner concept to what does this neighborhood want. How do we fit into the ecosystem already here? The idea of a neighborhood tavern emerged.”
Payne’s frame of reference was colored by long-standing taverns in the boroughs of New York and districts in London and Montreal, as well as 14 years of experience in Portland, where he was in the thick of opening four high-profile restaurants. It took coming home to Asheville to realize his dream of opening his own.
His unlikely start was a high school job at the Outback Steakhouse on Tunnel Road. “At the time, everything on the menu, with the exception of the kids’ chicken tenders and bread, was made from scratch,” he remembers. “I worked on prep, on the line. I was making buckets of dressing, breaking down 200 pounds of onions, and slicing steaks off subprimals. I was a kid with a knife in my hand, learning to keep up. I loved it and have not deviated from that.”
While attending Appalachian State in Boone, he worked four years slinging pizzas at the Mellow Mushroom there. He purchased and pored over used cookbooks, particularly taken by The French Laundry Cookbook by Thomas Keller. “It was a whole world I wanted to get into and knew I had to leave Asheville to do it.”
Payne did his App State externship at a small culinary school in Portland, falling in love with the town and its burgeoning restaurant culture. During that time, he threw himself into a job as late-night cook at Clyde Common restaurant (where he first met Asheville hospitality visionary Charlie Hodge, who set up the Clyde Common bar program). Within four months, he transitioned to a line position, working through all the stations under the tutelage of chef Jason Barwikowski, whom he would later help open Olympia Provisions in his first sous chef position.
Payne then landed at Le Pigeon under James Beard-winning chef Gabe Rucker, and later was on the opening team for Le Pigeon’s phenomenally successful sister restaurant, Little Bird Bistro. He followed Little Bird’s chef, Erik Van Kley, to open Taylor Railworks, which fell victim to poor location and bad timing. “That was some of the best food of my career and valuable learning experience in hindsight,” says Payne.
Timing played into his and Lillian’s decision to move back to Asheville with their young son Jack (they now also have a daughter, Lucy), as well as a growing desire to open his own place. “In the indie restaurant scene, there is a ceiling, and the only way to get through that ceiling is to transition to ownership,” Payne says. “Coming back to Asheville helped me recharge and think about what I wanted to do and how.”
Key to the successful opening of Tall John’s was the hire of general manager Jasper Adams, another Asheville native who is close with Lillian’s family. “I am a very team-oriented person and needed a GM who was a collaborator,” says Payne. “I spent $1,000 putting an ad for a GM in major markets all over the country, and Jasper showed up from the neighborhood. When he came on, we really sunk our teeth into the concept. Tall John’s would have been a great restaurant with someone else, but with Jasper it’s more authentic.”
Since opening on Oct. 19, Tall John’s has more than met Payne’s hopes and expectations. “’The vast majority of our business is local, and the repeat business has been stunning,” he says. “Our tagline is “a place for all occasions,’ and people feel comfortable here. The idea we developed and worked so hard for really landed, and people are using it in the way we hoped they would. There’s a genuine happiness in the restaurant that is just so gratifying.”
For more on Tall John’s, visit talljohns.com.
Written by Kay West, edited by Gina Smith, Asheville Independent Restaurants.