ASHEVILLE – Highly acclaimed Chef Ashleigh Shanti opened Good Hot Fish Jan. 20 in Asheville’s South Slope neighborhood. The restaurant preserves and celebrates Black history through its food and decor, bringing Southern fish camps and Gullah cuisine to Asheville’s brewing district.
Covers of Jet magazine are pasted to the lunch counter in front of the open kitchen. The sounds of Black jazz musician Hank Mobley travels through the business. Photos taken by Black Asheville photographer Andrea Clark line the walls.
But the night of Feb. 3, Shanti claims a group of people tried to interrupt her business with a racist act.
In a Feb. 6 Instagram post through the restaurant’s account, Shanti said the group defaced Good Hot Fish’s entrance with a racist sticker and cut the power of the newly opened restaurant.
“Last Saturday, around closing time, a group of racists were doing what they do best and decided to shut the power off to our dining room while our last guests were enjoying their dinner,” Shanti said. “They then ran away, like cowards, when confronted by a guest and an employee but not before outfitting our entrance with this disgusting sticker.”