Ashley Boyd: 300 East (Charlotte, NC)

Chef Ashley Boyd's self-written tagline on Instagram is "restaurant kid for life." She is the culinary director of 300 East in Charlotte, NC, the family business where she spent long afternoons as a child and later worked in various positions as age allowed. After graduating from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Ashley quickly returned to restaurant work and worked in spots in Chicago, Charleston and Detroit before coming home to Charlotte. In September 2015, she took on the pastry chef position at Heritage Food + Drink in Waxhaw, and during her two-year tenure at Heritage, the dessert program was recognized by Southern Living as one of the 10 best in the South. Ashley has been featured in numerous publications, including Food & Wine, and she is highly respected by her industry peers as not only an accomplished chef, but an inspiration and influence for the region's cuisine.