Here is what to expect: Arrive at 6pm to enjoy welcome cocktail and mingle with our guest chefs. All guests will be seated at 6:30 pm. The format of this dinner consists of four savory courses, served family style, with a sweet bite to finish.
The cost of dinner is $125/person and includes: a welcome cocktail, a cocktail/mocktail option served with the first course, followed by three savory courses and a sweet bite. Our house sommelier, Ryan Radish, will have optional wine pairings available at an additional cost. All proceeds from The Enjoy AM Harvest Dinner dinner series will go straight to the Southern Smoke Foundation, which is a nonprofit organization that supports members of the food and beverage industry nationwide through emergency relief funding and access to mental health services. Visit https://southernsmoke.org/ to learn more.
We will start accepting reservations on Monday, November 25 at 12:00 pm. Here is how to make yours:
Email reservations@enjoyam.com at 12:00 pm or later on Monday, November 25. We kindly request that you include the name and phone number for your reservation + the number of guests in your party and any known food allergies. A member of our team will respond to your email to confirm your reservation as soon as possible. We suggest acting quickly, as reservations will be made in the order in which they are received starting at 12:00 pm. Once we are full, we will operate with a waitlist.
Special thank you to Lexus of Memphis for making this dinner series possible.
MEET OUR GUEST CHEFS FOR MONDAY, DECEMBER 2

Ashley Christensen Chef + Proprietor, AC Restaurants
Since making Raleigh her home, Ashley Christensen has sought to foster community through food, philanthropy and the stimulation of the city’s downtown neighborhood. She is the owner and chef of AC Restaurants, a hospitality group that operates three restaurants, a bar, an events company, and a commissary kitchen.
Ashley began cooking while in college, throwing dinner parties for her friends and family. These intimate gatherings helped her recognize her passion for cooking and sharing food and ultimately led to her first professional cooking job at the age of 21. Upon taking the position, she knew she had found her life’s work.
After working in some of the Triangle’s top kitchens, Ashley opened Poole’s Diner in 2007, which takes its name from the building’s original tenant—one of downtown Raleigh’s first restaurants. Its evolving chalkboard menu of comfort-food classics is re-imagined through a philosophy of locally grown, seasonal ingredients and French-influenced technique. In 2024, it was recognized in Southern Living’s “South’s Best” Awards as the best diner in North Carolina; later that same year, it reached a major milestone with its expansion into the adjoining space. With the increased footprint came the introduction of a wood-fired oven as well as a thoughtful renovation (and preservation) of the original dining room.
In 2011, Ashley opened her next projects, all housed in a corner building once occupied by a Piggly Wiggly. Beasley’s Chicken + Honey is an ode to fried chicken and classic Southern sides; Fox Liquor Bar, housed in the building’s basement, features a menu of rotating craft cocktails, as well as beer, wine and bar snacks.
In the spring of 2015, AC Restaurants introduced Death & Taxes, a restaurant celebrating wood-fire cooking with Southern ingredients, and Bridge Club, a private events loft and cooking classroom. Death & Taxes was a 2016 James Beard Award finalist for Best New Restaurant, and Food & Wine listed it as one the Best New Restaurants of the Year.
When she’s not in the kitchen, Ashley focuses her time on a number of local and regional charities. She has served as a board member of the Frankie Lemmon foundation and is a co-chair of its annual fundraising event, Triangle Wine and Food Experience. She is currently on the board for the Dix Park Conservancy and Shepherd’s Table Soup Kitchen, which serves 200-300 meals daily to downtown Raleigh’s food-insecure population. She is an active member of the Southern Foodways Alliance and founded the biannual event Stir the Pot, in which she hosts visiting chefs in Raleigh to raise funds for the SFA’s documentary initiatives. Ashley’s work has gained national attention from such publications as Bon Appétit, Gourmet, The New York Times, Southern Living, Wall Street Journal, and Garden & Gun. She has appeared on Food Network’s popular series “Iron Chef America” and MSNBC’s “Your Business.”
In 2014, Ashley was awarded the James Beard Award for “Best Chef: Southeast,” and in 2019, she was awarded the James Beard Award in the “Outstanding Chef” category. Ashley was named Chef of the Year by Eater.com in 2017. In the spring of 2021, Ashley received an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from North Carolina State University. She is the author of two cookbooks, Poole’s: Recipes and Stories from a Modern Diner (2016) and It’s Always Freezer Season (2021).

Jason Stanhope Executive Chef, Lowland
Jason Stanhope is the Executive Chef at Lowland in Charleston, SC.
Born and raised in Topeka, Kansas, Stanhope grew up in a family where the ritual of cooking together was an important part of everyday life. He stayed close to home after high school, attending Washburn University and playing for the school’s Division II football team. Stanhope quickly realized his passion lay with food rather than on the field and moved to San Francisco to attend Le Cordon Bleu. After graduation, he spent a few years working in Peru with the Orient- Express Hotel Group under chef Michael Raas, who first taught Stanhope the importance and beauty of high-quality ingredients. Stanhope returned to Kansas in 2005 and joined James Beard Award-winning Chefs Michael Smith and Debbie Gold at 40 Sardines as Chef de Cuisine.
Stanhope came to call Charleston home by chance. He fell in love with the city’s rich epicurean history while on vacation and began looking for job opportunities soon after. Stanhope moved east in 2008 to join chef Mike Lata and his team at FIG, the restaurant that helped introduce Charleston to farm-to-table cooking and garnered national acclaim after opening in 2003. From the beginning, Stanhope and Lata discovered that they shared a similar approach to cooking and ingredients. During his time at FIG, Stanhope grew personally and professionally, and learned the importance of empowerment, timing, and communication. Stanhope joined FIG as Chef-Tournant, worked his way up the culinary ranks, and was named Executive Chef in 2012. He later earned the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Chef: Southeast in 2015.
Stanhope left FIG in 2023 and soon after announced his partnership with Method Co., the Philadelphia-based developer and operator behind Charleston boutique hotel The Pinch. Here, Stanhope oversees Lowland, a Southern tavern serving timeless classics and luxurious comfort food. His love for seasonal ingredients and local purveyors shines at this concept, and creates a warm, welcoming atmosphere that makes guests feel like they’re walking into a dinner party.
When he’s not at the restaurants, Stanhope tends to his home garden and chicken coop, supports several nonprofits in the Charleston community, and spends time with his wife and young sons.