By Deborah Salomon

Feature Writer

Good food isn't enough. Ashten's in Southern Pines won first place in The Best Dish in North Carolina, the official restaurant competition of the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, because chef-owner Ashley Van Camp and staff are obsessed with building a menu around local ingredients.

"Very local - just down the road," Van Camp says, citing produce from Fussy Gourmet, Pots Aplenty and others.

The contest, sponsored by Our State magazine, judges how well a restaurant showcases and markets North Carolina ingredients. In 2009, Ashten's was a finalist in the Fine Dining category.

"This isn't just a food competition," Van Camp says. "It's about how you educate your customers. We learned from last year how to (better) market ourselves."

Her staff is trained to identify ingredient origins and then tested on the information. Purveyors are also listed on the menu. The restaurant has hosted farmers' dinners, with the grower on site to answer questions.

Tim Parrish, food service marketing specialist for the state agriculture department says the goal of the contest, which began in 2006, is to raise awareness of what is grown locally, when it is available and how it can be used.

"We're struggling to get the message out," Parrish says.

Sixty restaurants entered in the fine and casual dining categories. Judges noted more creativity this year, Parrish says.

The contest allowed participants to choose a time frame between May 1 and July 31.

Van Camp and Chef Matthew Hannon, formerly of Elliott's on Linden, chose May "because of Gary Priest's asparagus, which we turned into a strudel," Van Camp says.

Submissions also included Council Farms egg drop soup ($6), N.C. mountain trout salad ($10), Rainbow Farm braised lamb shoulder, with pasta and farmers' market vegetables ($28) and polenta and strawberry shortcake ($6).

These seasonal dishes have been replaced on the menu with fallish eggplant lasagna, pork and beef and N.C. milled grits.

Several judges visited the restaurant. Awards were announced in August. A banner hangs over the New Hampshire Avenue location.

Van Camp expects the award, along with a full-page ad in Our State, to attract new diners. She ultimately attributes the success to teamwork in the kitchen and developing and implementing ideas - season by season, crop by crop.

Van Camp isn't sure her team, which includes pastry chef Jen Curtis, will defend their title in 2011.

"It's a lot of extra work," Van Camp says. "Maybe we'll give somebody else a chance."

Contact Deborah Salomon at debsalomon@hot-mail.com.