Bev’s Steak is named for chef Jake Whitman’s grandmother Beverly, whose love of Iron Chef Japan sparked his interest in cooking.

As the name of the restaurant indicates, people can expect to find steak at Bev’s Steak, down a flight of stairs from Cherry Street in Black Mountain. In fact, one section of the menu is succinctly labeled Steak, and includes a NY strip, a filet mignon and 14 ounce Wagyu beef Delmonico.

It’s the unexpected that Ali and chef Jake Whitman hope will be equal parts intriguing and so delicious that first-time diners become regulars in the elegant subterranean room with exposed brick, black walls and ceiling, warm golden lighting, and polished concrete floors. Seating for 50 is provided at custom-built wood tables, plush leather chairs, and a dozen swanky bar stools with curved backs sidled up to the long bar.

Under the trio of beef cuts in the steak section of the menu is also duck breast, an elk loin and a pork Denver presa steak, a premium cut of pork from the shoulder of the Iberian pig, known for its intricate marbling.

“We encourage people to think of steak outside the box as we do,” Ali says. “A really good duck cut is like a steak for us. A lot of times people can’t tell the difference between our Iberico pork and a ribeye. We are sourcing these really nice proteins from farmers who are caring for these animals in such a way they’re not stressed or over produced.”

Diners can expect to find potatoes to accompany their steak – or duck – but the sweet potato won’t be the bright orange hue and sweet flavor of the conventional southern variety because chef Jake prefers the nutty, cheesy taste of Japanese sweet potatoes, with reddish-purple skin and white interior.

The Murasaki potato is one of many Japanese and Asian influences found on Bev’s menu, an interest first sparked when Jake was a boy who spent afternoons cooking with his grandmother Beverly when he visited her South Florida home. “Jake loved to be in the kitchen with her, and she loved to watch Iron Chef Japan,” Ali explains.

That early  immersion with his grandmother – for whom the restaurant is named – caught fire at AB-Tech’s Culinary Arts program, and was honed as he worked his way through kitchens in Black Mountain; then Asheville (Ben’s Tune Up, Zambra and The Admiral among them);  Swannanoa, where he and Ali opened Loott House, and then back to Black Mountain, where Jake and Ali  partnered with Heidi and Richard King to open The Pure & Proper. (The Whitmans are no longer partners in P&P.)

Jake and Ali first met in Black Mountain’s Que Sera, when he was a line cook and she worked front of house summers at home from college. They married in 2014; he continued to pursue his professional ascent while she worked in sales in art galleries, as a consultant for private collectors and became a realtor with GreyBeard.

When the couple determined that Jake was ready to have a place of his own to explore and express his own culinary vision, they at first looked anywhere but Black Mountain. “There is so much happening in Black Mountain the last few years we were concerned about over-saturation,” Ali explains. “But then we decided we wanted to be part of making Black Mountain a dining destination.” In July 2025 they signed the lease on Suite C at 117 Cherry Street.

Ali, a Black Mountain native, recalls the address as home to a restaurant called The Cellar Door and then the Black Mountain Ale House, which some locals still call it. That presented another challenge. “The space itself has lots of amazing qualities and elements we wanted to keep, but at the same time, we didn’t want anyone to feel like they were in any of the former restaurants.”

They kept the brick, but had their contractor put up some walls to give tables a bit more intimacy and move the eye about the shotgun space. Ali spent five months thrifting and at estate sales, though the chairs and bar stools are new and their contractor built the tables. As an experienced installer, she tackled the difficulty of hanging art on brick. And dismissed the doubt from her painter when she told him to paint the walls and ceiling black. “He thought I was insane,” she says with a laugh. “But I knew it was going to work.”

Jake was assembling his kitchen staff from cooks and chefs he had worked with before, sourcing products and building his menu. American steakhouse staples – like French onion soup, baby iceberg wedge and a Caesar – receive international touches. There will always be a raw section – oysters on the half shell, as well as Hamachi crudo and chirashi, a Japanese sushi rice bowl.

Small sharing plates may introduce some diners to Japanese milk bread and okonomiyaki, while also offering the familiar taste of fritters and butternut squash. A mid-winter menu lists a la carte sides like blue corn grits, creamed kale, roasted mushrooms and steak fries with chili crisp aioli.

Bev’s menu will certainly change seasonally, dependent on product availability, but also guided by Jake’s curiosity. “Jake loves to experiment and try new things,” Ali says. “We eventually want to add weekend lunch, so he’s tested a lot of new recipes on some lunch pop-ups.” One of the items – a broth free wagyu ramen bowl – was such a hit that it segued to the dinner menu. Other new dishes are Mushroom Tortellini with duxelles & ricotta, marinara and Parmesan foam, and braised pork belly with Jimmy-red corn grits, Kabocha squash, pickled onion, charred scallion and peanuts.

“It’s always tricky to put yourself out there,” Ali admits. “But we decided to go for it. We hope people will come in with an open mind. In our first three months, the greatest thing is seeing people order something totally unfamiliar to them, then light up when they try it, and then come back and order it again. Seeing people here for the second and third time is just a warm and wonderful welcome.”

More about Bev’s Steak.

— Written by Kay West

Photos courtesy of Bev’s Steak.