Gina Smith

Writer, editor, collaborator

United States

Gina Smith is an award-winning journalist based in Asheville, North Carolina. A professional writer for nearly 20 years, Gina started her career reporting community and school news for The Charlotte Observer. Since 2013, she has covered Asheville's innovative, eclectic and widely celebrated food, beverage and agriculture scenes as a staff and contributing editor and reporter for publications including Eater Carolinas, Mountain Xpress, and Edible Asheville. She also contributes regularly to Farm Bureau and state Department of Agriculture publications across the U.S.

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Portfolio
Eater Carolinas
02/25/2021
18 Essential Asheville Restaurants

Easily overlooked in its unassuming strip mall space on Patton Avenue, Taqueria Muñoz has become an obsessed-over local culinary treasure for its lush and flavorful sopes, tortas, tacos, burritos, tamales, and quesadillas as well as specialties like birria, pupusas, pollo con mole, and caldo de res.

Farm Flavor
11/28/2022
Growing Indiana 2023

A guide to Indiana's farms, food and commerce, Growing Indiana is published in partnership with the Indiana State Department of Agriculture and features stories about the state's top crops, livestock, agribusiness, tourism, food safety and local products.

Mountain Xpress
10/20/2022
What is the quintessential WNC dish?

It was sometime during that slow, gray period right before Valentine's Day 2020 - back when we all still imagined the coming year might be something less awful than the devastating global dumpster fire it soon proved to be - that I first read about Knoxville, Tenn.'s steamed hoagies.

Edible Asheville
11/10/2022
Cooking From Memory | Fall 2022 | Edible Asheville

From her upbringing in a traditional Cantonese-speaking Chinese family in Toronto to a soccer scholarship at a Southern Baptist college in Mississippi where she first came out as queer, then swapping careers in her 30s from banking to cooking, J Chong's life has been full of change and adaptation.

Edible Asheville
11/22/2022
Savoring the Past | Fall 2022 | Edible Asheville

One of the key components of Asheville's distinctive charm is its antique architectural gems. From towering downtown structures to single-story storefronts throughout the city, buildings designed in the Gothic, Art Deco, Neoclassical, and Romanesque Revival styles are a hallmark of the city's beauty.

Mountain Xpress
02/05/2021
COVID-19 long-haulers struggle to reclaim their lives

Research from China, Italy and the United States indicates that anywhere from 50% to 80% of those who contract COVID-19 still experience symptoms of what's come to be called "long COVID" many months after the initial infection with the virus. Xpress talks to patients and health care providers to understand how the phenomenon is affecting lives in Western North Carolina.

Spirited Magazine
07/30/2019
The Crawl: Asheville, N.C. | Spirited Magazine

Mountain vistas, quirky culture, and remarkable restaurant and arts communities-there's definitely something special about Asheville, N.C., that draws people in. Rooted in a resilient Appalachian heritage but absorbing influences from around the globe, this small city (population hovers around 90,000) nurtures an exceptional spirit of creativity and collaboration.