Denver’s Seth Rubin left the South more than a decade ago, but he never lost his love for a flaky buttermilk biscuit. For years, the Chapel Hill native baked for grateful friends before Saturday morning bike rides in the mountains. A few years ago, he turned his hobby into a business, Rise & Shine Biscuit Kitchen & Café, which gained a loyal following among displaced Southerners and mile-high converts who know a good thing when they taste it.
Rubin insists on traditional technique—like baking in small batches and incorporating butter by hand—but he experiments with ingredients to put a contemporary twist on the buttermilk classic. The biscuit kitchen offers a different flavor every day of the month, from cheddar jalapeño to chipotle honey to manchego green onion. “One of my favorite flavors is curry,” Rubin says. “It’s great with fried chicken, Havarti cheese, and strawberry jam.”
His brown sugar bacon biscuits (recipe below) are good on their own and heavenly as the base for egg sandwiches.
Margaret Houston
