Our first stop is in Asheville, where a chef who became fascinated with Jamaican culture during his college years has created his dream restaurant and brewery, and foodies love it.

Let's see how Chef Aaron Thomas is reimagining Caribbean-inspired fusion at Nine Mile.

[upbeat reggae music] - Nine Mile, in a sense, is, first and foremost, it's a restaurant.

Well, we are in the Montford location here.

We opened in 2008.

The concept of the food is lean towards the Caribbean.

We also have our own brewery as well.

We brew our own beer here, so we've got a nice selection of different kinds of beers.

We've got some craft cocktails that we serve on tap here in Montford, and we've got, over in our other locations, a full-service bar where you can get any kind of cocktail you'd like.

- We also have a location in West Asheville and a location in Biltmore Park in South Asheville.

The Montford is the OG.

We call it the Montford Mothership.

Nine Mile is the province or small little town in Jamaica where Bob Marley was born.

When I was, I think it was eighth grade, I bought my first Bob Marley cassette tape, and it was the Live.

It was just called Live, and I bought it.

At that point, I just fell in love with reggae music.

And I remember I always wanted to have dreads in high school, but we weren't allowed to have dreads.

But when I got to college, I was like, "That's it.

I'm not cutting my hair anymore."

I went to Jamaica in '95 on spring break with two of my college buddies, also childhood buddies.

They were cooking this chicken on these old metal barrels.

I don't think I knew what jerk chicken was at the time.

It was the best thing I ever had.

- The inspiration for the Caribbean Fusion definitely came from my partner, Aaron, the chef and the other owner.

The other inspiration was being in Asheville and being a place that had a bunch of creative and quirky restaurants already.

We felt that it would be a good fit to add something to that, something a little more worldly.

The menu started out really small, and we did, I think everything was jerk chicken and a lot of coconut curry sauces.

So over time, we would take our daily specials and add it to the menus.

And so I'm always trying to grow this business in any direction possible, whether it be, you know, getting murals on the wall or a new dish or just keeping non-bile vibrant and alive and fresh.

- I love that it's comfortable food.

Asheville is a foodie city, and we love how tasty the food is.

This is the vegan Meshack.

My partner and I are vegan, and we love that this restaurant is vegan-friendly.

It's what we get every time we come.

- They're very accommodating of diets, so gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, everybody can eat here.

I have also had the backyard bowl, and then I think it's the pesto dish is also excellent, but can't recommend the Meshack enough if you're not sure.

- We run a bed and breakfast, and when I tell guests that just down the street from where we live is Nine Mile, it's Caribbean-influenced food.

It's fish and chicken, lots of vegetables on rice and pasta, and super interesting sauces.

In flavor profiles, you'll get nowhere else.

That's what I love about Nine Mile.

- It's a flavor profile that is fairly unique.

You can get great Chinese.

You can get great Mexican.

The Jamaican flavor is harder to find, and so being a block away, we love it.

I am having the Kingston 12.

It's a little shrimp on pasta, and the sauces they put in there just pop and really bring out the flavors.

- To me, Nine Mile is a vibe.

We have the reggae music playing.

We got the smell of our natty bread, fresh food cooking on the saute station.

We're always trying to do our best.

I think that's part of what makes Nine Mile so special, and I would say if you want fresh vegetables, good flavors, good vibes, good people, that's why you wanna come to Nine Mile.

(upbeat reggae music ends) - The original Nine Mile restaurant is located in Asheville's historic Montfort neighborhood.

For information about their hours and other locations, visit them online at ninemileavl.com.