The Bush Farmhouse

The Bush Farmhouse is not in the bush, nor is it a farmhouse. It is, in fact, a rustic chef-owned restaurant at the end of a two-lane road one block from downtown Black Mountain, North Carolina. In the fully realized vision of charismatic and charmingly eccentric owner Mark Henegan, it is a culinary and experiential love letter to his native South Africa, its squeaky front door a portal to another world.

“Growing up in Africa, the bush was always a special, happy place for me,” Henegan says. “My father would say ‘Let’s go to the bush this weekend’ and we’d stay in safari lodges, look at game life, and my dad cooked.”

The only live animals to see at The Bush Farmhouse—aside from guests’ dogs—is a flock of chickens and a strutting rooster that frequently and loudly announces his presence, all (mostly) confined to a fenced area in the rear of the property. Though fowl is on the dinner menu, no bush poultry is harmed in the process; they do contribute to the Bushman Breakfast (served daily until 3 p.m.), a hearty plate of scrambled eggs, boërewors (more on this below), bacon, mushrooms, tomato, chakalaka (a cabbage, carrot, and baked bean relish), toast, jam, and butter.

Boërewors—pronounced BOO-ruh-VORS—is a South African farmer sausage of seasoned minced meats, prepared locally for Henegan. It makes multiple appearances in the protein-heavy fare—smeared with chutney and baked in puff pastry; as a sandwich on a soft Amoroso roll; as an entrée with pap, a South African comfort food staple made of maize meal and similar to Southern grits; and on the hefty braai platter, cooked on the open-flame outdoor grill with lamb chops and ribeye.

“The word for grill in South Africa is braai,” explains Skyler Henegan, general manager and co-owner with his father, Mark, and brother, Troy. “In the States, people say they’re having a cookout; in South Africa, you’re having a braai.”

Mark Henegan immigrated to the US in 1987 to pursue his culinary career; both his sons were born in Brooklyn, where in 1999 he had opened Madiba restaurant, a tribute to his homeland named to honor Nelson Mandela. Not long after 9/11, seeking a quieter place to raise the boys, he took the advice of a friend and moved to Western North Carolina, first to Asheville, then to Black Mountain. He commuted between North Carolina and Brooklyn until he closed Madiba in 2018 and took a break from the restaurant business. It didn’t last.

“I knew this building and always loved it,” Henegan says. “It reminded me of my grandmother’s house; she had chickens and pigs. When I saw it was for lease, I called the landlord and told her I wanted to make it a restaurant.”

He recruited his sons to help him turn the rambling old house into a rambling restaurant, adding a professional kitchen in the center between the front dining area and more table seating in the rear covered, all-weather porch, where regulars cozy up to the long bar to drink and dish. All of it is jammed with memorabilia from Africa and Madiba, and shelves are stocked with imported products and wine from South Africa.

They also turned what Skyler describes as a dirt pit into spacious outdoor dining, adding a stage, play areas for kids, raised deck, vegetable beds, and hoop house. “At this stage of my life, building this with my two sons and having them here with me is remarkable,” Henegan says. “It’s a home away from home for people from South Africa who find us, and something entirely different for everyone else. It’s very special, and at night with the string lights and fire pit, it’s a little bit magical.”

Drive Time
From Charlotte, NC: 2 hours
From Knoxville, TN: 2 hours
From Greenville, SC: 1.5 hours

Menu Highlights

• Mom’s Salmon Cakes – Mark Henegan’s mother Delma’s classic English recipe with peri-peri aïoli
• Sunburst Trout – Whole fresh local trout, seared on the grill, finished in the oven
• The Braai Platter – Flame-grilled lamb chops, ribeye, boërewors, and sides, serves four