Former Never Blue chef loving slower pace of new venture, Blue Ruby Bistro and Bakery
FLAT ROCK - When Blue Ruby Bistro and Bakery owner Jesse Roque was in college in Boca Raton, Florida, waiting tables at a busy restaurant, she asked one of the chefs if she could work in the kitchen. She didn't like the reply.
That chef told her no and said she could never work in the kitchen without a culinary degree.
"At the time, I didn't have any idea what a culinary degree even was," she told the Times-News on Feb. 19.
Roque said she is inspired whenever anyone tells her there is something she can't do, so she went to work on making her dreams a reality by going to culinary school in Charleston, South Carolina. Not long after earning her degree, the Brooksville, Florida, native landed a kitchen job.
"I eventually did go back to that restaurant in Florida and worked in that kitchen," she said. "I ended up taking that chef's position."
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From 2006-2023, Roque was head chef of the restaurant Never Blue on Main Street, and she has since moved on to the next chapter of her life: The Blue Ruby.
"The name allowed me to identify with my years of working at Never Blue but create and build something completely new with my business partners," she said
She and her husband, Edson, eventually made their way to Western North Carolina in 2006, a place where they vacationed often, Jesse Roque said. She opened her first restaurant, Madame Roque's Meat Emporium, in 2019.
"It was right beside Never Blue on Main Street," she said. "I ended up having to close it due to COVID. It was just too draining."
Never Blue permanently closed at the end of 2023 but did keep its food truck going. With the restaurant closed, everyone went their separate ways, including Roque.
"I worked there for more than 10 years with Lesley Milhas, who is now my business partner," she said, adding the duo and her husband bought the space for Blue Ruby Bistro and Bakery in 2022. "Everything just kind of fell into place for us."
Roque, who earned the 2016 Chef of the Year by the North Carolina Restaurant and Lodging Association, said The Blue Ruby has a more relaxed atmosphere than restaurants she's worked at before.
"The reception from the community has been amazing," she said. "I really like being able to work on a level where I get to meet the people that I'm cooking for."
Roque is a French-trained chef who said she loves croissants but also loves brownies just the same.
"For dinner here, we're doing globally inspired tapas, so there's no specific region we're pulling tastes from," she said. "It's an eclectic mix."
Hours for the bakery are 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday-Sunday, and hours for the lounge (for 18 years and older only) is 5-9 p.m. Thursday-Saturday. More information about The Blue Ruby is available at https://www.theblueruby.com/.
Dean Hensley is the news editor for the Hendersonville Times-News. Email him with tips, questions and comments at DHensley@gannett.com. Please help support this kind of local journalism with a subscription to the Hendersonville Times-News.
This article originally appeared on Hendersonville Times-News: Former Never Blue chef expands options at new Flat Rock eatery
