Valdese, North Carolina
Daniel E. Sisk
General Manager, Highlands Butchery
Farm-to-table operator. Systems builder. Hospitality teacher.
(portrait, natural light)
About
Food that knows where it came from.
I'm the General Manager of Highlands Butchery in Valdese, North Carolina: a steakhouse, artisan butcher counter and bourbon bar. Our beef and pork come from Highlands Family Farm, under the same ownership, so the path from pasture to plate is short and accountable.
My work is building the systems that let a restaurant run well on a busy Saturday: service standards, staff training, scheduling, labor and food cost discipline, and tools that help a team do its best work.
I care about institutions that last, teams that grow, and food rooted in place, including the Waldensian heritage that founded the town I work in.
- Valdese & Burke County, NC
- Farm-to-table steakhouse & butcher counter
- Add certifications, e.g. ServSafe Manager
Current work
Highlands Butchery
Highlands Butchery is a vertically integrated restaurant in downtown Valdese. Steaks and chops are cut in house from our own farm's animals, the counter sells the same cuts to take home, and the bar pours one of the deeper bourbon lists in the area.
As General Manager I lead day-to-day operations across the dining room, kitchen, counter and bar.
Training & standards
A Steps of Service manual, employee handbook, and a performance review system across kitchen, front of house and host roles.
Operations tools
A phone-installable shift checklist app for opening and closing duties, plus automated shift sheets and mid-shift labor alerts.
Programming & menus
Weekly specials built from sales data, live music and trivia nights, and a Waldensian menu rooted in alpine Piedmontese cooking.
Optional: add one or two real results here, e.g. "cut labor cost from X% to Y%", once the owners OK sharing numbers.
In the lab
What I'm building next
Steak sauce
A bottled sauce designed for grass-fed, grass-finished beef.
Alpine bitters
Aromatic cocktail bitters inspired by the Waldensian Alps.
The Highlands cookbook
Recipes and stories from the farm, the counter and the kitchen.
Press
As seen on North Carolina Weekend
PBS NC's North Carolina Weekend featured Highlands Butchery. More coverage will be listed here as it runs.
Experience
Where I've worked
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Start year – Present
General Manager · Highlands Butchery
Valdese, NC. Day-to-day leadership of a farm-to-table steakhouse, butcher counter and bourbon bar.
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Years
Previous role · Employer
One line on what you did there.
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Years
Previous role · Employer
One line on what you did there.
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Years
Education / certifications
School, program, or certification.
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Since year
Community · e.g. volunteer work
One line.
Contact
Let's talk.
Planning an event, writing a story, or want to compare notes on running a restaurant? Email is the best way to reach me.
me@danielesisk.com