Chef Katie Button

Executive Chef/Owner, Cúrate, Nightbell and Button & Co. Bagels

Chef Katie Button was born in the South, raised in the North, and educated in Europe. Now, she has returned to her roots as chef and owner of three unique restaurant concepts in Asheville, North Carolina: Cúrate Tapas Bar, Nightbell and Button & Co. Bagels.

Chef Button pursued science degrees at Cornell and earned her master’s in biomedical engineering in Paris, France. She then changed course and devoted her pursuits to the culinary field, working for José Andrés at his restaurants in the United States and then for Ferran Adrià at the world-renowned elBulli in Spain…

Félix Meana

Director Restaurant Operations, Owner

Félix Meana comes from a small town called Roses on the Costa Brava in Catalunya, Spain. Roses is the location of what was—until it closed in 2011— Ferran Adrià’s world famous restaurant elBulli, where Felix worked as front of the house service manager for five years.

Some 15 years prior to his elBulli experience, he co-owned a bar with his brother, Cesar Meana, called L’Hort D´En Minguets. His desire for adventure and travel took him to a ski resort in the Pyrenees, Pal & Arinsal, in Andorra, where he built his career from bartender to Assistant-Director of Restaurants. But Félix wanted to learn more about fine dining and excellent service, so he returned to his hometown and elBulli. That experience helped him create opportunities to work at other world-class restaurants such as La Terraza del Casino in Madrid with Chef Paco Roncero, or in Washington DC with José Andrés and ThinkFoodGroup, where he met and fell in love with Katie Button. With ThinkFoodGroup Félix aided in the opening and development of The Bazaar by José Andrés in the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA as the Director of Service.

Félix and Katie, now married, moved to Asheville to create Cúrate with Katie’s family. Felix continues to consult with ThinkFoodGroup, recently helping them open Chef Jose Andres’ restaurants in Las Vegas, South Beach, Miami and Puerto Rico.

Elizabeth Liddell Button

Director HR, Community & Sustainability, Owner

Liz Button is a passionate advocate for culinary authenticity and sustainability. Nowhere is this more evident than in her role as Director of Operations at Katie Button Restaurants.

Liz’s culinary career began in the fast food industry and quickly moved to the world of catering. For ten years she ran the highly-successful New Jersey-based Elizabeth Button Catering before attending the International Culinary Institute (formerly FCI) where she earned degrees in Professional Culinary, Restaurant Management and Wine Spirit Education Trust, graduating with honors. Once again she was honored by the International Culinary Institute, this time in 2014 with the alumni award for “Outstanding Restaurant Management.”

In 2008, Button and her family moved to Asheville, North Carolina, to pursue a long-held dream of restaurant ownership. In 2011, Liz, Katie, Félix and Ted opened Cúrate, a traditional Spanish tapas bar; in 2014, the team opened Nightbell, a restaurant focusing on local Appalachian ingredients and craft cocktails; and most recently, in 2018 Button & Co. Bagels in the space below Nightbell.

Ted Button

Director Finance & Business Development, Owner

Ted Button brings 25 years of business expertise to the running of Katie Button Restaurants, where he is head of Finance and Business Development. His business acumen, honed as the owner of a private aviation firm, has enabled the group to enjoy remarkable growth and expansion during challenging economic times.

Ted is quick to credit other family members with the successes of the restaurants. They will tell you, however, that without Ted’s strong financial skills, Katie Button Restaurants would still be a pipe dream. Today, it is a thriving family business that promotes economic and environmental sustainability.