North Carolina chef recognizes the importance of failure MACKENSY LUNSFORD, Asheville Citizen Times July 2, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — The trajectory of Steve Goff’s career — from homeless dishwasher to lauded executive chef — is as unlikely as it is a great story. Once a train-hopping gutter punk, Goff stopped along the way in Asheville in 2003 to protest for gay rights. A conspicuous target with his pink, leopard spotted mohawk, Goff was apprehended at the protest and eventually pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct. Though he kept trying to leave Asheville after that inauspicious start, he never could seem to escape. Meanwhile, he slept in the woods off Charlotte Street, across from a building that would eventually change his life.