Mackensy Lunsford of the Asheville Scene has the news about the latest restaurant planning to open on the South Slope of downtown Asheville:

The area known as South Slope keeps growing at break-neck pace.

Late this summer, the owners of the downtown restaurant Early Girl, Julie and John Stehling, will open a restaurant called King Daddy’s Chicken and Waffles in a new building on the corner of Collier and Millard Avenues. “You’re always nervous when you set out to do something new,” Julie said. “But, creatively, we’re more excited than nervous.”

It’s been a while since the Stehlings started something new — Early Girl Eatery opened in 2001 and has been the couple’s only venture so far. But the duo has a good track record; Early Girl has been featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Gourmet, National Geographic Traveler and Southern Living.

John will act as the chef of this restaurant, too. Julie said the menu he’ll turn out won’t focus exclusively on chicken and waffles. “But that’s the majority of it,” she said. None of the menu items from the popular Early Girl will be repeated on King Daddy’s menu. “We hope people will trust us. Southern food is definitely John’s heart.” It’s his blood, too — John’s brother, Robert, is the chef/owner of the nationally acclaimed and Southern-focused Hominy Grill in Charleston, S.C.