Meet Some Of The World's Best Deviled Eggs, From Nashville to Seattle

Deviled eggs have come a long way since being a humble potluck staple, as creative chefs around the country play around in adapting the classic recipe. At Nashville's The Southern Steak & Oyster, executive chef Matt Farley pickles the hard-cooked eggs and then quick-smokes before filling.

The Southern Steak & Oyster's menu showcases loads of greatest down-home cooking hits, but given an upscale spin. Chef Farley is veteran of some of the top kitchens in New York City, including Noho Star, before relocating to the red-hot restaurant scene in Nashville. He oversees the menus at TomKats, a restaurant group started by film catering phenom, Tom Morales. The Southern is a new addition to the rapidly expanding SoBro neighborhood. (That's south of Broadway, home of Nashville's famous music clubs like the legendary Tootsie's.)

The key to these killer deviled eggs is to smoke them, briefly. Chef Farley explains that the step — which you can even do with a stove top smoker — adds extra character without overwhelming the classic, ultra-rich preparation.

Not far from The Southern, in Rutledge Hill section of downtown Nashville, celebrity chef Sean Brock's handsome Husk also serves an awesome version, this one featuring deviled country ham folded into the velvety yolk filling.

In the Northwest, Matt's in the Market is rightly famous for topping its popular deviled eggs with seafood fresh from Seattle's historic Pike Place Market, sea creatures including Dungeness crab, anchovies and fat slices of octopus, pictured below.

How do you devil your eggs?