Best food road trip within 12 hrs of Washington, D.C.?

I live in the suburbs of D.C., and I go to Baltimore, Philly, and NYC regularly. I've been to Charleston, Ashville, and Montreal recently. Have plans to go back to Portland, ME in October. In November, I'm thinking about a 5 day road trip and I'm willing to drive as far as 12 hrs away from D.C. Any thoughts on where to go (and where to stop on the way)? Or you can give me some input on my ideas:

1. Knoxville, Nashville
2. Lexington, Louisville
3. Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit (have been to Pitts & Cle)
4. Buffalo, Toronto
5. Providence, Boston
6. Charlotte, Savannah

My main interest is creative fine dining. I'm not going to eat a hamburger, hot dog, sloppy joe, meat loaf, or most soul food (dietary reason). I prefer seafood and offal to steak and potatoes. D.C. has pretty good ethnic Asian food so I'm not really looking for ramen, baos, kimchi, etc.