How to Spend a Perfect Weekend in Asheville: The Asheville Wine and Food Festival Day 1

 

 Destination Asheville for a weekend of local food and mountain vistas.

So looking forward to The Asheville Wine and Food Festival.

In a mere 3 hours and 25 minutes my partner in crime and I arrived at The Renaissance in downtown Asheville. The drive was easy and beautiful with the mountains looming in the distance. We dropped off our belongings and hit the streets for a late lunch. The location of the Renaissance is perfect for the downtown restaurant, music, and art scene.



First stop: Curate

We sipped on a Garnacha blanco and feasted on jamón serrano fermin, jamón iberico fermin, jamón Ibérico de bellota, and croquetas de pollo.

 Second afternoon stop: French Broad Chocolate Lounge

We ooed and ahhed over all hand dipped French Broad confections (one of only a handful in the world to make truffles from bean to bar chocolate) and decided on a (giant) slice of flourless chocolate truffle torte. Then we made noises of extreme pleasure akin to an herbal shampoo commercial. It was that good.

Junction's The Local Sage cocktail- beautiful, layered, sage-y, delicious.

 

 Our event for the evening: Elixer- a craft cocktail competition of The Asheville Wine and Food Festival with 12 mixologists competing for the prize. The difficult part for these cocktail makers was the necessary inclusion of Angry Orchard hard cider in their glass. The event was lively and convivial. In addition to the cocktails in the competition, there were many local distilleries to sample. I had my first taste of Defiant Whiskey from Blue Ridge Distillery, a trend that colored my weekend.

View from judge Mackensy Lunsford's seat

Autumn in Asheville from OneFiftyOne a crowd favorite including Shrub and Co. Tart Apple Shrub and Troy and Sons Blonde Whiskey. Tasted like fall. I finished my glass and my friend Monica's.

Winner Kyle Beach from MG Road. His 100 Proof Heartache was a smoky, savory concoction worthy of praise with mescal, apple brandy, ginger, chili, lime... On Friday night I visited MG Road and asked him to make a few cocktails and talked about inspiration. He is Paul Calvert-esque behind the bar- charming, inspired, and clever with his ingredients. He asked my style and I explained in literary terms. What I received in return was exactly the flavor profile I was seeking.

Final stop of the night: The Imperial Life

A favorite of mine and on this night chock full of many of the bartenders who competed in Elixer. I was able to sit with good friends and eat Jacob Sessoms locally inspired food. We sampled much of the small plate menu full of all things raw, cured, and aged, like house-made charcuterie, artisan cheeses, raw oysters, sashimi, tartars. Cynthia Turner was a genius and a pleasure behind the bar. Another place where it is good to say "make me something with____ please." We strolled home under a giant moon satiated and happy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Atlanta Food and Wine Festival 2012-tasting trails

I brought along my nerdy notebook to Atlanta Food and Wine Festival this year to write down my experiences with tastes. It was a well conceived idea but one not brought to fruition. I simply was having too much fun and making too many memorable experiences to take the time to write. I had even more fun than last year.

Foreshadowing that the festival experience was to be memorable was the moment I walked into the welcome center and saw my friends from The Chocolate Lounge in Asheville. We met at last year's festival over chocolate, Stella, and a hot tent. Since then I have become a frequent shopper of their delicacies and a devoted follower of their business philosophy. The biggest smile was thrust upon my face and we hadn't even clinked the welcome toast for the festival yet.

More on sessions and dinners later.


Here's a list of my favorite bites and sips from the trails within the tasting tents (And now I can read other recaps. I didn't want to be swayed):

Lamb from the lamb trail

Overall favorite from the tasting trails: lamb ribs from No. 246. Falling off the bone, tender, seasoned perfect lamb from Drew Belline. No photo, I ate it too fast.

Whole Pig Trail: (1) Scrapple from City House with sorghum poppyseed agrodolce.

                             (2)  Crispy pig ear tacos from Farm Burger and Farm 255 ...I had thirds.

The tacos were made from Anson Mills Carolina Gold cornmeal and fresh masa on site.

Loved talking to Terry Koval about his tour of Los Amigos masa. It gave time for Whitney Otawka to make me another too.

(3) Charcuterie from Table. I loved the slices of cured pig face.

Southern Sweets Trail:  Tie between the bourbon caramel and sorghum caramel from French Broad Chocolate Lounge

Beef trail: Beef tongue terrine with Swiss cheese espuma from One Eared Stag. Chef Robert Phalen said it was a play on a Reuben. I could have eaten 20 of them.

Seafood Trail: Smoked mussels with fresh cubes of watermelon from Lure. This simple dish with pure, fresh flavors makes me really look forward to this restaurant's opening.

Bourbon Trail: First, what a spectacular trail this was to sample. My favorite sip here was the American Spirit Whisky Southern Mule. Gingery and dangerously delicious.

Fried Chicken Trail: 3 way tie among Rosebud and Cardemom Hill's fried chicken and South City Kitchen's fried chicken livers.

Craft Beer Trail: Highland Brewing Razor Wit. Amazing on the nose and tastes of ginger, cumin and orange peel.  Such a great summertime beer. It was fantastic talking with owner Oscar Wong about it. I was recently in Asheville when he was announced Small Business Person of the Year. He is pretty beloved. When I described the flavors he nodded, noting that I missed only grains of paradise, something I had never heard of but what gives the beer its kick.

Table Asheville

My first introduction to table Asheville was at a table of incredible charcuterie at the 2011 Atlanta Food and Wine Festival. I stopped by their station in the Whole Pig section of the tasting tent many times, not only for the vittles but for the conversation. Jeremy and Matt were the names I wrote down in my little nerdy notebook. I kept their business card and remembered all of their Asheville suggestions. We talked about the local food scene as I tried salami, pate, head cheese and fried pigs ears. I also ate 100 devils on horseback while we laughed and sipped Stella (they had a very convenient location to the Stella table). I talked about the devils on horseback for weeks. Jacob Sessoms house made bacon is an enduring ...I so want to say "taste sensation" here.... His house made bacon is luscious. Those Hickory Nut Gap Farm pigs graze happily on Western Carolina grass and clover and drink spring water. Better than sunshine.


This past week we drove to Asheville to eat and explore what the city has to offer. We had to go to table to give back the love we received at the Atlanta Food and Wine Festival. 

Devils on Horseback

We took a long walk through the streets of downtown Asheville before dinner, scouting out after dinner drinks. Sazarac caught my eye. We will soon be friends, I thought. As you enter table, you get a glimpse of what is going on when you walk by the open kitchen. We were greeted by the sweetest smile, a "cmon on" (I really liked this),  and led to our table.

Our server, Stuart, arrived to take our drink order and welcome us. I was so overwhelmed by the menu that I couldn't make a decision. How to narrow down choices when I want everything? So difficult to decide among so many foraged, local, and seasonal ingredients. It's not even a large menu. I described my cocktail likes and dislikes and he suggested the Carpetbagger. It contained bourbon and sounded perfect; it was.

Crusty bread, butter and the tiniest olives (I really like tiny things) arrived. Wish I had taken photos of the salt and pepper dishes and vases on the table. Gorgeous simple pottery pieces I can only assume were locally made adorned each table.

I finally chose the golden beets, local sorrel, honey yogurt and house bacon. The plate arrived with the beets artfully arranged in a vibrant display. Almost looked too artistic to eat...almost. Moments later the same dish was placed on the table next to me looking equally beautiful yet completely different. I loved this. The beets were incredibly tender, the red veined sorrel tart and crisp, and the bacon crunchy and salty. We also had a plate of devils on horseback and they were just as great as I remembered them.

My entree choice was a no-brainer. Magret duck breast, olive spoonbread, English peas, ramps, local morels and lavender. If only my photograph did it justice. The dish was perfection. It was beautiful and savory smelling before I even took a bite. The duck was cooked perfectly and so very tender (rare for when I order duck). The wine selection was perfect for the dish. Ryan Brazell has created a dynamic list.

My first taste of morels for the season was so worth the wait. These were so earthy, savory, creamy and mellow.

A parting shot of dessert before my date scarfed it down.

I had a glass of Eagle Rare bourbon.

Our check came in adorable fashion, inside a stoneware mug. Little details like this are charming and memorable. On our way out, we stopped a moment to chat with the chef and give our compliments on the meal. We talked a bit about the experience at last year's Atlanta Food and Wine Festival. Jacob told me that he will be there again this year. Sampling his bacon is reason enough to go.

I will return to table Asheville very soon and have already recommended it to friends. Unfettered, fresh, local, seasonal food with an open kitchen, knowledgeable and friendly staff, and uncluttered atmosphere. It works well.