asheville, north carolina {restaurants + some things to do}

Five years ago Gerrit and I went on our little honeymoon to Asheville, NC.  We ate food, went hiking, went to see the Biltmore, and basically decided we loved that mountain city.  And at some point during our five years of marriage, we decided that we should make a point to return to Asheville every five years for our anniversary.

We had a great time this past weekend.  It was our first time away from Evelyn for longer than 24 hours, which on the first day had me a bit emotional, but by the second day had me constantly saying “Isn’t it nice to not be on a baby’s schedule?  Isn’t it nice that I can take a nap?  Isn’t it nice that I can just sit down and read this book?”

There is so much to do in Asheville, but the focus of our trip this time was food.  Asheville is a major food city (even more so now than when we went five years ago), and we wanted to make sure we had as many good meals as possible.  One of the things we did to ensure this was to go on a food tour (I’ll tell you more about this later in the week), but even aside from that we really scored big with food.

Cúrate (Spanish Tapas)

Because we didn’t have a reservation, we sat at the bar (after a wait) which we ended up loving because we could watch the kitchen work.  We LOVED their lardo on toasts, and the fried eggplant with honey was great, too.

Tupelo Honey Cafe (Southern)

This is one of my favorite restaurants (although, can I be honest? I liked their menu better before they started opening so many new locations).  I always love the Charleston Chicken Sandwich, but this time we went for breakfast.  Their fried chicken and waffles with milk gravy was delicious, and Gerrit’s cheese grits were amazing.

Jack of the Wood (Celtic)

I wish we could have gone here on Sunday night, because they have Celtic music (we did that on our honeymoon and it was one of my favorite things).  But the food we had was great too–a flat iron steak sandwich on focaccia (one of the most perfect sandwich breads, in my opinion).

Vortex Doughnuts

YUM.  I’m always partial to plain glazed, but they have so many flavors and every one we tried was amazing.

The Glass Onion (Italian)

It’s a bit out of the way in Weaverville, but if you drive north on the Blue Ridge Parkway from Asheville, it is the perfect place to stop for lunch on your way back in to town.  (Their dinner menu looked tasty, too.)  I really enjoyed my portobello burger with homemade chips.

Bouchon (French)

This might have been my favorite meal.  I had the steak frites which was wonderful.  The steak with herb butter was quite good, but the fries that went with it were perfection–perfectly salted and crispy and seasoned with herbs.

French Broad Chocolates (Dessert)

We went here twice.  If you only go once (which you shouldn’t), get the chocolate pots de creme.  It might change your life.

Some Other Things We Did

– Spent a while one morning at Malaprops, a bookstore I could have spent MUCH more time in.
– Wondered through the Grove Arcade (always the perfect place to cool off in, plus they have nice bathrooms).
– Drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway and stopped at the scenic overlooks.
– Listened to Bluegrass music at Shindig on the Green, a music event that happens on Saturdays during the summer (it looks like a big concert, but it is really just locals coming to play and it was awesome).

{Also, if you are going to Asheville for the first time, please do take the time to go see the Biltmore.  It is incredible.}

I’ll have more later this week on the restaurants we hit on our food tour!