Postcard from Asheville
I love Asheville in the springtime, I love Asheville in the fall, but I most especially love that pretty mountain town in the summer, when the sun’s warm and the hills are a such a vivid green they almost make your eyes hurt.
My husband and I dashed away for an anniversary trip recently to a restored 1920s cabin outside of Asheville. We did a lot of cooking there - and much wine-sipping on its airy screened porch - but we also made a point to spend a lot of time eating in town. I caught with a friend and her boyfriend who have recently moved there, and they’re equally as food-nutty (she gifted us a jar of her homemade radish kimchee), so it was excellent company.
I wanted to share some of the highlights with you:
The Asheville City Market - Oh, boy. So my favorite farmers’ market in North Carolina is probably one of the most established - the Saturday morning market in downtown Carrboro. But farmers’ markets are always best if you can get to them early, and we got to Asheville’s late. It’s still nothing to sneeze at. We also didn’t bring a cooler and we were on our way to go tubing, so it wasn’t practical to buy anything. This was painful. I really wanted to buy some of the Spinning Spider Creamery’s bloomy rind goat cheese.
Dinner at Limones - I think I could live at Limones, a sultry, modern Mexican restaurant in a high-ceilinged, historic storefront. Just set up a nice little spot at the bar, under the pressed-tin ceiling…my favorite way to eat here is all-apps. And margaritas from their inventive menu - the margarita caliente strikes just the right balance between salty, sour and spicy, while the jamaica version (that’s hibiscus) is flowery, aromatic and refreshing. They go nicely with the ceviche, the crab tostadas and more. Save room for freshly-made churros and hot chocolate for dessert. They also serve brunch, which I’ve never had, but the menu looks awesome.
Happy Hour(s) at the Wedge - We met our friends here promptly at 5 p.m., and four or five hours went by like that. The Wedge is a somewhat hidden micro-brewery (Asheville’s got plenty of these) near the banks of the French Broad, in a gritty, post-industrial part of town that’s seeing some re-birth as an artists’ community. The Wedge is very no-frills, but like much of Asheville, it’s dog-friendly, and there are buckets of peanuts to much on with Golem, a tasty Belgian golden ale, or the fruity Belgian Abbey ale, or any other of their brews.
Here are some shots:
And…
Late Night Dinner at the Admiral - The Admiral doesn’t have a website - they have a MySpace page. Which won’t tell you much of anything. And I suspect that’s the way it’s owners like it. Don’t let the dive bar interior (and exterior) in up and coming hipsters West Asheville fool you - this place takes its food seriously. I’ve heard rumors of frogs’ legs. We got here late - around 10 p.m. - and it was only my quivering lip and quiet out-of-towner whines that got us some grub, but I’m so glad we ate here.The cooks crank delicious plates out of a tiny open kitchen saddled next to the bar. We had a hot crock of lip-smacking pimento cheese, a catfish sandwich with bacon and cheddar, more ceviche (this time bedecked with the unusal choice of salty, crunchy popcorn - yum) and flank steak. They were out of the most tempting-sounding dishes - raw oysters and the like. Oh, and our waitress was hands down the most charming, most sweet thing.
The waiters stacked some of the tables out of the way as a DJ set up turntables in a corner. Soon, a few young couples were dancing to croony, scratchy records. The night ended in a happy blur.
