At last: Excellent tapas, at Curate

My husband and I recently spent a couple of weeks in Spain, where tapas bars and tapas menus are ubiquitous. Much of the time, the food was disappointingly pedestrian. In several cities it seemed as though all the restaurants were operating out of a single, unimaginative and mediocre kitchen -- sort of the same experience I've had in places like Little Italy in New York. Too much of the same thing!
How happy we were to find Curate (pronounced KOOR-ah-tay), in downtown Asheville, NC.
If you happen to be heading that way, don't miss trying this delicious, ambitious and authentic take on Spanish food. We had few experiences in Spain that were as good or better than this. (But note, Curate is the hottest table in western NC right now, so reserve well in advance or miss out.)
Just take a look at the menu, available here, and your interest is likely to be piqued.
We were in town for three nights and managed to eat here twice: for dinner, at the bar (which you also can reserve, and we did), and a couple of days later for lunch.
You almost can't go wrong no matter what you order.
Here are the dishes we liked the best:

Trout salad

--A salad with raw, cured trout, tomatoes, olives and olive oil

Watermelon salad

--Watermelon, sheep's milk cheese and tomato salad topped with arugula

Gambas -- shrimp -- with garlic

--"The number one tapa in Asheville" -- shrimp sauteed with garlic (Gambas al ajillo)

Curate Dessert

--Dessert: "Sabores del mediterraneo" -- apricot sorbet, sweet yogurt mousse, candied pine nuts.

With dessert, I had a glass of sherry that was a perfect match.
Curate is at 11 Biltmore Avenue in downtown Asheville, NC.
Reservations are essential!

Taste of Asheville (NC)

Ploughman's Lunch/Table

Corner Kitchen Mussels

We stopped in (adorable) Asheville for about 24 hours on our way to a family get-together in western North Carolina. In such a short time, we managed to sample a couple of excellent restaurants. Here's a quick rundown.
For dinner: Corner Kitchen near Biltmore Village, a longtime favorite. This time wasn't quite as fabulous as on previous visits, as not all the dishes we tried worked well. When Corner Kitchen is firing on all cylinders, it can be great. The good stuff we did enjoy included the arugula salad with crumbled blue cheese and thinly sliced apples, a marvelous (best-of-the-night) plate of mussels, and a made to order vanilla souffle with chocolate sauce...all pictured here.

Corner Kitchen salad

Corner Kitchen Souffle

At lunch the next day before we hit the road again, we tried Table, a downtown hot spot next door to the destination shoe store, Topp's. This very small restaurant has a well deserved reputation for cutting edge food and drink, and we were not disappointed. In fact, this will be at the top of my list for dinner the next time we pass through Asheville.
They started off winning me over with the best cocktail of the trip, something they called a Sweet Tea Sour: Four Roses bourbon, Amaretto, lemon juice, simple syrup and 4 ounces of black tea. Super yummy.
My meal was this Ploughman's Lunch-- as you can see, a board with cheeses, meats, grilled bread (mmmm) and some greens.

Sweet Tea Sour/Table

Dining where Barack and Michelle Did

Not only was The Corner Kitchen our very best dining experience on our recent trip to Asheville NC, but it also was the restaurant the Obamas chose for a dinner in Asheville when they spent part of their April vacation in the region.
On April 25th, a Saturday, the staff was surprised by an influx of Secret Service agents followed not too much later by the Obama party, which included two other couples who were their personal friends. Word has it that they spent the day hiking in the mountains nearby before selecting this spot for dinner.
We've been to Asheville quite a few times in recent years but I'd only had lunch at the Corner Kitchen. We had the opportunity to eat there last Saturday night, and it was stellar.
My "Cashew Crusted Snapper on Citrus Basil Rice with Snow Pea Salad and Coconut Carrot Sauce" (bottom photo) was the best dish I've eaten in weeks and one of the best this year, anywhere. It was head and shoulders above anything we ate at Jean-Robert's Table, by the way. Also in the photos, my husband's mountain trout entree -- excellent, but not in the class of my snapper.
Photos of the Obamas' visit are copied from the restaurant's website.

Beer, beer and more beer

We went to Asheville NC this past weekend, in part for me to report about the craft beer scene that's gotten so huge there in recent months. The city was voted Beer City USA 2010 in an online poll, beating out longtime winner Portland OR.
My husband did most of the tasting/drinking, since I don't have much appreciation for the stuff.
Here are a few photos of the breweries we sampled.
Lexington Avenue Brewery -- top photo.
Thirsty Monk (specializes in Belgian beers) -- middle photo.
Highland Brewery -- the area's largest, which gives guided tours.
I'll post about our best dining experience soon. Meanwhile, the cocktail I had that evening is at right, the Vanderbilt Martini.

Exceptional Mexican

We're in Asheville NC, home of the Biltmore Estate, adjacent to the Great Smoky Mountains, and the Craft Brewing capital of the U.S. I'm here to report about the brew scene, mostly, and also to visit family and friends.

When we arrived yesterday, our first culinary treat was to try Chorizo, a relatively new Mexican eatery opened by the owner of the longtime local Mexican fave, Salsa.

We ate on the patio, enjoying the white sangria and a beer. I had excellent pork enchiladas -- not too cheesy -- and my husband had a fabulous salmon taco. (Photo shows the enchiladas.)

Two (or would that be four?) thumbs up for this one.

Road Food (Asheville, NC)

Just back from 6 days in western North Carolina, a family-oriented, working trip with few culinary highlights. But we did get to stop--going and coming--in Asheville.

Among its many charms, the mountain town is blessed with plenty of good restaurants. My go-to fave is the vegetarian Laughing Seed, where we had lunch on the way to our destination (Rutherfordton, NC). On the way home, we met my step-brother for lunch at the Corner Kitchen in Biltmore Village. The photo at left is of a lavendar-infused chicken salad that my mom had; the smaller photo (right) is my "ploughman's lunch," the best part of which was the cup of gazpacho. That black blob on the plate is a grilled portobello mushroom.