A Haven Amongst the Trees and Mountains

    The first place I would like to write about in this new blog is a place truly special to my heart: Asheville, NC. Asheville may seem like a strange place to start, but I wanted to start off this armchair journey through the world in a close to home destination that has a dynamite culinary and cultural experience. Asheville is nestled in the Smoky Mountains along I-40 in western North Carolina, and it's location makes it ideal for 100's of different activities. In Asheville you can hike beautiful trails, climb majestic mountains, tour the cool and funky downtown and visit the ever beautiful Biltmore Estate. One cool thing about Asheville is that it has an incredible bohemian vibe. It's almost a Greenwich Village in the mountains with great shopping, beautiful vistas and even better FOOD!
    So, as to the destination itself there are a couple of things I have to recommend, the first of which is the reverential Biltmore Estate. This is the home built by George Vanderbilt at the turn of the 20th century and is the largest private home in the entire country. On the estate you can take a number of different tours, eat at a number of restaurants and visit the AWESOME winery. The Biltmore winery has some of my favorite wines (the Sangiovese, Riesling and Pinot Grigio are the best!!). If you want to eat on the estate then the Bistro above the winery has the best food by far on the grounds - definitely give it a try for lunch.
    The second thing I would do in Asheville is to just stroll the downtown area. The city is known as a haven for the funky, hippie, bohemian culture and it's kind of fun to see all the different stores, restaurants and little open areas where the young people gather and shoot the breeze or sometime have some live music. While you're downtown you absolutely have to go to The Tupelo Honey Cafe. This is an award winning restaurant in the middle of town with a very southern/eclectic menu. The best things on the menu are the Grilled cheese and tomato soup, the fried chicken BLT and the Tupelo burger. All of their stuff is fantastic and fresh, and you cannot beat the biscuits and honey butter that you get free of charge. I never miss it when I make it up to NC.
    A third place not to be missed in Asheville is the Grove Park Inn. This is historic beauty sits on a beautiful mountain in Asheville and overlooks a GORGEOUS valley. Now, it is a great option at which to stay, but I wouldn't recommend it for a number of reasons. The first is that it is waaaaaay overpriced. It's not that the hotel isn't beautiful and worthy of a good review, it's just that the rooms aren't worth the cost. The rest of the hotel is totally worth the price, but the rooms are small, dated and just boring. The other problem is that it takes a year and a day to get from one side of the hotel to the other.
    However, the reasons I say you can't miss this place are the spa, the view and once again, the food. The Grove Park Inn Spa is the best spa I have ever had the pleasure of using. It is fantastic, wonderful, perfect, and every other superlative I can think of. The best part? THE POOL. It is a huge stone grotto with side pools with waterfalls and pleasant music that plays underwater. Once again...Perfecto! As to food, the steakhouse is good, but if you're going to spend that much money you might as well go to one of my favorite fine dining restaurants in the South - The Horizons Dining Room. Their steak is fantastic and the lobster bisque is creamy and full of flavor and just wonderful. But, the best thing I have ever eaten is (or was) on their menu the last time I ate there, and it's the maple glazed fois gras. This is just heaven on a plate. That's it, the only description that can really get at it...heaven. When someone asks me the best thing I've ever had this is it. It's sad, cause it's all downhill from here, but it's totally worth it just for their fois gras.
    Now where do I stay you might ask if you won't let me stay at the Grove Park Inn?? Well my good chap, the place to stay is the Inn on the Biltmore Estate. The rooms are much better (they remodeled the rooms and much of the hotel within the past 7-10 years), and roomier (i know, bad use of words) than any other hotel in Asheville. The other reasons for staying here are the amenities. First of all is that you get to stay on the nice quiet estate. Second is that there are all the estate amenities at your fingertips - restaurants, winery, shopping, house tours, etc. And a little nice thing I found out is that if you buy anything on the estate they will deliver it to your room free of charge (how friggin cool is that?). Just stay here...you'll thank me.
    So that's my little (or really long) Asheville spiel. It's a magical city that everyone should experience. Definitely try some of the stuff here, but find your own niche too! There's tons to do that I didn't go over, and it's up to you to find it! Have fun and check back next week for a new spot to explore or a new dish to try!