Asheville, NC & Blue Ridge, GA recs

on the list from another post you had

Several threads about Asheville over the past few months. Here's one

Asheville Recommendations

Went last October and will be going back again in a couple years.

List of places to visit, whether it be food, drink, site seeing, etc...

Breweries:
Sierra Nevada - Incredible place and it's massive
Wicked Weed - My favorite beers in Asheville.
Burial - Close 2nd to Wicked weed for beer. Cool place to drink.
Went to a few others, twin leaf, green man, and 1 or 2 others. Didn't make it to hi-wire but i heard it was a neat place.

Food:
The Admiral - Incredible food in a completely unassuming place
Tupelo Honey - Went there for brunch. Very good, but the coffee was basically hot water. Very thin.
Posano's - very good food. Strangely, we were the youngest couple there by about 40 years. Food was great.
Fontana @ the biltmore village - 2nd favorite place we ate. Loved the atmosphere, even though the restaurant was empty and we were underdressed due to doing the biltmore all day.

Recreation:

The Biltmore - so much stuff to do there. Easily can fill up 2 days. The wine and chocolate tasting was my favorite.
NOC - Did a ziplining excursion at the NOC (Nantahala Outdoor Center).
Whitewater Rafting - Many different companies offer this. Not sure which one we used, but i think it was only class 2's and 3's. Water was frigid.
Hiking - We went to Chimney Rock. Also went to Lindvale Falls, which was very pretty especially during the Fall with all the colors of the leaves. Did some cave exploring at the lindvale caves too, but that was underwhelming.

On your way to Asheville, stop at Caffe REL in Franklin NC. Don't go on a Sunday or Monday though, it's closed.


Murphy Chophouse isn't too bad of a drive from Blue Ridge as well. Caffe REL is worth the stop.

Mt nephew is a chef at SOVEREIGN REMEDIES. Here's a review:

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1) Sovereign Remedies – On the Corner of Market & Walnut Street – Saturday & Sunday Brunch •

BRUNCH MATES – Chef Joe and Vanessa Scully.

FOOD – I ordered the crab and asparagus omelet, made with local eggs, topped with Béarnaise sauce, and micro-greens, served with a side of potato hash, and Farm & Sparrow toast. •

PLUS COLUMN – The food! Um… it was fricking YUM! And filling. And comforting. And fresh. And local. And light. And bright. And perfectly cooked by Chef Matt (Rat's nephew), who has taken over the brunch program at Sov Rems for the past month or so, and as far as I’m concerned, he’s crushing it. I’ve had several brunches at Sov Rems now, prepared by different chefs, and they’ve all been great, but I have to say that this was my fave of the bunch. The flavors were spot-on, and the preparation was exactly right. Everything was served at the right temperature, and was exactly the right texture and consistency.

The crab was sweet, and tender; the asparagus was soft, yet solid, and not mushy; the eggs were light and tasty as frick; and the Béarnaise was… wait… did you just say that the eggs were tasty as frick? Isn’t an egg basically an egg, Stu? Oh, Voice in my head… you’re back… that’s great. Well, yes, I did say that the eggs were tasty as frick, and I totally meant it. Fresh, local, eggs taste better, and more flavorful than boring, old, whatever eggs. These eggs tasted super fresh and awesome. If you’ve ever gotten high and wondered to yourself, “Why do people even eat eggs? Eggs are so weird.” Just go find and eat a fresh egg pooped out by a local hen, and you’ll know that people eat eggs because eggs taste good. Eggs. Yum. The potato hash was also very good and was a key factor in filling me the frick up, which is crucial at brunch. C’mon. Potato me, and I’ll leave fat and happy. Skimp on the taters, and I might still be hungry, and dissatisfied. This tater hash had delicious, local tomatoes mixed in, and was seasoned perfectly. And of course, the Farm & Sparrow toast was excellent. It is simply the highest quality bread you can find.

MINUS COLUMN – You know what, sometimes nothing is wrong. Everything is right. This time everything was right, and there are no minuses, so I’ll just point out a few more pluses. The company was great! I had Chef Joe on the left of me, and Vanessa on the right, and they are just two of the most lovely and engaging people I know. Good times! Also, the staff, the atmosphere, and the “vibe” at Sovereign Remedies are all top-notch and some of faves in town. I make no secret about the fact that I’m a huge fan of this venue, and that is because they consistently kick-out excellent food, deliver it with friendly, professional, efficiency, and provide a mellow, relaxing, urbane-but-homey space to enjoy it in.

CONCLUSIONS – Yeah. Go here. Eat food. Sovereign Remedies is one of the brightest jewels in the culinary crown of downtown Asheville eateries.

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Sunny Side Cafe in West Ashville was fantastic. All vegetables grown in on site garden. (Hope you don't mind hippy chick'so with hairy legs and bushy pits everywhere)

We got to Blue Ridge once a year. I sadly have no solid food recs because we cool the entire time. One of my favorite places on earth to get away. Beautiful.

Brother lives in Asheville. Another awesome place. He isn't much of a foodie so I don't have any good recs.

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chick'so with hairy legs and bushy pits everywhere)

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just like the Joint in the bywater

Curate gets the pub, been there twice and really enjoyed it, yet Limones is also outstanding. Highly recommend.