Something Old, Something New

From earlier in the spring, a couple of dishes celebrating the first asparagus of the year and the final butternut squash from winter storage, "Something Old, Something New."

The first dish took full advantage of a rare sunny spring day to grill both the asparagus and the butternut squash, giving them a nice char that works against the sweetness of the scallops. Garnishes are a quick sweet chile sauce and Korean chile threads known as sil-gochu.

Scallops with Grilled Asparagus, Grilled Butternut, Sweet Chile Sauce, and Chile Threads

Grilling the Veg

Black Steel Gives a Perfect Sear Every Time

Sweet Chile Sauce (Agave, Sambal, Salt)

The second dish came on the following night when the weather turned back to its usual rainy springtime norm, making us want something warm and comforting, the genesis of the butternut lentils, a batch of brown lentils cooked with cubes of the bell of the butternut, the leftover bits that I couldn't slice for the grill the evening before. The salad is shaved raw asparagus dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, and salt.

King Salmon, Butternut Lentils, and Shaved Asparagus Salad

A Visit with Tom and Ann

Sunday we drove on a beautiful day to Tom and Ann's place in Capon Bridge WV for one last visit before we start driving for the West Coast and to celebrate albeit belatedly Tom's 75th birthday. We brought the dogs with us hoping that they and Levi could romp. Alas, Levi and Grace got into a bad scrap and Levi ended up in his kennel for the afternoon.

This was our first chance to experience their new screened porch off the back corner of the house and it is a fantastic place in which to live. I could spend countless hours there.

Enjoying the Porch

Porch Rules

Tom loves to shop at Zingerman's in Ann Arbor, Michigan and who can blame him? Before I owned a restaurant and had direct access to awesome products, I shopped there too. Their products are second to none, including the awesome Bayley Hazen blue cheese which might be the finest produced in this country. I hear that we might have had some gouda and a slab of pâté except that Levi beat us to it! I could tell a story about my dog Emmy and a certain standing rib roast, but it is not good to speak ill of the dead.

Bayley Hazen Blue from Jasper Hill Farm

To go with the cheese, Tom sliced a loaf of Zingeman's wheat and chestnut bread. The effect was a bit like pumpernickel. I had a hard time picking out the chestnut flour in the bread except for a slight taste of it in the finish.

Slicing a Wheat Chestnut Loaf

Tom secured for us two California Pinots, one from Siduri (Santa Rita Hills) and the other from Böen (Sonoma Coast). The Siduri had lots of candied red fruit and was fairly sweet with little in the way of acidity. The Böen led with a ton of fairly fresh black fruit (blackberry and black raspberry) with a big streak of mocha and chocolate. It had a bit of acidity to help it out. The star of the afternoon was the Speedway Stout from AleSmith in San Diego. This was as fine an imperial stout as I have tasted.

Two California Pinots and a California Stout

AleSmith's Speedway Stout

Catching Up

Grace, the Attention Whore

Chuckie Getting Mommy Kisses

Anxious Charlie Did OK

Grace Napping in the Sun

What a Great Place for Lunch

Tom Slicing Pears for the Salad

Chile Pepper Placemats are Fun

Tom's Arugula Salad with Hazelnuts and Pears

Scallops with Chile-Cilantro Cream and Corn Salad

After lunch we took the dogs for a romp down the driveway lined on both sides with stands of wingstem.

Wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia) in Front of Apple Tree

Bumblebee Enjoying Wingstem Blossoms

Lady's Thumb, Persicaria maculosa

Many thanks to Tom and Ann for a great send off and a belated Happy Birthday! to Tom.

Carolina B&B and Zambra, Asheville NC

After leaving the Blue Ridge Parkway, we made our way quickly to Ashville and then into the historic Montford District just north of I-240, easily finding the Carolina B&B a few short blocks from downtown in the middle of a neighborhood of glorious turn of the century and Edwardian era homes. The house is a beautiful 1901 Arts and Crafts- (Craftsman-) style building with a mustard yellow pebbledash finish, dark 12-over-1 windows, twin chimneys, a hipped roof, and a hipped front porch that runs the width of the front of the house. Twin shed dormers on the second floor and a third in the attic give the front façade a lot of character.

Arts and Crafts-Style Carolina B&B

We Stayed in the Cottage out Back

The house is on a fairly large property, a good acre by the looks of it, and other than the obligatory swath of green lawn out front, is surrounded by gardens with mature trees, especially out back. Some of the flowers were just coming into bloom, especially the rhododendrons and Siberian iris. The wooded back lot is home to a lot of birds. Each morning we were escorted to the car by Catbirds and a pair of Carolina Wrens were constantly on or around the cottage, trilling and chirping, often toting mouthfuls of nesting materials.

Garden Fronting the Cottage

Catawba Rhododendron

Siberian Iris

Violets and Buttercups Outside the Cottage

After a brief welcome by James and Susan Murray, James gave us the nickel tour and showed us to our room out back: Ann had booked the cottage behind the house for our 3-day stay. We arrived about 5pm and James told us that they do hors d'oeuvres and wine each afternoon at 5:30 in the front parlor. We got unpacked into the spacious and nicely appointed cottage with just barely enough time for a brief shower before arriving for a glass of wine at 6:00.

We found the cocktail table in the parlor set with mixed hors d'oeuvres and a bottle each of a Biltmore red and white wine. Ann and I opted for the red which wasn't at all bad, though it was varietally vague. Kudos to the Murrays for serving the "local" wine, but a little shame to Biltmore for using California grapes to make their wine. They don't try to hide it (see the "American" appellation on the label), but they sure hope people mistake it for North Carolina wine. I'm not in the winery business and I don't have their debt to service, so I shouldn't really criticize, but somehow this strikes me as a little dishonest. Biltmore is not alone. Plenty of Virginia wineries do it too and I'm not happy about that either.

Each Night at 5:30, They Offer "Local" Wine

And Put on a Spread of Hors d'Oeuvres

Earlier in the mountains, the weather had been cold and rainy, but it cleared as we came slightly north and east to Asheville. By cocktail hour in Asheville, the weather was so nice that all the cocktail hour guests congregated on the deep front porch that runs the full width of the house. Ann and I claimed the swing at the end of the porch, where just next to us, song sparrows were apparently nesting in a shrub. They kept up their (at times deafeningly) loud calls all during our time in the swing. The hors d'oeuvres looked wonderful but I never got around to trying them, trying to save room for dinner in less than an hour.

Given that the B&B is a short walk from downtown, we left on foot at 6:45pm for our 7:00pm reservation at Zambra, a tapas restaurant. Two blocks from the B&B, my flip flops blew out and though I didn't step on a pop top on the way back to change shoes, walking barefoot on the sharp gravel of the driveway back to the cottage was no fun at all.

I'm afraid at this point I was in a bad mood and we were going to be late for our reservation. We took the car into downtown to get there as quickly as possible and made several tours around the blocks near the restaurant in a hopeless quest to find parking before I gave up and dropped Ann off at the restaurant. Several more passes through downtown yielded nothing so I once again gave up and drove back towards the B&B, finally finding parking on a side street about halfway back on the far side of I-240.

On my 10-minute walk to the restaurant, I finally saw why there was no parking, as I threaded my way through a packed eclectic crowd in front of the US Cellular Center. The Alabama Shakes were playing that evening and the concert crowd had nabbed all available parking.

I was fit to be tied at this point, hungry, tired, and exasperated with the parking situation, when I joined Ann in the restaurant, a funky, half underground space on a side street. The restaurant is pretty dark, so I had a bit of a time finding Ann, who had already chosen a nice bottle of Hacienda Monasterio Ribera Del Duero, a modern Bordeaux blend. The Spanish section of the wine list is pretty nice and I wish I had more time to explore it. Ann started with the house take on a Moscow Mule that she really enjoyed. I do wish that we had better stemware from which to drink our wine.

A Modern Bordeaux Blend from Ribera del Duero

Cheers!

The lighting was so dark, the restaurant being mostly below ground, that we only got a couple of photos while there was a touch of daylight. Overall the food was good, but not exciting. Our server did suggest that we try a dish whose description did nothing for us, but which turned out to be so good that we ordered two plates of it: Grilled Watercress on Grilled Bread with Romesco. Something about grilling the watercress gave it a delicious smokiness that when coupled with a little crunchy salt yielded a novel and delicious treat.

Among the other dishes we ate were pomegranate-braised pork spring rolls, calamari and arugula, scallops on grits, beef heart taco, patatas bravas. None of these dishes was really memorable. The calamari and arugula wasn't all that successful and the patatas bravas, a staple of tapas restaurants worldwide, were downright boring with no spicy sauce.

Calamari and Arugula

Scallops and Grits

Grilled Watercress

After dinner, we walked around the corner to The Vault for drinks and then we headed back to the B&B for the evening. I was ready for bed after a long, long day of driving, hiking, and dining.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park: Afternoon and Dinner

After lunch, we retraced our path west out of town back towards the Visitors Center. On the way into town, we noticed a footbridge across the Little Pigeon River and I made a mental note to stop on the way back past it.

Us on the Footbridge Over the Little Pigeon River

Notice the Great Blue Heron in the lower left corner of the photo above. I managed to get a shot of it just before it flew off croaking away. Ann was somewhat surprised to see it, associating herons with her time in Florida. I've come upon them in the oddest places, in all bodies of water all over the east, and in creeks not 18 inches across.

Great Blue Heron; Little Pigeon River

From the footbridge we proceeded west along the river in the direction of Cade's Cove and saw the first of many, many turkeys that we would see in the park and along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Most were toms casually foraging on the side of the road. We never saw any hens; they're probably all up in the woods on nests.

One of Many Turkeys

Shortly past the Visitor's Center, we came to the parking area for Laurel Falls and it was full, even on a Monday afternoon. We parked a quarter mile down the road and backtracked, taking us past some yellow trilliums in full bloom. They don't have the prettiest of blooms, but the foliage is outstanding.

Yellow Trillium

The path to Laurel Falls is a paved and easy path with way too much company, including a ton of kids. I would skip this on a subsequent visit. The crowds outweighed the beauty of the falls for me. Still, it was a quick hike that fit into our jammed itinerary.

Laurel Falls

Annie at Laurel Falls

It's a good 45- to 60-minute slog from Gatlinburg to Cade's Cove along a beautiful stretch of two-lane road that meanders alongside the river, at places with overhanging rock. The drive is slow and twisty but a lot of fun if you're into that kind of thing. Cades Cove is wide green valley surrounded by both mountains and trees, making it an ideal foraging spot for wildlife. The major attraction here is the bears and the traffic on a Monday afternoon was nearly intolerable. I would not make the drive again, preferring to be in much more peaceful, wooded, and less populated parts of the park.

Cade's Cove, a Sea of Green Surrounded by Mountains

About two-thirds of the way around the one-way loop, we came across this little yearling bear foraging for leaf buds in what appears to be a sycamore tree along a hidden creek.

Yearling Bear Foraging for Leaf Buds

After a few minutes of watching it and wondering where the mother was, we finally spotted her in the brush about 50 yards away. She was encouraging junior to come back to her and he very reluctantly climbed back down the tree and headed slowly back down the creek to her location.

Mom is Calling Junior Back to Her; He Reluctantly Climbs Down

The yearling, after touching base with mom, decided to go back up the tree and continue snacking. After a few minutes, we finally saw why the mother was in the brush: she had a little baby with her. She and the baby finally joined the yearling in the tree.

Mom and Baby Come to Join Yearling

The photo below shows all three of them, the mother on the main trunk, the yearling up to the far right, and the baby is the black spot on the lower left along the creek bank.

Mom and Her Two Cubs

It's quite amazing how limber and agile these big creatures are. Note to self, climbing a tree isn't going to keep a bear away from you! It's also amazing how hungry they must be right now just having emerged from hibernation to be eating fairly non-nutritious buds of a tree. It was pretty cool to see how relaxed these bears were. Around here, we generally see their rear ends as they are running away from humans though we do have them in town each spring raiding bird feeders and scavenging pet food and trash.

Mother Bear in on the Act, Eating Leaf Buds

By this point, it was getting to be very late afternoon and we had to hustle back to get showered and make our dinner reservation at the Lodge at 7pm. There really wasn't any hustling with all the traffic but we made it back in time to relax for a moment before dinner. On a slow Monday night, we were able to secure the last table outside on the porch with a fantastic view of the mountains. We decided to eat at this restaurant before we left because it is really the only fine dining restaurant in the area.

Beautiful View from Restaurant Porch

Despite the beautiful view, there were warning signs almost immediately that our night was heading south. We came into the restaurant with typical fine dining expectations and wanting to spend a leisurely dinner over a bottle of wine.

Those expectations seemed doomed almost immediately upon looking at the wine list which comprises a handful of wines. Still holding out hope, I asked if perhaps there were a full wine list. No such luck. The list is the list, a few very commonplace and ordinary wines with huge markups. We got a bottle of Champagne that was served in really clunky flutes. That seemed to be a trend for the trip: none of the restaurants in which we dined had really good stemware. Why is that?

The menu was equally limited with four appetizers, two salads, and five entrées. So much for our preferred method of ordering many appetizers to share: it wasn't going to happen with this menu. We bit the bullet and ordered traditionally, scallops and filet for Ann and mussels and pork shank for me. It was barely light enough (with a lot of help from Photoshop) to get pictures of the appetizers. It was too dark to record the entrées, not that we would have wanted to remember them. More on that in a moment.

Scallops with Peppercorn Sauce

Saffron Mussels

I really hate to beat up a restaurant because being in the business, I know how hard people work and how deflating a bad word can be. Still, I would be lying if I did not say that this was perhaps the worst executed meal for the dollar that I have ever had. I don't mind paying for food, but if you are going to charge top dollar, you are going to get judged against top standards. Our meal, against these standards, was a failure.

Our sampling of the tiny and unimaginative menu led us to conclude that the food here is characterized by overuse: too much smoke on the smoked shrimp amuse bouche, too many peppercorns in the beurre blanc for the scallops, too much cheap saffron in the mussels. I've never had worse mussels; these reeked of sulfur (gunflint) and were tiny and flavorless. Ann's steak was buried in an obscuring sauce redolent of A-1; we have no idea how the meat tasted. My pork shank ($36 for an entrée that cost maybe $4) could have been cooked a bit longer, was not super flavorful pork to begin with, and was served off the bone on a wad of not well executed lukewarm to cold-in-the-center mash. I ate a third of the mussels, maybe half the pork, and none of the mash.

After we beat a hasty retreat without risking dessert, Ann wondered aloud and probably only half in jest if we could get pizza delivered: we both went to bed hungry. The experience made the decision to skip breakfast again the next morning a no-brainer. It's really a shame that a first-class property such as the Lodge at Buckberry Creek does not have a restaurant of comparable quality.