Question 1

Take the road less traveled to Birchwood Hall

Accepted Answer

Birchwood Hall Southern Kitchen was our latest day trip destination. If you like to drive the back roads like we do, head out from Brevard on US-276 and wind your way up the curvy mountain road, stopping at Looking Glass Falls if you like. After about an hour you&#8217;ll land in Waynesville.
The view when the weather&#8217;s nice during winter months is fantastic! No pesky leaves on the trees getting in the way. Watch for small mountain springs and unnamed waterfalls on your way. Stop at a couple (or more) pullouts, get out and see what you can see.
If you don&#8217;t want to drive the curves, take I-40 West and follow your GPS directions to Birchwood Hall Southern Kitchen, 111 N Main St, Waynesville, NC 28786. It&#8217;s a great place for lunch before exploring Main St shops, or heading back home. Their food&#8217;s tasty and reasonably priced. Note their Sanitation Score in the image below.
The I-40 route is an easy drive. It&#8217;s longer mileage-wise, but takes about the same time as the mountain-view drive.

Question 2

Boojum Brewing Company - the Boojum is Real!

Accepted Answer

Where to meet a friend for lunch (or any meal) in Waynesville? How &#8217;bout a spot that&#8217;s as much restaurant as it is brewery, sporting a killer deck out back? That would be Boojum Brewing Company Taproom (https://www.boojumbrewing.com/). And if you&#8217;re looking for entertainment, don&#8217;t miss The Gem, the downstairs bar the folks at Boojum describe as &#8220;an affable downtown bar featuring 16 beers on tap, a full bar, TVs, a pool table & a limited but appetizing menu! Over age 21 only.&#8221; The Gem also hosts lots of live music. You can see what&#8217;s happening at The Gem on their Facebook Page.
Before getting talking about the brews and bites, I thought I&#8217;d look in to the &#8220;Boojum&#8221; name and what it might mean. Looks like I need to bone up on NC lore! You can read more about the Boojum on the beer menu.

&#8220;One might say the Boojum is similar to the Abominable Snowman of the Himalayans or the Wampas Cat in the swamps of Eastern North Carolina. But Boojum is a unique creature of his own and Haywood County is his home.&#8221; ~ visitncsmokies.com

Boojum&#8217;s main floor is semi-divided: bar to one side, dining room to the other. I was headed to the dining room, but took a minute to watch the bar lighting cycle through multiple colors. Fun, but would it drive me crazy sitting at the bar? Not sure. I&#8217;ll have to give it a try some time.

On first taste, I knew there was something special going on here. Every single dish we ordered was surprisingly good. Not just good for a brewery, but good for a restaurant.
Love tomatoes? You must try the Tomato Bisque Soup (Cup $4, Bowl $6) made with roasted tomatoes, fresh basil, Boojum beer, and garlic fried croutons. Robust in texture, but not too thick, each bite is full of rich tomato flavor.

Salmon on a bed of seasoned chopped kale, drizzled with balsamic (don&#8217;t remember the price) was absolutely fantastic! My friend ordered this and gave me a taste. You can bet I&#8217;ll get it (if available) the next time I&#8217;m at Boojum. The salmon was cooked to perfection with a deliciously seasoned sear. Not a kale fan? Try it anyway. You may just be surprised at the burst of flavor and friendly texture with each bite.

Wait. What about the beer? This is a brewery after all. Just for fun, I tried a half pint of one of their &#8220;specialty&#8221; brews, a strawberry small batch release. It was light, fresh, and tasty with just enough hint of strawberry to make it interesting. When you go, ask to hear about their current small batch brews.

Take a good look at The Cataloochee ($12) burger below. This mess &#8216;o deliciousness comes with fries (not pictured). Substitutions are available at an additional cost.
Take a Brioche Bun, put some apple-fennel slaw on it, add a cooked-to-order burger, top that with house-made farmer&#8217;s cheese (scrumptious) and tomato jam (also scrumptious). After announcing I&#8217;d be taking half home with me, I ate the entire thing! Comfort food that should satisfy the hungriest of appetites, along with a Boojum brew of course.

Here&#8217;s a shot of the back deck and service bar. This was early on a quiet day, so it wasn&#8217;t set up yet.

The Gem downstairs bar and live music venue:
Image: Bojum Brewing Company Facebook Page
Epicurean Notes:

Boojum&#8217;s easy to find, right on Waynesville&#8217;s Main Street.
Service was good. Table and surrounds were clean.
As always, check days and hours of operation before going (I usually call).
Remember that online menus are not always up to date, but can be used as a reference for types of dishes and pricing.

Boojum Brewing Company Taproom
50 N Main St
Waynesville, NC 28786
Phone: (828) 246-0350

Question 3

Shine for Breakfast!

Accepted Answer

You heard me right. I had Shine (aka Moonshine) for breakfast today and it was over-the-top delicious!
Okay, getting real here. What I had was Peach &#8216;Shine Jam &#8211; Moonshine & Vanilla Bean Jam on my toast as companion to my husband&#8217;s famous mushroom, tomato, red pepper, onion, and sausage omelette.

UPDATE: Hey everyone! I just got a discount code for Carolina Epicurean readers when they shop online at Copper Pot and Wooden Spoon through August 31, 2017! Use this code at checkout: EPICUREAN30. https://shop.copperpottraditions.com/
It&#8217;s a local product, made in Waynesville, NC by Copper Pot & Wooden Spoon. Being pretty busy these days, the samples they sent me have been in the fridge for a couple weeks.
Oh, how I regret waiting to taste this jam! After my first bite, I pulled the jar back out of the fridge to check ingredients. A happy surprise. First and most prevalent, peaches. Followed by sugar (it&#8217;s jam, after all), lemon juice, and moonshine (corn whiskey), and vanilla bean. The label also notes that ingredients are natural.
I like that ingredients are local, too. &#8220;Peaches [are] from the Western Carolinas and Troy & Sons Moonshine, distilled from locally grown corn, in Asheville NC.&#8221;
It must be the moonshine that gives it that cool, light taste and mouth-feel? Just fantastic. I&#8217;m trying to decide just which summer cocktail(s) might be notched up a bit with a touch of this jam?
They suggest &#8220;Savoring the subtle layers of flavor with your favorite soft and creamy cheeses, serve atop thick cut French Toast, dress up your vanilla ice cream, or stir into a fruity cocktail for a true Southern delight!&#8221;
Another thing that struck me about the jam is that it&#8217;s slightly runny &#8211; a good thing. You know how some store-bought jams are thick, almost too gelatinous? To me, a little runny is better. More like home made.
I have more of their products to try, and will either update this post or put information about them on my Facebook Page. See that Whole Wheat Beer Bread Mix below? The Oven Roasted Tomato and Spiced Apple Beer Jams? That&#8217;s right, their sealed shelf time in the fridge is limited! Note: the bread mix isn&#8217;t in the fridge.

You can order Copper Pot & Wooden Spoon products in their store and other brick and mortar locations, or online.

Category: Waynesville

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