Q: Koreana, for something different in Arden, NC

Arden – Tired of lunch at the same places time after time? If you find yourself in Arden, NC running errands (Lowes, OfficeMax, World Imports, Best Buy) like I do and want to grab a bite, there really aren’t that many options apart from fast-casual spots like Ruby Tuesday, Olive Garden, Chili’s, and fast food outlets like McDonalds, Arby’s, and Sonic. Ready for something different and delicious? Pop into Koreana for lunch or dinner. They’re on Airport Rd. near Walmart. Sweet Tooth and I did just that today. We ordered appetizers since we were hungry, but not starving. Sweet Tooth got the Bang Bang Shrimp ($9) and reports the coconut mayo sauce was especially good. I wanted to try their Korean Style Vegetable Pancake ($11), comparing it to a most fabulous vegetable pancake I’d had at Gan Shan Station (Asheville) quite a while ago. Although it didn’t beat out Gan Shan’s version, it was good. I’ll have the half that went home with me for a snack tomorrow. Read more about Koreana, with photos, in my first Koreana review. Koreana 221 Airport Rd Arden, NC 28704 Phone:(828) 676-2844

Q: When your flight out of CLT is cancelled

Charlotte – What to do when you’ve driven two hours to Charlotte International Airport for a morning flight, it’s cancelled due to bad weather at your destination, you’ve spent hours in various lines, and are re-assigned to an early morning flight the next day? You book a room and spend the rest of the day tooling around Charlotte. We landed at Amélie’s French Bakery, named one of North Carolina’s 10 Best Bakeries, for a couple hours R&R; reading and researching on the Internet. Love the space. Love the pastries. Love the espresso drinks. The baked goods are amazing. Three full cases of them. Below is a “side” room with lots of additional seating. Don’t be surprised if crowds come in, forming a line that winds throughout. Sit back with your treat and espresso drink, taking in the show. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner are also available. See all menus here. Epicurean Note: We were at the “mother ship” location, but there are also two more Charlotte locations, a Rock Hill, SC location and an Atlanta, GA location. Amélie’s French Bakery 2424 N Davidson St. Charlotte, NC 28205 (704) 376-1781

Question 1

Intimate conversation over Cocktails and Small Plates at Isa's Bistro

Accepted Answer

This was a milestone birthday for me, so the celebration stretched over a few days.
My sisters and husband celebrated with me over dinner at Chestnut. Then a few days later, my husband and I celebrated again, just the two of us, at Isa&#8217;s Bistro.
Their dinner menu isn&#8217;t huge and it&#8217;s about half Small Plates and Snacks. The intimate evening called for cocktails and sharing of small plates as we talked about our life together over the last 30-some years and what the future might hold.
Our plates came out of the kitchen as they were ready, tapas-style dining. Mixing and matching was part of the fun.
These Castelvetrano Olives ($5) were a first for me tonight. They looked like mini Granny Smith apples, were slightly crunchy, and had a distinct taste of clove after a light brine. They are my new favorite olive.

French Onion soup is great in the winter when you want a strong, hot, hearty bowl of bread, cheese and soup. Isa&#8217;s lighter version, Vidalia Onion Bisque ($7) is perfect for warmer weather. Served hot, but as a light bisque, it was topped with &#8220;yellow corn crunchies&#8221; and roasted mushrooms. Our server was great through the entire meal. She was attentive and efficient, with no sideways glances when we asked her to bring us two spoons.

On the menu as &#8220;Spring Asparagus&#8221; ($11), I was surprised and pleased with this presentation. Thinly sliced saffron poached fingerling potatoes, hard-boiled quail eggs, Parmesan, and a scattering of dainty greens were tossed, along with the asparagus, in a light truffle vinaigrette. The flavor was terrific, but &#8211; and this may be a personal thing &#8211; although I like asparagus al dente, these tiny spears could have been cooked just a tad longer.

Executive Chef Duane Fernandes has designed a lovely Roasted Baby Beets ($11) plate. Toasted farrow anchors alternating baby beet varieties, topped with sugar snap peas, shaved Parmesan cheese and scattered marcona almonds, and baby arugula. A light citrus vinaigrette pulls it all together.
I wasn&#8217;t too interested in the baby arugula &#8211; a little to much like a vine for my taste. Other than that, everything else on the plate had great flavor and a nice mix of texture from tender-firm to crisp.

Our last dish was Louisiana &#8220;Lobster&#8221; Roll ($12). As we ordered this, we asked our server to cut it in half. That&#8217;s when we learned it would be served on two rolls. Happily the house-made yeast buns were soft and easy to bite through. It was easy to keep the filling from spilling out, also.
I&#8217;m not sure why the word Lobster is in quotation marks, unless it means there isn&#8217;t lobster in the roll? We didn&#8217;t ask, but I&#8217;m thinking it might have been more crawfish, as named an ingredient on the menu, than lobster? A tasty tarragon aioli holds the mixture together.

Chef Fernandes is a comparative unknown (by the public) culinary star that doesn&#8217;t get a lot of coverage. Why? Now, this is my own opinion, unsupported by any hard facts, but I think it&#8217;s because he doesn&#8217;t actively cultivate a following &#8211; asking diners to vote for him as a James Beard Award winner on social media, for instance. And I&#8217;m guessing neither he nor Isa&#8217;s Bistro owners have a publicist or public relations company working to build and maintain media buzz. If they do, they&#8217;re not doing a very good job. Fernandes seems to be happy creating some of the best food in Asheville in Isa&#8217;s basement kitchen without fanfare.
Located right in the heart of downtown, where two popular streets walked by many intersect, Isa&#8217;s patio is a great spot for taking in Asheville&#8217;s bohemian vibe.
Isa&#8217;s Bistro
1 Battery Park Ave
Asheville, NC 28801
Phone:(828) 575-9636

Question 2

Koreana, for something different in Arden, NC

Accepted Answer

Arden &#8211; Tired of lunch at the same places time after time?
If you find yourself in Arden, NC running errands (Lowes, OfficeMax, World Imports, Best Buy) like I do and want to grab a bite, there really aren&#8217;t that many options apart from fast-casual spots like Ruby Tuesday, Olive Garden, Chili&#8217;s, and fast food outlets like McDonalds, Arby&#8217;s, and Sonic.
Ready for something different and delicious? Pop into Koreana for lunch or dinner. They&#8217;re on Airport Rd. near Walmart.
Sweet Tooth and I did just that today. We ordered appetizers since we were hungry, but not starving.
Sweet Tooth got the Bang Bang Shrimp ($9) and reports the coconut mayo sauce was especially good.
 
I wanted to try their Korean Style Vegetable Pancake ($11), comparing it to a most fabulous vegetable pancake I&#8217;d had at Gan Shan Station (Asheville) quite a while ago. Although it didn&#8217;t beat out Gan Shan&#8217;s version, it was good. I&#8217;ll have the half that went home with me for a snack tomorrow.
Read more about Koreana, with photos, in my first Koreana review.
Koreana
221 Airport Rd
Arden, NC 28704
Phone:(828) 676-2844

Question 3

That time we ate crickets . . .

Accepted Answer

Hendersonville &#8211; When Nichole and I get together for dinner, it&#8217;s typically so we can talk about a project we&#8217;re planning, working on, or wrapping up.
This time, we thought we&#8217;d meet up for dinner at Never Blue, just for fun and good food.
We decided to share a Beet Salad ($7.25). It&#8217;s listed on the menu as &#8220;Beets&#8221; and described as &#8220;a light bed of baby arugula topped with brown sugar-malbec caramelized beets, fresh chevre, chopped marcona almonds, and balsamic reduction.&#8221; And it&#8217;s a huge portion. The photo is a little dark, but if you like beets, you must try this dish.

Co-owner/Chef Jesse Roque stepped out of the kitchen for a few minutes to talk to us about her new menu, still in the works at that time but set to go live any day now &#8211; maybe tomorrow Wednesday the 11th, and some recent ingredient changes.
One of those ingredient changes was beef cheeks instead of chuck roast in her Pot Roast. She got my attention describing the cheeks as way more tender than the chuck roast she&#8217;d always used, because I&#8217;d had her pot roast many times and the meat was incredibly tender.
So even though I wasn&#8217;t super hungry, I went ahead and ordered it, knowing full well most would go home with me. Yes. Everything on the plate, including the beef cheeks, was fabulous.

Here&#8217;s where it got interesting. Very interesting. We got a sneak peek at the new menu; new format, new dishes, and an &#8220;Adventurous Tacos&#8221; section. See some of the tentative new menu items at the end of this post.
Along with organ meat dishes, Jesse was pretty excited about including a popular taco sold by street vendors in Mexico. It just so happened all ingredients, including crickets &#8211; aka &#8220;Chapulines&#8221; &#8211; were on hand. So of course Nichole and I had to try it.

Nichole tried Chapulines and I did, too!I had my back to the kitchen door so didn&#8217;t see the crew gather to watch Nichole&#8217;s reaction. This was the first time anyone in the restaurant had tried Chapulines, so it was something of an event.
Honestly, the crickets added &#8220;crunch&#8221; but not a stand-out flavor. I&#8217;m thinking a more subtle flavor from the roasted crickets blended with the sauteed corn, sweety drops &#8211; the little red peppers imported from France &#8211; and queso fresco, creating a surprisingly delicious taco.
We decided the best thing to do following the Chapulines episode was to share one of Never Blue&#8217;s huge and always delicious desserts, Creme Brûlée.

That would have been more than enough for both of us after dinner and the added adventure, but then a most fabulous Peach Bread Pudding appeared at our table. Thanks for the tasty surprise, Jesse! Don&#8217;t know how you got it to taste like fresh peaches, but you did.

Tentative New Menu Items

Tuscan Lover: grilled chicken, artichoke hearts, capers, organic spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, asaigo-parmesan cream sauce, angel hair pasta
Boom Boom: apricot bbq sauce, grilled chicken, cheddar cheese, scallions, and chipotle ranchero
Low Country Ribeye: 16oz hand cut prime ribeye, smoked gouda-sour cream grits, forest mushroom-malbec demi glace
Vampiro (house-made flat bread): madeira onion jam, carred rapini malbec-beet cured garlic cloves, goat cheese ricotta, shaved parmesan
Tripa: crispy beef intestine, house-made green tomatillo salsa

So many completely luscious new dishes. I&#8217;m looking forward to trying most of them.
Never Blue
119 S Main St
Hendersonville, NC 28792
Phone:(828) 693-4646

Question 4

Excellent, Authentic Dim Sum (Chinese) in Asheville - FINALLY

Accepted Answer

Is there good Chinese in Asheville? The answer has always been &#8220;No&#8221; . . . until now.
Two years in the planning,  Red Ginger Dim Sum & Tapas quietly opened at 82 Patton Avenue during snow and ice storms last week.
Dim Sum is a style of Cantonese cuisine prepared as small bite-sized portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates.
I wasn&#8217;t too sure about Dim Sum and Tapas under one roof, but it works &#8211; in a Chinese kind of way. Tapas are Spanish &#8220;small plates&#8221; and Dim Sum is &#8220;a style of Cantonese cuisine prepared as small bite-sized portions of food traditionally served in small steamer baskets or on small plates&#8221;. So, basically Chinese Tapas. You won&#8217;t find plates piled with noodles or General Tso&#8217;s Chicken here.
I was expecting traditional carts rolling through a dining room, slowing at each table so diners could ask for what they wanted, or just point if unsure of the name. In busy Dim Sum restaurants, it&#8217;s common to be charged by the number of steam baskets and plates on the table at meal end.
Owner Mary (Mai) Mendvedev explained she and her chefs felt it was better to serve hot, directly from the nearby open kitchen, which made sense to me. And there really isn&#8217;t room in this space for carts.
Perfect for sharing, each order of Dim Sum usually comes with three to five portions.
First to the table were Pork Dumpling in Shanghai Style. Tip: because there&#8217;s chicken broth inside, avoid chin-drips by taking a small bite, suck the broth, then pop it in your mouth.
Pork Dumpling in Shanghai Style ($8): steamed dumpling with ground pork, chopped green onion, and chicken broth.
These Pork Dumplings are served with an incredibly good (not soy) sauce, made only in and imported from a particular Chinese city. This is the only sauce we used during the entire meal. Each dish is created with flavors that beg to be enjoyed on their own merit.

When you have a group of four like we did this past Friday, the best thing to do is order a number of dishes and share. Ask for a knife if you want to cut some things in half.
I&#8217;m a Steamed Barbecued Pork Bun fanatic, ordering them whenever I can. These are some of the best I&#8217;ve had, in no little part because of the slightly sweet, house-made barbecue sauce.
Steamed Barbecued Pork Bun ($6): roast boneless pork loin with home made chef&#8217;s special sauce.
A star of our meal, Crystal Shrimp Dumplings. Just fantastic! Tip: if dumplings like these stick to the paper underneath, they are not cooked correctly. They should lift right off.
Crystal Shrimp Dumplings ($8): steamed shrimp dumplings with minced bamboo shoots wrapped in thin rice skin.
None of us had tried wine from Russian Chapel Hills Winery, the winery Mai and husband Andrey own in Columbus, NC. We enjoyed the Tempranillo we chose.
A Russian Chapel Hills Winery Tempranillo
Moving toward earthier flavors, we ordered the Black Truffle Shu Mai. Dense and savory, these bites were a great mix of pork, shrimp, mushroom, and truffle.
Black Truffle Shu Mai ($8): steamed ground pork, shrimp, mushroom, and fresh black truffle.
Another take on barbecued pork, these classic Steamed Barbecued Pork Buns were delicious. You will need to peel the paper off the bottom before eating.
Steamed Barbecued ork Bun ($6): roast boneless pork loin with home made chef&#8217;s special sauce.
The only Tapas plate we ordered was Steamed Japanese Sea Bass. Tip: dishes on the menu are numbered. Each number is preceded by a &#8220;D&#8221; for Dim Sum or &#8220;T&#8221; for Tapas. It was good, but next time, we&#8217;ll go for the Baked Chilean Sea Bass. It&#8217;s one of Mai&#8217;s recommended favorites.
Steamed Japanese Sea Bass ($16): with mussels and white wine sauce.
Not especially attractive to look at, but totally yummy. I hadn&#8217;t had a roll like this previously, but really liked the &#8220;rice flour skin&#8221; texture. The sauce was tasty, too. Not just bottled soy sauce poured over the plate.
Beef Rice Roll ($7): steamed beef wrapped in rice flour skin, served with sweet soy sauce.
Tip: sit at the open kitchen counter if there&#8217;s a seat available. Watching the chefs ply their art is entrancing.
Mai explained to our group that the art of true Dim Sum has traditionally been passed down from generation to generation, but that the younger generation now has lost interest. Red Ginger&#8217;s Executive Chef visited the Asheville area from New York City multiple times at the invitation of Mai and her husband, finally deciding it would be a good place to &#8220;retire&#8221;. You&#8217;ll find him in the kitchen, making Dim Sum non-stop.
Chef working the steam ovens
Reg Ginger&#8217;s dessert menu is limited to four offerings as of this writing. One of them is a custom cake made just for the restaurant by iconic Asheville bakery, Karen Donatelli Cake Designs.
Red Ginger Mini Cake ($7)
If you like tapioca, get the dumplings pictured below. Scrumptious!
Tapioca Dumpling ($6): sago, milk, coconut milk, and eggs
Take a look at the photo gallery below, clicking on any image to enlarge, and you&#8217;ll see part of why Red Ginger is something of a higher caliber than usual for Asheville. The other part is the food, of course, but the attention to detail, design, and authenticity of Red Ginger sets it apart from many Asheville restaurants. It&#8217;s more what you&#8217;d expect in a larger, more sophisticated urban environment.
Important Note: Because Red Ginger has filled such a huge demand for good Chinese food in Asheville, and because they are still working everything out, they frequently run out of the most popular menu items by 7 &#8211; 7:30pm. Go early for best selection.
Notes:

The cut metal sculpture (for want of a better word) hung under the outdoor patio ceiling was commissioned and imported from China. There are, or will be, lights above mounted above. During the day, it acts an architectural feature on its own merit, but when backlit in the evening, it will create a leaf pattern below.
Pendant lights above the open-kitchen counter feature a Peony design. Although The People&#8217;s Republic of China doesn&#8217;t recognize a legally designated national flower, most Chinese refer to the Peony as the national flower of China. It is said to bring good luck.
Many finishes and products used at Red Ginger are locally sourced. Table tops (Rainbow Poplar), bar tops, and reclaimed wood on pillars are from North Carolina.
Artwork and some special fine china are hand-made and imported from China. See the six plates in recessed cubbies toward the back of the restaurant and the five pieces behind the bar depecting the Cheongsam style of dress made popular in China in the 1920s.
Service pieces and flatware were designed specifically for Red Ginger and imported from China.

Highly Epicurean Recommended!
Red Ginger
82 Patton Avenue
(near Pritchard Park)
Asheville, NC, 28801
(828) 505-8688

Question 5

Why Postero Must Not Close

Accepted Answer

Hendersonville &#8211; Another year in the books, business partner and friend, Nichole Livengood (Gap Creek Gourmet), and I celebrated over dinner at Postero.
I&#8217;m a sucker for Brussels Sprouts. Postero&#8217;s take: Carmelized Brussels ($5) with local honey and toasted peanuts was fantastic. A generous serving, it&#8217;s practically a meal in itself. Loved the added crunch of the toasted peanuts.
See the complimentary bread behind the Brussels? It&#8217;s dangerous. It&#8217;s delicious, but be strong. Don&#8217;t be tempted to eat too much. You&#8217;ll regret it when your appetizer and entreé show up.

And just look at this $5 Smoked Butter and Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes appetizer! Both of these dishes are listed as &#8220;Provisions&#8221; on the menu. So good, but huge! Sharing is a good thing.

Just as we were marveling at the size of the apps and how much food we had inadvertanly ordered, Owner/Chef Jason Reasoner sent out Edamame Hummas ($6) from his &#8220;Snack&#8221; menu. Wow! We&#8217;re talking tahini, lemon sauce, olive oil, crushed edamame, and pickled yellow raisins, served with an ample supply of crostini. Now we were really in trouble. We loved the flavor and texture combinations.
Chef told us later that people weren&#8217;t too sure about this dish when he first put it on the menu, but now it&#8217;s sometimes hard to meet demand.

Yours truly was in the mood for something substantial and special. Postero&#8217;s &#8220;Steak&#8221; ($27) &#8211; grilled Beef Tenderloin with smoked butter-cauliflower mashed potatoes, Postero Steak Sauce, Burgandy braised mushrooms, and Blue Cheese butter met the bill big time.
I can&#8217;t say enough about the Postero Steak Sauce. It&#8217;s definitely not your average steak sause. Absolutely fabulous! It&#8217;s the kind of sauce you don&#8217;t want to leave on your plate. And those mushrooms. Terrific!

Every single dish came to the table hot. That doesn&#8217;t always happen at restaurants.
Nichole ordered a Market Plate ($19). This is a gamble I almost took, but opted for the Steak instead. I would have been totally happy with this daily preparation of &#8220;seasonal produce from the fields and local markets&#8221;. What a great combination of nuts, greens, cheese, and other veggies. Yum! Another good plate to share.

We were pretty full, but wanted to finish on a shared sweet note. Even though Chocolate Molten Cake can be cliché, we thought Postero&#8217;s version sounded different &#8211; and it was house-made. On the menu as Chocolate and Peanut Butter ($6), it&#8217;s filled with peanut butter sauce and served with a scoop of salted peanut brittle ice cream. You really have to try this. So good.

Postero must not close. Ever. Hendersonville, NC has needed a fine dining spot for quite a while. The kind of place you previously had to head north to Asheville to enjoy. And if you were paying attention, you would have noticed prices are definitely reasonable for this level of creativity and skill.
Postero is definitely Epicurean recommended.
Postero
401 N Main St
Hendersonville, NC 28792
(828) 595-9676

Question 6

When your flight out of CLT is cancelled

Accepted Answer

Charlotte &#8211; What to do when you&#8217;ve driven two hours to Charlotte International Airport for a morning flight, it&#8217;s cancelled due to bad weather at your destination, you&#8217;ve spent hours in various lines, and are re-assigned to an early morning flight the next day?
You book a room and spend the rest of the day tooling around Charlotte.
We landed at Amélie&#8217;s French Bakery, named one of North Carolina&#8217;s 10 Best Bakeries, for a couple hours R&R; reading and researching on the Internet.
Love the space. Love the pastries. Love the espresso drinks.

The baked goods are amazing.

Three full cases of them.

Below is a &#8220;side&#8221; room with lots of additional seating.

Don&#8217;t be surprised if crowds come in, forming a line that winds throughout. Sit back with your treat and espresso drink, taking in the show.
Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner are also available. See all menus here.
Epicurean Note: We were at the &#8220;mother ship&#8221; location, but there are also two more Charlotte locations, a Rock Hill, SC location and an Atlanta, GA location.
Amélie&#8217;s French Bakery
2424 N Davidson St.
Charlotte, NC 28205
(704) 376-1781

Category: Reviews

About

Connect

Recent Posts

Warning – Donut Stop LLC Sells Out Quickly!

Excellent Afternoon Tea Discovery! Bed and Breakfast on Tiffany Hill

Exploring WNC Gems: The Pure and Proper

Hearth and Herron – A Hendersonville, NC Experience