Why reverse the Holeman and Finch experience? Because Impressed came after Annoyed, which came after Confused, so I’m leading with the positive and will sum it all up at the end.
Impressed
Uppermost, servers were friendly and top notch. They actually made the evening.
Dessert, Sticky Toffee Pudding served with pour-over sauce and vanilla ice cream, was delicious. There are lots of options on the menu, but don’t miss the charcuterie, oysters, and chilled seafood. Their charcuterie program is curated and awesome.
From our seats we could see (through the shelving, jars, etc.) cured meats thinly sliced by hand. To the right of the shelves we watched a gorgeous hand-cranked meat slicer in action. We watched Co-owner Chef Linton Hopkins reaching for this and that as he put together charcuterie boards using excellent cheeses and cured meats.
Create your own Charcuterie board from the meat and cheese listings on the menu. It’s a little confusing. The menu says “served with bread, nuts, pickles & mustards” and “choose one choose many – all by the ounce.” So order any combination (all cheeses, all meats, both) and as much as you like, but know that prices on the menu are for 1oz of that item.
Oysters and Chilled Seafood are ordered from a menu (.pdf) laid out like a Sushi menu. Note how many of each item you want to the left of that item.
If you’re a popcorn fan, try their Bacon Popcorn. Take a bag home with you. It’s delicious and addictive.
Annoyed
Why would you choose to seat media, on hand to experience all that is your new restaurant, on metal stools, at a narrow counter, at a window facing the street, where the only thing they can see is a reflection of themselves?
We requested different seating and were offered spots at the bar. Only problem was they were directly in front of stocked shelves, so the view of bar action was obscured and servers behind the bar couldn’t get to us very easily.
Confused
You’re expecting us, right? Confirmed with a NYC PR company as well as the Holeman and Finch Operations Manager, no one seemed to know what was happening. No one introduced themselves to us, explained anything about the Holeman and Finch concept, owners, or anything else. It felt awkward and confused.
Some of the confusion on our part was because we weren’t aware of the concept going in. We were expecting table seating in a typical “restaurant”. I’d done my research, but not until we saw the menu did we get that Holeman and Finch is based on a “Public House” format. It feels like they refined their concept as an afterthought and are still dotting i’s and crossing t’s. Although their parent Hopkins and Company website lists a Holeman and Finch Public House opening soon in Colony Square, Atlanta, this location is listed as Holeman and Finch Asheville.
We weren’t quite sure about portion sizes and wondered if some dishes were meant to be entrées. Chef Linton took a minute to explain that there are no entrées on the menu, just various dishes of various sizes. Choose from Snacks, Plates, Parts, Meats & Cheeses, Farm, and Sweets. If it matters to you, ask your server about portion size. See MENU (.pdf).
Wrapping it Up
My take: Holeman and Finch is like an intimate, old English countryside neighborhood Public House relocated to Asheville and modernized with current decor. It’s a place where you should not be surprised if you find yourself conversing with the people at the next table or bar stool. It’s where I’d meet up with friends for drinks and food. We’d most likely end up talking and laughing over a table-top full of shared plates.
“I prefer it when someone looks like a nice person, and you think, ‘I could have a laugh with them in the pub.”
– Jo Brand
Even with the confusion and annoyances, I love the Holeman and Finch concept and hope they’ll tighten things up over the next month or so.
Epicurean Notes:
- If you see a red “86” stamped on the menu, it means that item is no longer available. You know, it’s been “86ed”. Seems like a labor intensive thing, but on the other hand, it frees up the servers from having to explain what’s available and what’s not.
- They’ve put as much seating into this small space as humanly and legally possible. If the patio opens back up (new Avl regs on parking lot seating & heating), some of the seating pressure should ease.
- Question menu items if you want details. One of the dishes we had was Blackened Chicken Liver captioned “buttermilk spoonbread, mostarda” ($13, see image gallery), The buttermilk spoonbread had a saucy rather than the expected Yorkshire Pudding type consistancy and the mostarda (not everyone knows what this is) was a peach mostarda di frutta.
- Holeman and Finch Asheville is the latest offering from Hopkins and Company, an Atlanta based hospitality group. They originally opened this location as H & F Burger right before Covid hit in 2019, shutting down shortly afterward.
Holeman and Finch Public House
77 Biltmore Ave
Asheville, NC 28801
828-417-3053
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