The final Lost Asheville Pics.
Posted By Michelle on March 6, 2009
So, here’s the scoop.
We are sitting in Asheville, NC right now…as I type…at Truffle Fest.
First, Asheville is like, only one of our favorite cities in the entire world (if you have never been to Asheville, you so need to go). It is a foodie town indeed. More on that later. Secondly, Asheville is hosting Truffle Fest. Yeah, truffle fest. Not the fake chocolate kind either. The real deal. The black beauties. Finally, we are staying at our friends’ mountain home, which just so happens to be our dream home. Three stories, in the mountains, hot tub, jacuzzi baths, fireplace. Gorgeous everything.
So, while we’re hear we’ll be posting random photos of the trip that we will not use for our column, because well, it is just so awesome here and you should totally be here. Just get in the car, already. We’ve got 2 spare rooms.
Check back, because will be updating photos through this post.
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The final update pre-Tampa Trib piece. There will be a lot more about the Asheville food scene, because it is awesome. But these are the pictures that won’t be used and well, they should be seen
I found the fancy chocolatier who stole my Bacon Chocolate concept who beat me to my Bacon Chocolate concept.
Me and Gloria (the land manatee). The house was just behind my right shoulder, tucked away into the forest. We also found wild daffodils and blooming dogwood. Not bad being there was a foot of snow only a week prior.
Greg and Ricky Bobby. Greg was sampling some Asheville local brew, Highland. Little Ricky became a mountain dog!
Our new friends, Betsy and Ann (aka The Bunnies) offered up their gorgeous mountain home for us to stay in, when they heard we were off to Asheville. Rabbit Moon Cottage (aka The Bunny Mansion) is truly divine. The moment you walk inside you feel comfortable and relaxed. There is just something about this place. You have GOT to stay here when you come to Asheville. They rent it out. It’s 3 stories, 3 bedrooms, hot tub, garage, wrap around deck over looking everything, very private. Need I say more?
Greg could barely get me out of the tub. I needed a snorkel and mask, it was so big. This picture was taken at night, but those black windows overlook nothing but mountain forest.
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A few pictures from the passed few days.
We were asked to judge the Truffle Risotto contest (I know poor us) and these are a few of the competing chefs. Note the very powerful-looking chef at the far left. Yep, that’s Iron Chef winner Walter Royal. He didn’t compete, he judged. Nice guy, too.
Judges table at the Risotto competition.
A BIG $500-$600 bag of Perigord truffles. We spoke with the family putting this whole Truffle Fest. This was part of her stash, like an 1/8th of it.
Not related to Truffle Fest: This is my new fav restaurant on the entire world. The Admiral. It’s a dive bar and serves high end small plates (that really aren’t small), like sweetbreads and venison loin. Much more to come about this place.
The view from the home we are staying at. Heaven.
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On the drive from Tampa to Asheville, we stopped off in Savannah on Wednesday night. And we HAD to go here, because we were curious. You are, too and don’t lie (Cook Eat Fret).
No, we didn’t see Paula. I don’t think she evens steps foot in that place anymore. It was a well oiled machine but we were not too impressed with our choice. Some of it was good, some of it was bad, and some of it was just wrong. We shoulda ordered from the menu.
We opted for the buffet, because we HAD to.
A vat off lime beans and black eyed peas.
A HUGE pan of fried chicken. The light makes it look evil, because it is.
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Stumble it!
I am still waiting to hear about Feb 27…Vacation is no excuse.
But, my baby bro used to live in Savannah. He is an actual chef like you guys. He used to graon about this place and this was way back when Ms. Deene probably still graced the place with her presence. But I understand why you went.
Oddly I am in you neck of the woods as I write this. I mean the neck you abandoned for Asheville. Oh well….GREG (LA) err, well St. Pete this week.
no no no - no paula dean branded anything for me
no no no - you can’t make me and i wouldn’t
not curious
but truffles? i am seriously envious. SERIOUSLY.
i still think you should take the long way home and stop through nashville…
Cripes, it’s 9:40pm and now you have me craving fried chicken! Have fun, guys, looks amazing. And yes, Asheville is something special.
It was great meeting you both in Asheville. I am extremely hinover from great wine and truffles so I thought I’d look up your blog. Looks fantastic and next time I am down Tampa way I’ll be sure to stop in.
Chef Colin Auchincloss
Come back with all those wonderful ideas about new spots to eat and ideas. Get Bob to introduce you to Zack and Casey down the mountain before you leave…..they are big promoters. Sounds like you guys are having fun at the Bunny Mansion…here is a website for the house…we are in the process of updating it and it will be on VRBO also. http://www.geocities.com/rabbitmooncottage/
Greg: We know. Here’s the clincher, I forgot the camera and have no pics! It was a tremendous dinner, though. Tampa Greg’s head was at least 5 feet wider by the end of the night. He’s a modest guy, too, so you can only imagine. OF COURSE, you are in St. Pete. Ah, well. Next time LA Greg. Next time.
Claudia: Just a little curious?
Carrie: The grass fed QUEEN goes chicken???????
Colin: It was great meeting you, too and I am surprised you weren’t just knockered the whole time. They kept feeding me champagne throughout the judging. My glass was never empty. When you are down our way, give us a ring!
Betsy: OH! BESTY! We loooooved the house. I’ll be giving you a call in just a moment, but we want to publicly thank you for letting us stay in your beautiful mountain home. It was magnificent. And yes, we left our favorite foodie spots in the Bunny Book.
Betsy rents out this home people. It’s just far enough out that you feel like you are in mountain paradise, but it’s just close enough that it takes 10 minutes to get anywhere.
[...] (3/12/2009): We just got back from Asheville and it is THE place for vegetarians. Every menu we saw had veg substitutions, not to mention the [...]
Hope you ordered a sippable truffle at the French Broad Chocolate Lounge…mmmmm…heaven. I just tried their lemon pepper truffle — sounds gross, but it was totally yum. (I’m just guessing that’s where u found the bacon chocolate.)
Hi, guys! Love the new updated photos. Look at how little Ricky Bobby is! (I bet he won’t stay that way for long, especially with all that boxer in him.) I hope you took the Bacon Chocolate as a sign that Asheville is your soul-mate city. Come back and we’ll eat our way through downtown together!
Dodie and Sherida: I owe you 2 an email and will do so. We’ve got lots to share with you and thank you for all you did. Your wonderful! Dodie, I will expect and a call when you come to town!
What a great place Asheville is, and they were wonderful hosts for the truffle fest. Thanks so much for your hospitality while we were there “truffling” things up.
Congratulations chefs, on winning the risotto competition!
Betty Garland
Thank you Betty for all those truffles!
Thinking of you two. Wondering what you are up to. Vinci is getting better, but it has been a long struggle and I now owe my soul to the vets. You can check on his progress on helpvinci.blog.com We will have a website going up next week. If you want to donate a recipe go to Rabbits5@aol.com Anyone that reads this besides Michelle and Greg this about my dog. Vinci, Leonardo Da Vinci. Of course I am an art teacher with a doggie named after an artist. Vinci had a ruptured disc and was paralyzed for over a month. He had to have surgery and the costs have sky rocketed. If you are interested you can check out Vinci’s blog listed above.
This is so weird!!! We are at Rabbit Moon Cottage and we googled it to find websites about it to link to on our blog. Jen and I went to Chef’s on the Loose in Tampa when you did your Tuscany dinner night. Jen’s sister Ann Marie was with us - you adopted your dog from her.
It is such a small world.
It sucks rhat Lost is ending right now i will miss that show very much