ASEHVILLE, N.C. – We sat at the counter of Tupelo Honey Cafe watching the organized madness before us. Chefs ladled gravy into bowls while sausage patties sizzled on the griddle before our eyes.
Order after order made its way to the plate. The pancakes that cooked away just a few feet in front of me were massive.
I ordered an omelet with cheddar cheese and some local sausage. My companion ordered French Toast made with challah bread and topped with blueberries and a bowl of grits on the side. The blueberry topping was sweet enough that no syrup was needed for the French toast, I’m told. Now, I am not a grits fan, but these, I must admit, were tasty – nice and creamy as opposed to gritty.
From there, we headed to Asheville’s most popular attraction: the Biltmore Estate.
The house, known as America’s largest private residence, was built by George Washington Vanderbilt, the grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, who amassed his wealth in steamships and railroads. The younger Vanderbilt built the house between 1888 and 1895, and enjoyed the French-style chateau for 19 years before his death in 1914.
While the house itself is today a museum of sorts, its contents are as impressive as the structure itself: there’s the chess set that once belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte, an 18th century ceiling painting by Pellegrini once featured in Venice’s Pisani Palace and one of the nation’s first bowling alleys, built in 1895 – just to name a few.
Frankly, I find it hard to image what it must have been like to live here.
After touring the house, we headed over to the winery for a tour and a wine tasting. We started by sitting in on a 45-minute class about pairing wine and chocolate. With the chocolate, we sampled the cabernet sauvignon and the Cardinal’s Crest. At the second tasting, we had a choice of any five wines, so I went with the limited release cabernet sauvignon, syrah, zinfandel, pinot noir and sangiovese. No Merlot.
For dinner, we chose Corner Kitchen, located in an historic house in the Biltmore Village, just feet from the Estate’s front gate.
I started with banderilla – lemon oregano chicken on a skewer on a bed of Greek-style potatoes. For the main course, I ordered the chili dusted pork chop on tomato rice with chayote squash, mango salsa and ancho aioli. We paired dinner with a malbec from Argentina.
