We love Asheville. And many of our friends love Asheville, too. So we figured why not go together with friends for a weekend? Me, Sean, Greg and Krista headed out the weekend before Valentine’s Day and had a great time visiting some favorite spots while also trying out a few new places.

Sean and I drove up from Atlanta Friday morning and stopped at Rezaz Mediterranean restaurant in Biltmore Village for lunch. We’d been here for dinner before and lunch was also an inventive and fresh menu. I had a Mediterranean Bento Box with salmon, lentil salad, greens, saffron rice, falafel and tahini cookie. Sean had a lamb shwarma wrap that was amazing.

While waiting for Greg and Krista to arrive and check into our hotel, Sean and I stopped by The Funkatorium to buy some bottles and taste a few beers at the bar.

After checking in to our hotel, we walked over to the Grove Arcade and walked through it to the Battery Park Book Exchange and Champagne Bar. The place was awesome and I couldn’t believe we’d never made it there on previous visits!

We walked over to Thirsty Monk and hung out in the Belgian Bar downstairs before heading to their rooftop to watch the sun set over the mountains. It was a chilly night and a beautiful sunset.

At this point, we went back to the hotel to get dressed for dinner, then took an Uber down to The Wedge and had some tasty brews along the river. Sean and I had dinner reservations for The Admiral, a place I’d been wanting to try for years. It did not disappoint! We started with an incredible beef tartare platter complete with raw quail egg. We then had a fried chicken bao (steam bun), venison with a beet risotto (fabulous!) and the most amazing peanut butter parfait dessert with a sesame chip and banana sauce. Yes, banana sauce. Housemade. So good. Like “lick the plate” good.

We called it a night after lingering over dinner for a long time (hey, we are NOT as young as we used to be!). 😉

Saturday morning I woke up not feeling well. I felt a little out of it and had some body aches. I’d just gotten over an upper-respiratory infection and was worried I was getting sick again. Greg was also a little sick and Krista was still recovering from her bout with the flu. We were a pretty sad bunch but we were all trying to power through! I let Sean, Greg and Krista head out in the morning while I rested a little while longer and then met them at Wicked Weed. 

We headed to lunch at Buxton Hall Barbecue after that and I had a very delicious lunch. I got the buttermilk fried chicken sandwich that I got the last time I was there but ordered it without the cheeses this time, only adding the pickles and the white BBQ sauce. Perfection. BEST fried chicken sandwich I have ever had, without question.

French Broad Chocolates was the on the way to Burial Beer Co. so naturally we had to stop so I could choose some chocolates. I didn’t really feel well enough for a lot of day-drinking, so branching out into a sweets shop was just right.

We all decided an afternoon nap was in order so we walked back through downtown and to our hotel. The nap, though short, was definitely something I needed and I felt a little better after I woke up. Which is good because we went to another place I’d been wanting to try for long time – 5 Walnut Wine Bar! We all had great wine and ordered a cheese tray from their Cheese Bar. Fun!

We still had time to kill before dinner so Sean suggested we check out One World Brewery which is a speakeasy-style brewery beneath Farm Burger. He’d been before but we hadn’t so we got some beers and played a very strange table game that was like a combination of shuffle-board and skee ball. Sean also read aloud a poem that the girl playing next to us had written. Fun!

We had dinner at Rhubarb, a farm-to-table Southern-style restaurant. We all tried a bunch of different things from the menu and had a really nice experience. I headed back to the hotel after that to get to bed since I was still feeling crappy. But hey, I made it all day and am glad I pushed through!

Greg, Krista and Sean went down to The Funkatorium for a nightcap.

Sunday morning I woke up feeling MUCH better, so I knew my early night was well worth it! We started off by walking around downtown, taking in the architecture, painted murals and street art of this still-funky mountain town. We stopped in a few shops, grabbed some tea and coffee and enjoyed the beautiful 65-degree weather.

Brunch was at Curate, one of our favorite Asheville spots and one of the most authentic Spanish tapas restaurants I’ve been to in the US. This is the restaurant (and subsequent cookbook) that Sean planned my Spanish-themed birthday party around last year. So nice to be here with our friends!

These were called “migas” and were crispy Brussels Sprouts with hazelnuts, cranberries and a light-as-air whipped lemon yogurt. Wowza.

On our way home, we stopped at the stunning Sierra Nevada Brewing facility that sits about 20 minutes south of downtown Asheville. It was the perfect day (that felt more like spring than winter) to explore the grounds and sit outside with some cold beers with friends. Ahhhh. Cheers!

Asheville really is such a perfect weekend getaway from Atlanta – only about 3 and a half hours by car. And while this time we definitely focused more on the beer and wine, there’s a ton of other things to do, too. In fact, last fall we did an awesome hike and spent a half-day at a Japanese-stype spa in the mountains. Truly something for everyone!