On a recent trip to Asheville, we tried a new restaurant from the same folks as one of our favorite dining establishments, Curate. Nightbell is an American-style restaurant focused on using Appalachian ingredients. We made the reservation the night before, so we were eating early at 5.15!! 😉There is a small welcome/reception area on the first floor with cute, eclectic furniture. 

The bar and dining room are upstairs with plush seating, funky light fixtures and great natural light. Very cool space.

Being pregnant, I was thrilled to see a list of housemade sodas on the menu. I had grapefruit and Sean had balsamic which was incredibly unique and good.

We started with a cauliflower soup with shrimp that was rich and satisfying.

Our next course was perhaps the most memorable: riff on a “deviled egg” corn sabayon, sunburst smoked trout gravlax**, pimenton, egg cup. It was soft, light, bright with bits of gravlax to give it depth and texture. WOW. And the presentation was fantastic.

Our third dish was one we didn’t actually care for as much. Steamed clams, linguine, fennel, lemon, pancetta, breadcrumbs. The clams were divine but the pasta/sauce was really acidic – we didn’t finish and let our server know why. The restaurant took this dish off of our final bill – very good of them.

We shared this plate of whipped rutabaga, sweet potato jus, black truffle, crispy shallots – so rich, so creamy, so flavorful.

The final dish was also great – crispy lamb belly with micro greens and pan jus. Yum!

Nightbell is a cool place with fun and interesting locally-sourced food right in downtown Asheville. Recommend!