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Eating our way through Hendersonville, Don’t Miss Hendersonville Restaurant Week!

I was honored to be invited with other food bloggers to attend a Sneak Peek of Hendersonville Restaurant Week. Meals and accommodations were provided gratis. All opinions are my own.

I just got back from a quick little trip to Hendersonville, NC to catch a sneak peek of the upcoming Hendersonville Restaurant Week which is happening March 15-24. I’m telling you about it now because it’ll give you plenty of time to plan. And let me tell you, you’re gonna want to take a little jaunt to the mountains of North Carolina to check out this foodie town and get you some delicious eats.

I had heard that Hendersonville had a happening food scene, while enjoying being a touch “away” from the tourist vibe in nearby Asheville (about 20 minutes away). It was my first time and I immediately fell in love with its charming downtown as well as the neighboring village of Flat Rock. A half dozen or so food bloggers from all over the state and South Carolina were invited by my friend, Laura Huff the Carolina Epicurean, to taste what is to come for their first ever restaurant week. We tried eight restaurants in 2 1/2 days …it’s a tough life, foodies. We call it R & D and I haven’t quite recovered from so many tastes of foods. Plus I got spoiled a little, I ain’t gonna lie.

The 10-day event encourages locals and visitors to explore restaurants via prix fixe multi-course menus. You’ll find all varieties of restaurants participating, from taverns to fine dining and even food trucks. Lunch menus range from $10-15 and dinner menus from $25-35 (excluding beverages, tax and gratuity). And if you want to turn your foodie adventure into a bonafide getaway, there are lodging partners that are offering special rates and packages, such as buying a two night stay, get a third for free. Reservations are recommended as this inaugural event is generating quite the buzz. Please be sure to visit the Hendersonville Restaurant Week website for the latest menu updates. Below is just a smidge of what you’ll taste and see during HRW. We just glazed the surface baby. And we ate a ton!

Flat Rock Wood Room 1501 Greenville Hwy, Hendersonville
This cute BBQ restaurant meets pizza joint draws you in the moment you get our of your car. The smell of the smoke and the casual ambiance invite you to just hang for a while. Be sure to get some stock for your pantry with Jamie Guay’s Championship rubs and sauces. You’ll have trouble deciding. There’s a lot to choose on the menu and we tried some tasty bites, but I really loved those wings and you must try the cornbread. It rocks.

Old Orchard Tavern, 201 Sugarloaf Rd, Hendersonville

Located in the Cascades Mountain Resort, this little restaurant is not your typical hotel restaurant. Very chef-driven with locally-sourced ingredients, I look forward to dining here again. The hotel is quaint and you can enjoy some family time in the indoor pool with a slide that kids of all ages would love. As for the food? Delicious is all I can tell you. Highly recommend any of the dishes. I also loved this beer-brined game hen, which didn’t make the cut. So just be sure to check the website for any menu changes.

Brooks Tavern, 142 3rd Ave W, Hendersonville

If tavern fare is more you speed, you’ll love this cute little happening bar-meets-restaurant for drinks and specials and pub food. It’s just so fun and pretty too. Don’t miss the jar of candied bacon and if you have a sweet tooth, you’ll enjoy the fried (yes, fried) cheesecake. Think cheesecake made like an egg roll served with a side of preserves. Big enough to share.

Postero, 401 N Main St, Hendersonville

You. Guys. Postero is gorgeous and Postero put so much food in front of us that we ate ourselves into a tizzy. And Postero has great lighting for food photography and I felt very comfortable there with my fellow food bloggers just taking snaps. I’m sure people were aghast but we didn’t care because we were with our people. There were several highlights but I have to say that the whipped goat cheese mousse with house-made waffle fries kept me going back for more. As did the salmon tartare. As did the polenta fries. And the banana ice box pie. I’ll stop now.

Season’s at Highland Lake, 86 Lily Pad Ln, Flat Rock
A great vacation spot whether you’re vacationing solo, as a twosome or as a family. Highland Lake enjoys hosting receptions, weddings, parties and business luncheons. Quite too many tastes that we tried to list here. We had a table full of plates and we passed and tasted in a flurry. What you see here may change and here are some of my faves.

Hannah Flanagan’s, 300 N Main St, Hendersonville
A traditional, no frills, super casual Irish pub. Their claim to fame is the Shepherd’s Pie Eggroll. Dipped in a little brown gravy, it’s a super tasty crispy on the outside soul-soothing favorite.

Never Blue, 119 S Main St, Hendersonville
Ya’ll. My bucket list spot. I’ve been trying to get to Never Blue for a few years now since hearing the praises of superstar Chef Jesse Roque. She’s so hip and gorgeous and super sweet. And heck yeah, can she cook. Tried a lot here too. My favorites were the Gypsy Cheese (think a tex-mex style pimento cheese, but with jalapenos) topped with Cowboy Candy (think candied jalapenos…and yum). The gnocchi was also mmmm…mmmm good. Be prepared to get FED at Never Blue. The portions at dinner are no joke, but Jesse says she wants you full and happy and you will be!

The Dugout Taproom & Grill, 430 N Main St, Hendersonville
This is the only spot I didn’t get to try since I had to get back to the kiddos, but from the photos I saw, you might want to get you some fried green tomatoes with pimento cheese because, cheesy goodness.

Where I stayed:

1898 Wavery Inn

1898 Waverly Inn is the oldest surviving inn in Hendersonville. This inn used to be a boarding house before being turned into a charming bed and breakfast. Mike and Tracey made us feel so welcome. Breakfasts were delicious and not just for guests. You’re welcome to just come in the morning to eat. It’s very convenient and just a block from downtown. Be sure to enjoy their social hour and if the weather is warm, you’ll love taking a seat in a rocking chair a swing on the charming front porch.

If there’s time between eats, don’t miss…

Appalachian Pinball Museum, 538 N Main St, Hendersonville

Pinball machines, Pac-Man, Tetris, Frogger. All in a historic theater. It will take you back for sure.

Also try not to miss:

The Poe House

Named in honor of author Edgar Allan Poe, The Poe House is located in historic downtown Hendersonville. Coming off somewhere between English Pub and trendy wine bar. The Poe House is a hangout for locals and visitors alike. A cozy place to enjoy live music, a craft cocktail, beer from their ever changing draft list, or a flight of hand selected wines.

What I loved about Hendersonville is that the downtown is very walkable with wide streets and ample parking. And the nearby town of Flat Rock has cute little shops and eateries, a wonderful park, Flat Rock Playhouse and the Carl Sandburg home.

A portion of Restaurant Week’s proceeds will benefit Dandelion, a job-training cafe in downtown Hendersonville for Safelight, a nonprofit that assists victims of domestic violence.

Check out the restaurant week menus here. For more information about Hendersonville, click here.

Happy eating and traveling foodies. Let me know where you go and what you loved. Tag us while you’re there on FB or Insta, we love seeing you on your adventures!

Website: http://hendersonvillerw.com
Social:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HendersonvilleRestaurantWeek/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hendersonvillerestaurantweek/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HendoRestWeek

For Lodging Specials: http://hendersonvillerw.com/lodging-partners/

Get Your Taste & See NC Box with Coupon Code!

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Hey, foodies!

You know fun it is to go to local markets, boutiques and shops and see all the yummy, local provisions? If only there was a way to see AND taste or taste and see. Well, there’s a new company, based right here in North Carolina that is giving us all a chance to bring home a box of North Carolina goodness. You pick your city and it’s delivered right to your door.

My friend, Shayla, launched Taste and See NC earlier this year as a way to highlight local makers with a gift box of artisan food products from our fair cities. There’s a Winston-Salem box, a Durham Box, Raleigh, Charlotte, Asheville. You get the idea. Shayna reached out to the foodies and asked us if we wanted a box (uh…yes, Shayla, yes!) and let us choose our city. I was familiar with some of Asheville and all of Winston-Salem’s box. I haven’t had the benefit of enjoying a whole lot of Durham goodies, even though it’s one of the top Southern food towns. So Shayna sent me a Durham box and I just had to show you how cute and fun it is. Of course, I’ve tried all of these items and will be sharing them with you here.

Look! It was a like a little present from Tiffany. Only better. Yeah I said that (No thanks to the post office for getting it all dirty).

Inside that Carolina Blue box was a selection from some of the finest makers in the Bull City:

Big Spoon Roasters: Apricot and Pepita Bar
Chocked full of real ingredients. I started noshing on this little bar so quickly that I forgot to snap a pic. Oops! But I did remember later to photograph this bar as a topping to my smoothie bowl. It was chewy and lightly sweet and satisfying. On a side note, you can find Big Spoon in the Triad (including Whole Foods) and all over the region as they are super popular with their nut butters. It was fun to see they’ve gotten into food bars for a quick, healthy snack. Big Spoon is known for their sustainable practices including supporting our NC Peanut Farmers.

Sangha Tea: Ginger Peach Black Tea
As I write this, I’m fearing I’m catching the microfoodies’ colds. So this tea is very warm and soothing. This tea is smells and tastes exactly as its name. It’s gingery. It’s peachy and wonderful.

Ello Raw: Cinnamon Sugar Donut Bites
Another healthy grab and go option, these little grain-free bites are made with raw, organic superfood ingredients.

Durham Toffee:
Man, oh man. This toffee though. Fortunately it made it to me without getting all melted in the summer heat. This toffee is melt in your mouth, chewy, buttery deliciousness topped with the crunch of almonds. I’m going to miss it when it’s gone. It won’t be long now either.

Double M Bakeshop:
Shhhh…don’t tell mr. foodie that there’s another nut butter in the domicile. He already shakes his head in disbelief. I have an entire pantry shelf devoted to nut butters (cashew, almond, flax and chia, peanut x 4, mixed nut) and they are even stacked one on top of another. It’s almost embarrassing. Proudly, Double M now sits among its lower class peers. The peanut butter is all natural, with a little coconut oil and an ever so light lacing of honey for some sweetness. It’s a great blend of a little sweet, a little salty and the little girl who only eats peanut butter when she has to is Double M’s newest fan. On a bagel or with some crackers? Yes, please. Drizzled on a smoothie bowl? Done and done.

So if you’re in, near or from one of these hometowns, they make a fun gift for yourself and especially for friends and family, to give them a taste of the local flavor. All City Boxes are $40. Find out more here. City Boxes will get updated as well.

In December, Taste and See NC will begin offering a quarterly themed subscription box which will feature seven to ten NC food items. It might be a pantry theme or a chocolate theme, but you can bet it will be delicious. You can still order the City Boxes to sample the program or to give as a gift. Sign up for your quarterly subscription here. Get $5 OFF with the coupon code TRIADFOODIE

I also wanted to point out something about Taste and See…and Shayla didn’t ask me to tell you this, but it’s so worth knowing. Approximately 160,000 of North Carolina’s citizens receive emergency food assistance in any given week. One in four children live in food insecure households. You can help with your quarterly subscription. A percentage from the sales of all quarterly subscriptions will support a NC-based charity specifically focused on feeding children in food insecure areas. These NC makers are already doing their part by creating healthy, real food from our own state and supporting the farmers here. Now you can help Taste and See bring it full circle by enjoying your quarterly box or gifting them or a City Box to friends.

Enjoy these makers, foodies and don’t forget your coupon code!

Cackalacky Giveaway!

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If you live in Nor’ Cackalacky, you’ve probably heard of Cackalacky. Heck even if you live farther away, you might have heard of this amazing NC-based company with its delicious sauces and peanuts. They do just a few things. But that’s what makes them so stupendous. This Siler City-based company does those things and they do them very well.

What could be under here?? Revealing the prize package!

The Cackalacky Sweet Cheerwine BBQ Sauce is a legend unto itself. It was a “favorite thing” a few years ago…you can read about it here. Add that to another zingy sauce made from Sweet Potatoes. They even have their own eponymously named beer, brewed by Full Steam Brewery. It’s a wonderful ginger-spiced pale ale that’s great with all things grilled and party. There’s also Cackalacky Spiced Peanuts made similarly to the Spicy sauce (they are QUITE spicy-mmmmm) and now….the Beer-B-Q Peanuts…Jumbo-sized peanuts with a hint of beer and BBQ. I’ve been waiting several weeks for these little legumes to make their appearance at my local Lowes Foods. Getting a little impatient with my store, I reached out to the folks at Cackalacky and they sent me a prize pack for a lucky winner (and a taste for me)! Thanks, friends!

A glimpse of the prize pack with one of those nuts being for “research purposes by me.”

By the way, the Beer-B-Q nuts are utterly fantastic. They are sweet and savory with a bit of a kick and hint of beer. They are so good just for snacking but I bet they’d be great in a salad too.

In the prize pack, a couple of the new Beer-B-Q nuts, a large bottle of the Cackalacky Cheerwine Sweet Sauce, and some swaggy items you’ll love, like a souvenir glass, frisbee, bumper stickers to proclaim your fandom and some coozies. Fun!

Comment below follow us on Facebook and reply on your favorite way to enjoy anything Cackalacky. Tag a friend and share the post too. At the end of next week, we’ll draw a winner. And then we’ll arrange a way to get your winnings to you. 🙂

And stay tuned for the holidays. I have a feeling these nuts and maybe another Cackalacky item might make it on the 2016 triadfoodies Holiday Gift Guide. And you’ll want to see how to get your hands on that!

You can find Cackalacky in many local grocery stores. If you’re in NC, just check out the “local” section.

Cheers!

triadfoodies named Top NC Bloggers to follow by FlipKey

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Hey, foodies!

Long time no chat. Been busy traveling and eating while we travel. Stay tuned for some recaps which are way overdue and deserved.

I got a note today that triadfoodies was just named a top NC-based blog to follow by FlipKey by tripadvisor. Pretty cool since when we travel across NC and beyond, we love to let you know about the greatest local eats.

I’m in some great company in this list. Check it out!

We’ll talk soon!

Kristi

Beyond the Triad: Boone/Blowing Rock—“Girls Trip!”

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The Bridge to H’Appyness

I LOVE the mountains. LOVE. We call the bridge that takes you on the Blue Ridge Parkway on Highway 421 over the Watauga County line, “The Bridge to H’Appyness.” Mr. foodie’s stress level can be seen leaving his body as we go under it. He becomes so blissfully happy. I graduated from Appalachian State and a new event was created last year for my (not going to mention how many years) college reunion. My college girlfriends and I started an annual girls weekend. Basically all we do is sit on the deck of our rented mountain house and reminisce, laugh, relax, drink cocktails and plan our next meal. So here’s a little recap of our exploits. And by exploits I mean here’s a recap of all the places we dined :).

I got to Boone just in time for lunch. I looked around and found Black Cat on Depot Street. It looked popular and a burrito sounded about right. Plus they had a great selection of NC beers. I ordered the Jerk Chicken to go, went around the corner to eat it and noticed my order was wrong (I had TWO burritos instead of one and one was a spinach tortilla). Went back, they made it good and let me keep the the other two. So I had 3 burritos and luckily, my friend, April, arrived in time to share some of it with me. With a beer! Oh and those burritos were awesome.

Boone and Blowing Rock, NC are just so precious. And there’s no shortage of delicious restaurants. Why, it’s where Competition Dining Series got its start with the now legendary “Fire On The Rock” chefs challenge. I hope the students at ASU realize how good they have it up there because when I was in Boone, the pickins were slim in the culinary scene.

View from the house…bliss

After the rest of us arrived and we got settled in our mountain house, we made plans to have dinner at Canyons, which has THE best view in the High Country. Be sure to check out Canyons for their great live music in the evenings. They are open for lunch, dinner and jazz brunch. It’s very casual. The food is typical bar fare and Canyons has great specials featuring locally sourced ingredients.

View from Canyons Restaurant, Blowing Rock

On Saturday we had lunch at Kojay’s Cafe in downtown Blowing Rock. Delicious, healthy and fresh. They also have fresh baked goods and pastries every day.

I can’t remember what everyone got but you get the idea of how fresh the wraps and salads are in these pics. And the chicken salad is delicious. The little cheddar biscuits are lovely. And incidentally, if you want to feel great about your complexion, go check yourself out in their ladies room. Very flattering light ;).

After a relaxing tubing ride down the New River (highly recommended), we went back to the house to unwind some more then it was off to one of my favorite restaurants on the Rock…Bistro Roca. You have to give them a try if you are up there. They NEVER disappoint. Dinner and Brunch are always amazing. And their libations are pretty fab too.

My order of Mussels

Flat bread pizza

Lobster Roll

Moroccan Meatballs app

Me and My Girls

Service at Bistro Roca is always top notch, the place smells fantastic because of the wood-fired oven and the atmosphere is wonderful.

Finally on Sunday, we headed into Boone for a little change of pace and had brunch at this cool place called Char. We were there way before anyone else. But the music was pumping and we enjoyed our time on their spacious covered porch and the open air dining concept of the old warehouse location.

April and I ordered the farmer’s breakfast which featured eggs our way, bacon gravy, bacon, biscuits and fruit. My friend, Jacqui, ordered the Fried Green Tomato BLT and Kim ordered Shrimp & Grits and had sautéed spinach added. She says it was the best thing she had all weekend. And we ate pretty well so that’s saying something.

And guess what? The CHEF was chef’ing. Here’s Chef Lucas who came out to say hello.

Char is located on Howard Street among a string of hip cafes and boutiques in the old Warehouse area (those of you familiar with that area will know what I mean). I wanted to stay and try the tea shop but it wasn’t opening until later. Oh well, thankfully Boone is less than 2 hours away.

After that, it was time to say goodbye. So sad to say farewell to my girls and not at all pleased to leave Happy Appy. Coming home in the torrential storm didn’t make it any better.

Click on the links to find out more about these restaurants. And next time your are up there, give them a try. This post could go on forever with more recaps about the other great places to eat up there (namely, Gamekeeper and Vidalia). You’ll just have to wait until the next time I’m on the Rock. Which should be in about a month, so until then!

I was honored to be invited with other food bloggers to attend a Sneak Peek of Hendersonville Restaurant Week. Meals and accommodations were provided gratis. All opinions are my own.

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