Asheville Part II

Day 2 begins with brunch at Café Ello. They were more than happy to accommodate my milk allergy. It was a great treat for me because I haven’t had breakfast in a restaurant in what seems like forever.  I enjoyed a simple meal of scrambled eggs, country potatoes, and hickory smoked bacon. Becky had 2 eggs over medium and toast.  Jody and Kelly ordered the turkey club sandwich.  After finishing our meal, we enjoyed the sites and sounds of Bele Chere, a music and arts festival.  The biggest fly in the ointment was the heat. It’s been hotter, but I usually don’t go walking in 90 something degree weather. I did stumble across this amazing artist, Aaron Reed, and fell in love with a drawing of a woman playing a cello.  All I can say is, “Happy Birthday to me!”  I can’t wait to see it hanging on the wall in the room where I practice my cello.    By the time we headed back to the hotel, I was practically a walking puddle. Did I mention that I do not like hot weather? No? Well, now you know. We headed back to the hotel for time at the spa and to freshen up for dinner.

Now, I would have been perfectly happy to return to Rezaz for our evening meal, but my fabulous girlfriends would NOT settle for that and searched and called several different restaurants. We ended up spending a very long and wonderful evening at Posana Café. We began our meal with a vegetable tempura appetizer. Kelly and I ordered their Seared Sunburst Farms Trout with forbidden rice, marinated Asian cucumbers, house kimchi, and shiso puree.  Can we get another, “Wow!”?  The simply seasoned trout was perfectly done.  I have never had forbidden rice before and what a treat it was.  It was nutty and creamy with a hint of mushroom to it’s flavor. The marinated cucumbers added a nice acidic brightness to the fish. Their kimchi is not traditional Korean kimchi and while a little salty for my tastes, it was still very good. Becky enjoyed the Brasstown Beef burger with pimento cheese, smoked bacon and truffle parmesan french fries.  It was seared scallops with tomato confit, local squash, okra, corn succotash and basil vinaigrette.  Normally this would be the end of the meal for me. I haven’t had a dessert in a restaurant in over 10 years. I was beyond surprised when the waitress told me that there were dessert options for me. Yipee!!! Even though I was full, I ordered dessert just because I could (and it was my birthday).  Jody got the Caramel Almond Nougat Bomb, Kelly got Blackberry Almond Chocolate Trio, and I was able to enjoy the Blueberry Upside-Down Cake. After a wonderful meal and 2 bottles of wine, we closed the restaurant.

The next morning we headed back to Café Ello for brunch.  I had the same thing as before except I substituted a bowl of fresh fruit in place of bacon.  Before heading back home, we enjoyed walked around enjoying the festival.

This was a fabulous trip on so many levels.  I got to spend time with my three closest girlfriends. I was able to eat several great meals at restaurants that were not Asian or ribs. And last but not least, my husband took the time to orchestrate this grand weekend.