ASHEVILLE DINING: THE ADMIRAL

I was nearby over NYE for a wedding, and I made sure to squeeze in an evening for another meal in Asheville.  THIS visit, the destination was:

THE ADMIRAL

West Asheville

400 Haywood Road

Asheville, NC 28806

There's limited parking, so you have to drive around a little to snag a spot.  The outside of the restaurant is nondescript: concrete block building with a few lights - very easy to miss.  Then when you enter, there is outside seating (not going to happen in December in NC!), and you pass through the front door into one room - that's the entire restaurant.  It's very casual and on the dark side.The hostess checked our reservation and seated us in a booth quickly.

 We began our evening by perusing the latest menu (which changes often we were told):

 It took awhile, but our server finally came and greeted us and took our drink orders.  The drinks were fine - good, not great.

The restaurant at 6:00pm (the ONLY time I could get with 4 weeks of planning) was jam-packed.

We decided we'd go with a sampling of small plates, and the dishes would be coming out as they were prepared.

OWL BAKERY BREAD: CHARRED BUTTER OF OLIVE OIL

 

The bread was very good - and we were hungry, so it helped take away hunger pangs.

Next up:

SCALLOP CRUDO: POTATO CHIPS, COUNTRY HAM, PINE OIL

This dish^^^ was AMAZING!  We absolutely loved it!  So many combinations of flavors from the creamy scallops to the salty/crisp potato chips with a tangy sauce.  So so good.

Then our next dish arrived:

GOAT CHEESE TART: FRISE, PICKLED RED ONIONS, WALNUT

This dish was just OK.  The frise was ridiculously good, but the goat cheese tart was cold and hard.  I didn't love it.

The beef tartare was fabulous!  The creamy egg yolk was nice and the cheddar with pickled onions and cornichons - such a great combination of flavors!

BEEF TARTARE: EGG YOLK, CHEDDAR, CORNICHONS, CHILE AIOLI, PICKLED RED ONION, BREAD


We also sampled the smoked capicola.  It tasted good but it wasn't a home run.

SMOKED CAPICOLA: BROCCOLI, FRIED GARLIC, WHIPPED CURDS

We wanted something crunchy and healthy, so we went with the radicchio small plate.  It was delish!! The crunchy radicchio with the creamy goat cheese schmeer on the bottom was to die for!

 RADICCHIO: GOAT CHEESE MOUSSE, PEANUT, ORANGE, PICKLED FENNEL

THEN, the next dish arrived! OMG!  My husband and I were fighting for the last bite here.  Who fights over CAULIFLOWER???  The description doesn't do it justice!  Much like the scallop crudo, there was such a great combination of flavors.  I can't describe it adequately - just am saying that if you go, you MUST order this dish - SO great!

 CAULIFLOWER: CAROLINA GOLD RICE, TUMERIC, CARROT GREENS

Our final dish was the shrimp dish.  It was good (albeit a little heavy handed with the garlic).  But the presentation wasn't the best.  You can't even tell that there are shrimp on the plate in my photo.  But the dish was good; I especially liked the leek, and the shrimp was cooked perfectly.

 SHRIMP: CHARRED GARLIC, LEEK, BREAD CRUMBS, CHILI OIL

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at The Admiral.  It IS a bit loud, so I'm not sure I'd recommend it as a romantic date night spot?  And the service was good, but it wasn't outstanding.  It felt like the workers know that they've got a great spot and therefore they don't really need to sell the food or the restaurant to you.  Our waiter was knowledgable and friendly enough but not particularly attentive.

Having said all that I'd love to go back and try more dishes - perhaps with friends or with family members.  It's a lively fun spot with some very very good food.  We had a great evening!

DOUBLE ZERO: 10/17

After getting rave reviews from my daughter and son-in-law, I HAD to go sample Double Zero!

The restaurant is located in the Emory area of Atlanta and is part of the Castellucci Hospitality Group (Iberian Pig, Cooks & Soldiers, Sugo....).

DOUBLE ZERO

EMORY VILLAGE

1577 North Decatur Rd.

Atlanta, GA 30307

404 991 3666

info@doublezeroatl.com

When you arrive at the location there is street parking and also free valet parking.  We valeted and quickly entered the restaurant.

We were greeted by a hostess who promptly seated us and gave us our menus.  We were there at 6:30pm on a Tuesday, and there were only 2 other patrons at that time.  However, before we left an hour plus later it was roughly 3/4 full.

Our waiter arrived and gave us a bit of background on the restaurant (telling us there are a number of small plates that are ideal for sharing) and took our drink orders.

Our server was knowledgeable and friendly (although there were several times where it seemed to take a while to get things - like a drink that had been ordered. Not sure if it was the bar that was slow that evening or not, but it happened a few times). He was unobtrusive, but knew the menu items and was helpful.

We went with wines and they were delicious.  I ordered a Rioja and they were out, but our server suggested another French wine and it was a very good substitute.  They do have a nice selection and tout that on their website.

The menu is "inspired by the regional cuisine of southern Italy and features traditional Neapolitan Pizza, fresh handmade pasta, and a number of Italian classics reinterpreted and served in a small plate format." There were so many choices that looked and sounded amazing that it was a bit hard to decide.

Since 2 of us had already been once to the restaurant we decided to sample things that they had not already tried.

Here's what we sampled:

We shared the Grilled Kale Salad - absolutely fabulous!

GRILLED KALE
arugula, radish, fennel, ricotta salata, roasted garlic vinaigrette, gremolata

Then they brought out the brisket arancini - decadent little fried balls of deliciousness with a ridiculously wonderful honey truffle aioli.
SMOKED BRISKET ARANCINI
smoked brisket, cheddar, mushroom, honey truffle aioli

In an attempt to be healthy, we ordered the cauliflower small plate.  The cauliflower was great, but that spiced yogurt sauce!!! I could've eaten a bowl of it!
CAULIFLOWER
spiced yogurt, bagna cauda, Marcona almonds

On to the main courses - I shared the pork bolognese with my daughter, and I was glad I did.  It was just enough (after enjoying the small plates).  It was as outstanding as any pasta I ate in Italy a few years back.  Perfectly cooked tagliatelle and out of this world bolognese!

TAGLIATELLE BOLOGNESE
Heritage pork bolognese, gremolata, Grana Padano

Another pic of the tagliatelle with a flash:

My husband sampled the orecchiette - there wasn't a crumb left....
It tasted so fresh with the broccolini and tomatoes, but that grant padano foam (and a touch of fresh parmesan) = OH MY GOD!

ORECCHIETTE E SALSICCIA

spicy sausage, broccolini, Grana Padano foam, tomato, Marcona almond


And my son-in-law tried the lamb cannelloni.  He said it was amazing and that the fennel jam was over the top great!

LAMB CANNELLONI
red pepper, nduja, bechamel, gremolata, fennel jam

Normally I am not a dessert person, but our server described a few specials, and we were sold.  I HAD to try the Butterscotch parfait though, and it did not disappoint:

It's topped with a granola bar crust:

Then ooey gooey butterscotch is inside.  SO GOOD:

But the Mac Daddy dessert special was a chocolate truffle creation with dark chocolate:

As you can see, we were scraping the bowl:

A few pics of our evening:

Entering the restaurant:

The view of the kitchen from our table:

The hostess stand with the bar and wine tasting area in the background:

Walking away from the restaurant in the Emory Hills area:

We were celebrating the closing of our daughter and new son-in-law's new home nearby.  Cheers to new beginnings!  AND - now they know they have a FABULOUS restaurant to head to that's close!

We had a wonderful evening with some delicious food.  The atmosphere is fun and casual, and the service was good - we felt welcomed.  Can't wait to come back for a wine tasting and to sample more of their menu items.