Asheville Restaurant Guide

StoveTrotters opened with a bang and our guests were thrilled with the interpretation of chilled select scallops with truffled spinach and tapioca, shrimp and andouille sausage on lobster grits and the mussel soufflé with seafood salad. The dessert was three parts: a pot de crème au chocolate, homemade coconut ice cream, fried plantain and mango beignet with tropical fruit salad.

We have big plans, some are coming to fruition as I type, and some are being developed. In 2008, our focus was getting the Bistro up and running. In addition to the Bistro we were also fostering our 'Dinner and a Chef' program. We are bringing that successful program into 2009. Whether it is with me, or one of the areas guest chefs we are excited to create a menu for you and your friends to enjoy!

"Dinner and a Chef" marries a multi-course menu paired with specially selected fine wines with the chef's expert commentary and demonstration. Intimate seating at the Chef's table, built around the StoveTrotter demonstration kitchen, ensures that you don't miss a single detail. You can enjoy fabulous food and learn to recreate the evening's menu at home. An extraordinary culinary experience to be savored by novice to connoisseur!

The first part of 2009 once again has an emphasis on culinary instruction, with a kitchen boot camp which began in mid-January. We offer wedding cake design and construction, beginning, advanced and intermediate pastry, chocolate applications, and a number of other subjects that we are in the process of developing and are still offering.

The great Patrick O'Connell is quoted in the book 'Culinary Artistry'. He regards the restaurant business as theatre. "It is either a good play or a bad play. It's fresh or it's tired. And it's genuine or it's fake. It's either right or wrong. And you are continually aiming for that right on feeling."