New Year’s Celebrations & 20 Things to Do in Asheville

Here’s our Top 20 ways to celebrate New Year’s Eve and Day in Asheville and the NC mountains – with many things to do, ranging from festive parties to outdoors solitude! Read more details at www.romanticasheville.com/new_year.htm.

Polar Plunge in Lake Lure on New Year’s Day

1. Asheville Restaurants: Many are open late on New Year’s Eve and feature a lively bar to celebrate the New Year. Make reservations ASAP!
2. Downtown Asheville: While there is no public outdoor event to welcome the new year, there will be plenty of indoor venues to celebrate – including many restaurants, clubs, pubs, live music venues, etc. If the weather is nice, the streets will be buzzing with lots of activity and fun street entertainers.
3. Grove Park Inn: The New Year arrives with parties, dancing, champagne, and party favors throughout the resort – make restaurant and hotel reservations ASAP! And see the Gingerbread creations.
4. Inn on Biltmore Estate: New Year’s Eve Gala is high style! Their hotel package (Dec 30-Jan 1) includes your guest room, breakfast buffet, black-tie five-course gala, midnight fireworks and toast, admission tickets to the estate, and more.
5. Harrah’s Cherokee Casino will have live entertainment at multiple locations. At Essence Lounge is the New Year’s Eve Roaring 20s Countdown. Reserve a table for 2 for $200 and receive VIP Wristbands, a bottle of Möet & Chandon, keepsake champagne flutes and more.
6. Great Smoky Mountains Railroad: Spend the evening on the train, rolling along the tracks while dancing the night away! Includes a three-course gourmet dinner, live music and midnight toast.
7. Mountain Magnolia Inn: This historic inn in Hot Springs has a great New Year’s Package that includes one, two nights or three nights with a special dinner for two, live entertainment, dancing and sing-along, appetizers, party favor and a sparkling toast.
8. Beer Pubs: Plenty of pubs and bars to celebrate with local brews! Many are within walking distance in downtown Asheville.
9. Orange Peel: Railroad Earth concert
10. Tressa’s Jazz & Blues: Great jazz club with live music, party favors, midnight toast & balloon drop. Dance all night to the soulful groove of Asheville’s wildly popular band Lyric with special guest Ruby Mayfield on saxophone. Complimentary soul food. Champagne fountains and midnight toast.
11. Fur Ball Gala: A black-tie benefit for Brother Wolfe Animal Rescue, DJ, live entertainment, open bar, heavy hors d’oeuvres and silent auction.
12. Wine & Cocktails: Hang out with your sweetie at a downtown Asheville wine or cocktail bar.
13. Vacation Packages: See our holiday vacation packages page for the latest deals and specials.
14. New Year’s Polar Plunge: Take the plunge into Lake Lure and freeze for a reason – to support local charities.
15. Pampering in Style: Get pampered in one of the fabulous bed and breakfast inns in and around Asheville.
16. Hibernate: Recover from holiday stress with a tranquil stay in a cozy cabin, nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
17. Biltmore Estate: Biltmore Estate is open on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. See America’s largest home decked out in festive finery! Restaurants are open (make dining reservations in advance)
18. Get Outdoors: Start work on that New Year’s resolution to lose a few pounds and enjoy a hike to a waterfall!
19. Shop: There’s plenty shopping options on Friday and Saturday to find those special after holiday deals.
20. LaZoom Comedy Bus Tours: Take the zany tour on the big purple bus.

Get more details on all of these events for New Years in Asheville at www.romanticasheville.com/new_year.htm.

Ramps Ready at Asheville Restaurants

Ramps fans rejoice: Harvest time is ramping up for the North Carolina mountain’s beloved early-spring vegetables, which are found growing wild in forests and cultivated on forest land. According to ASAP (Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project), their harvest is short—only two to three weeks. But, that won’t stop area Appalachian Grown™ partner restaurants in the Asheville area from reveling in ramps this month. Ramps’ flavor can be described as a mix of onion and garlic. How better to enjoy local food of the mountains?

“We’ll feature ramps as much as possible in the coming weeks,” says Jen Pearson of Guadalupe Cafe in Sylva. “They’ll be on our brunch menu, in nighttime specials, and—if they last until strawberries arrive—in a grilled ramps, fresh strawberry, and gorgonzola dish we like to do.”

Nate Allen, chef/co-owner of Knife & Fork, takes the same approach. “We do everything we possibly can with ramps: We make a pesto, we tempura batter and deep fry them, create flatbreads, sauté them with morels and serve over cheesy grits, you name it.”

Kaighn Raymond, executive chef/owner of Frogs Leap Public House in Waynesville, has been busy creating at least four new ramps dishes for the season, including skillet blackened Sunburst Trout with a spring succotash and grilled ramp broth, spring potato and ramp vichyssoise with local baby arugula, potato-ramp pancakes with a ramp crème fraîche, and a local morel and ramp pesto flatbread.

From pesto to pickles: Chestnut in downtown Asheville plans to pickle the piquant delicacy for use in their bar items, then grill local ramps for use throughout their kitchen dishes.

Elizabeth Button of Asheville’s Cúrate shares that ramps are very similar to calçots, an early-spring Spanish scallion. Cúrate plans to serve up the Southern staple Spanish-style with a Romesco sauce.

Highland Lake Inn in Flat Rock is also going the route of a special sauce; they’re blending local ramps into a béarnaise to serve with grilled asparagus as a side dish. They’re also making ramp butter to garnish their Sunburst Trout dinner dishes. How? “We clean the ramps well; toss them with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper; grill them lightly, purée with a little cream, and finish with softened butter in a mixer with a paddle attachment,” shares Sous Chef Matt Lineback.

Enjoy! See our list of Favorite Asheville restaurants.

Thanks to ASAP for the delicious looking photo!

Favorite & Best Downtown Asheville Restaurants

Best Asheville Restaurants

The downtown Asheville restaurant scene is getting even bigger and better with more delicious choices opening soon! Here are some of our reader’s favorite restaurants:

• Tupelo Honey Cafe is one of Asheville’s most beloved restaurants. It’s considered a must-do, as much for its color and personality as its iconic New South cooking. Be sure you try the famous sweet potato pancakes with peach butter. 12 College Street
• The Market Place is a world-class favorite located on charming Wall Street. Their inventive farm-to-table menu features seasonal and organic ingredients from area farms plus an extensive wine list and live music every Thursday, Friday, & Saturday in the bar. 20 Wall Street
• Sazerac is inspired by old New Orleans, with classic and contemporary cocktails, a full menu of sumptuous small plates, lounge seating and cool rooftop dining. 29 Broadway Avenue
• STORM Rhum Bar & Bistro features a warm, cozy atmosphere where the food and service will delight your senses. Enjoy handcrafted cocktails, ample wine offerings, a selection of local draft beer, an extensive rhum list, and of course, delicious food prepared by Chef Owen McGlynn. 125 S. Lexington Avenue
• At Pack’s Tavern, located by Pack Square in downtown Asheville, drink and dine in an historic building with exposed brick walls and 17-foot high ceilings. Impressive menu features everything from salads and burgers to steaks, seafood and pastas – and don’t forget their expansive draft beer offering. 20 South Spruce Street
• Strada is filled with the aromas of fresh baked artisan bread from their bakehouse and mouth-watering Italian cuisine cooked to order. Strada focuses on local ingredients, biodynamic and organically produced wine selections with traditional recipes from Italy, using local ingredients featuring hand tossed pizzas, savory pastas, house made desserts, gluten-free and vegetarian options.  27 Broadway
• Curate is getting a lot of buzz right now with their authentic Spanish tapas with traditional cuisine, unrivaled hospitality and festive, energetic atmosphere. Be transported to Spain in one of the lively tapas bars beloved throughout the country, one plate at a time. 11 Biltmore Avenue
• Limones  has an inspirational upscale mix of Mexican and Californian cuisine along with inventive bar selections served by a warm, professional staff. 13 Eagle Street
• Chestnut just opened a few months ago, featuring American cuisine with local and seasonal flavors. 48 Biltmore Avenue
• The Blackbird also recently opened on the ground floor of the new Aloft Hotel. Their cooking is grounded in the traditions and ingredients of the Carolinas creating an affordable and vibrant modern Southern menu with a “nod” to tradition, with seasonal best from local farmers, fresh catches from the coast of the Carolinas as well as the many micro-brews and wines. 47 Biltmore Avenue
• Laughing Seed Vegetarian Restaurant is a long-time favorite with an eclectic international approach to vegetarian dining and this has led to their popularity with vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. 40 Wall Street
• Salsa’s delivers authentic and creative Caribbean food with a Mexican flair in a tiny restaurant. The food is prepared with locally grown organic produce and health conscious products. 6 Patton Avenue

Downtown Asheville Restaurants Opening Soon:

• Seven Sows Bourbon and Larder, arrives with very creative flavors of the “New South” using local and heirloom products with many seasonal vegetables, heirloom varieties of Southern beans, Bentons Smokehouse products and a wide array of bourbon. 77 Biltmore Avenue
• Farm Burger will feature 100% grass-fed, all-natural beef that is dry-aged and ground fresh. Seasonal menu is sourced from local farms. 10 Patton Avenue

Click here to see more Asheville restaurants.

Beer City USA
The beer scene continues to grow also with 10 breweries in and near downtown Asheville.

• Wicked Weed is the newest downtown brewery, opening two months ago. This 15-barrel brewhouse has a bar in the basement and another bar and restaurant upstairs with 20 beers on tap. 91 Biltmore Avenue
• Thirsty Monk has the most beers on tap with more than 1,000 each year, dedicated to keeping their beer menu fresh. 92 Patton Avenue
• Lexington Avenue Brewery, also known as the LAB, is expanding their brewery pub and restaurant. 39 N. Lexington Avenue
• Opening later this year: Burial Beer, Twin Leaf Brewery, Catawba Valley Brewing and One World Brewing.

For more places to enjoy local beer, go to our Asheville Beer Guide.

Asheville Restaurant Scene Becomes America’s First Green Dining Destination™

Tupelo Honey Restaurant in downtown Asheville NC

For the first time ever, one of America’s cities, Asheville, North Carolina, has earned the official designation of being a Green Dining Destination™ with Certified Green Restaurants® throughout Asheville. This accomplishment was driven by the Green Restaurant Association (GRA), Asheville Independent Restaurant Association (AIR), and the Blue Ridge Sustainability Institute (BRSI), who formed a local Coalition to encourage more environmentally sustainable practices within the city’s restaurants.

This month, Asheville has met and exceeded its goal of having 16 Certified Green Restaurants® throughout the city, all of which have met the GRA’s rigorous certification standards by earning at least 100 GreenPoints™ in the categories of food, water, waste, energy, chemicals, and disposables. Additionally, each Certified Green Restaurant® has eliminated use of polystyrene foam, (aka StyroFoam™), and has implemented a full-scale recycling program.

The 16 Certified Green Restaurants® in Asheville are:

• The French Broad Chocolate Lounge
• Homegrown
• Laughing Seed Café
• Luella’s Bar-B-Que
• Plant Restaurant
• Neo Cantina
• Posana Cafe Rosetta’s Kitchen
• Strada Italiano
• The Corner Kitchen
• The Green Sage
• The Green Sage South
• Tupelo Honey Café
• Tupelo Honey Cafe South
• Cedric’s Tavern on the Biltmore Estate
• Bouchon

The Green Restaurant Association is a national non-profit organization that provides the only official Certified Green Restaurants® mark in the country. For 22 years, the GRA has pioneered the Green Restaurant® movement and has been the leading voice within the industry encouraging restaurants to listen to consumer demand and green their operations using transparent, science-based certification standards. The Asheville Independent Restaurant Association (AIR) has a mission to unite the independent restaurant community of Asheville NC as committed to local people, local philanthropies, local businesses, local food and the local economy, with a promise to preserve the authenticity of our mountain home through genuine food and signature hospitality.

See our list of the best Asheville restaurants.