Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Story from blogger Jaden Hair, writing for the Tampa Tribune. Hair visited Asheville recently after the Asheville Chamber of Commerce invited him and a few other fellow food bloggers to check out the Ashvegas food scene:
I’m in Asheville, N.C., at the suggestion of the The Culinary Sherpas, Michelle and Greg Baker. I think it’s my new summer mini-vacation spot — close enough to Tampa for a quick weekend getaway, yet so very different in terms of climate (not humid!) and landscape (lots of mountains!)
For foodies (yes, I’ve finally have made peace with the word “foodies” and have begun to sprinkle my conversations with that word … please don’t hate me), Asheville is a place where you can truly connect with your food. And I don’t mean a food-to-lips connection, but meeting firsthand the purveyors and the friendly chefs in this community and seeing how they’ve nurtured their crafts.
Some of my favorites included Crottin goat cheese from Spinning Spider Creamery, a family-run operation with 100 goats; smoked trout from Sunburst Trout Farm, an all-natural, sustainable trout farm nestled in the hills; all-natural grass-fed beef from Hickory Nut Gap Meats, the best grass-fed beef I’ve ever tasted; and Indian Kulfi Truffle from French Broad Chocolate Lounge, handmade by the cutest couple ever!
My first meal in the city was a shrimp cocktail, something light, cold and full of protein. I’ve always thought that for shrimp cocktail, it’s all about the tangy, spicy sauce, but Grove Park Inn taught me that the boil is just as important. Instead of cooking its shrimp in plain water, the Inn adds spices that turn the little crustacean into more than just a carrier for cocktail sauce. This shrimp cocktail has layers upon layers of flavors in every bite.
He comes to Asheville from Tampa and the first thing he orders is a shrimp cocktail! Some foodie he is. I would have suggested the Flat Iron steak at The Admiral. Actually, just about anything from the Admiral would have beat a GPI shrimp cocktail.