Asheville Valentine’s Day dinner picks

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

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Even if Asheville is buried under 12 feet of snow this week and Tim Moffitt drives a Zamboni down Patton Avenue, Valentine’s Day is coming. And it’s this Friday.

Use your snow day free time to make plans: here’s tips for an Ashvegas Valentine’s Day dinner outside the lines.

Economy (with) class 

Try KathmanduSuwana’s Thai Orchid or Thai Tara, all downtown. Dinner prices are reasonable, you might even get away with not having a reservation, and each spot is intimate and charming, if not lavish. Kathmandu in particular has ambience.

And if you want to avoid downtown crowds and Friday night/Valentine’s night parking drama, grab a seat by the fire at The Fireplace Restaurant in North Asheville. Not as chi-chi as the name might let on, this is a rustic country buffet restaurant–with prime rib on the menu and a Friday night seafood buffet that includes crab legs.

VDayFBCL

Pure romance

BouchonZambraCurate. Downstairs at Vincenzo’s.

You’ll have to deal with downtown parking on Valentine’s Night/Friday night, but once you snuggle in and order, it’ll all be worth it.

Pro tip: Ask for the private room with the wood stove at Bouchon. It’s warm and intimate at night, and the colder and wetter it gets, the more charming the warmth and firelight become.

And there’s a Valentine’s Date Night special at the chocolate capital of downtown Asheville, the French Broad Chocolate Lounge: two scratch-made mini-eclairs (made with Carolina Ground flour, filled with pastry cream and glazed with craft chocolate) paired with a bottle of bubbly. $25.

Chef-driven love

sevensows

Discerning diners looking for skill in the kitchen can head for RhubarbThe Market PlaceBull & Beggar, PosanaCucina 24, Seven Sows Bourbon & Larder or Table. Parking might be easiest at the Bull & Beggar, located near the Wedge in the RAD, and serving delicious food from chef Matt Dawes, formerly of Table

And if you’re headed to Table, have drinks at The Imperial Life after dinner. It’s just upstairs, and offers atmosphere and craft cocktails…

And this just in: top local chef and Admiral alum Elliott Moss offers a special edition of his pop-up restaurant Punk Wok at MG Road tonight. No reservations, a la carte menu, regular MG Road hours.

Be my West Side Valentine

Lucky westsiders, we can walk to where the action is in a neighborhood that combines grit, great restaurants, neighborliness and Asheville’s indie spirit. (Is a neighborhood really a hipster haven if it has a Family Dollar and an auto-parts store?)

Anyway, for Valentine’s Day, we suggest the Isis (fine dining and live V-Day music from excellent local band The Billy Sea) or Sunny Point, offering a $30 prix-fixe meal of oysters Rockefeller and your choice of steak, salmon or bibimbap. The Isis, FYI, has a killer bowl of mussels for only eight bucks.

Nona Mia also offers a prix-fixe meal, of pork shank of cheese canelloni with dessert and prosecco. And All Souls Pizza, Pizza Pura, and The Junction in the nearby RAD also rate for V-Day, with the Junction being the fanciest, and the others being tasty, tasteful indie pizza parlors with quality wood-fired pies.

Go for drinks at the DeSoto or Double Crown if you’re walking home. And The Hop is open late, and might even have some Girl Scout Thin Mint ice cream left…

Zero parking drama!

Avoid downtown heartache with these Valentine’s-approved restaurants that offer free parking:

Cafe Azalea: East side at 1011 Tunnel Road
Ambrozia Bar + Bistro: North Asheville at 1020 Merrimon Avenue
The Glass Onion: Weaverville, 18 North Main Street
Plant: 165 Merrimon Avenue
Frankie Bones: South Asheville at 2 Gerber Road
Nona Mia Italian Kitchen: West Asheville, 1050 Haywood Road
Pizza Pura: 342 Depot Street in the RAD
The Junction: 348 Depot Street in the RAD
All Souls Pizza: 175 Clingman Avenue in the RAD

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Where to find our 2014 Valentine’s Day restaurants

Kathmandu
90 Patton Ave. downtown

Suwana’s Thai Orchid
11 Broadway downtown

Thai Tara
Grove Arcade, downtown

The Fireplace Restaurant
287 Weaverville Highway, North Asheville

Bouchon
62 North Lexington, downtown

Zambra
85 West Walnut Street, downtown

Curate Tapas Bar
11 Biltmore Avenue, downtown

Vincenzo’s Ristorante & Bistro
10 North Market Street, downtown

French Broad Chocolate Lounge
10 South Lexington Avenue, downtown

Rhubarb
7 SW Pack Square downtown

The Market Place
2o Wall Street downtown

Bull & Beggar
37 Paynes Way by the Wedge

Posana
1 Biltmore Avenue downtown

Cucina 24
24 Wall Street, Asheville

Table and The Imperial Life
48 College Street downtown

Punk Wok and MG Road
19 Wall Street downtown

Seven Sows Bourbon & Larder
77 Biltmore Avenue downtown

The Isis Restaurant
743 Haywood Road, West Asheville

Sunny Point Cafe
626 Haywood Road, West Asheville

Nona Mia Italian Kitchen
1050 Haywood Road, West Asheville

The Desoto Lounge
504 Haywood Road, West Asheville

The Double Crown
375 Haywood Road, West Asheville

The Hop West
721 Haywood Road, West Asheville

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Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

  • 1

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1 Comment

  1. Morgan February 12, 2014

    Check out our house cleaning Valentine’s Special for when you are out on the town!

    http://www.ashevilleturnover.com/valentines-day-special/

    Reply

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