So far, we've visited Asheville and we've explored Downtown Brevard and all the 4th of July celebration the city has to offer. Asheville has a lot of gluten free restaurant options available. Our first stop had nothing to do with food, though! We went to a Dillards clearance center. It was pretty cool. Aaron had more options than me, but they had a lot of good clothes at a huge discount, plus, all clothes were BOGO. After 5 hours of bargain hunting (and we still didn't look through everything), we were hungry! Aaron found an egg roll in the mall, but there was nothing for me. So, I used my handy dandy app, and we found a restaurant in the historic Biltmore Village called Neo Cantina. Lovely! They had a gluten free menu, and both the kitchen and wait staff were very knowledgeable. First, because I checked in on Yelp, we got a free queso dip. You can add all sorts of stuff to it, but I just wanted the plain queso. It was very well seasoned. I had grilled fish tacos on corn tortillas with mango salsa. They needed a little heat, so I added some Cholula hot sauce to it, and it was good. Aaron also ordered the tacos, and they put his on corn tortillas, too, so his meal was gluten free as well! That meant we could share an amaretto flan for dessert. And, we were glad that we did!
The next day, I had cottage cheese and a fresh peach for breakfast, then we headed out to the July 4th celebration in Downtown Brevard. The festival was really cute, and it reminded me of city festivals from my home town. Booths housing political propoganda, art vendors, and food lined the street. Car raffles and live music peppered the streets. The downtown shops were open for the public, too. I loved it! I was expecting to have to scrounge for food, but I immediately saw a booth from Poppies market. Hallelujah! They have a huge gluten free food selection (so I've heard - still haven't gone yet), so they are obviously aware. I asked about gluten free options, and I was able to have a bratwurst with sauerkraut without the bun. I also got an enormous piece of watermelon. I would have rather eaten vegetarian, but when options are slim, sausage is a delicious option. :) Toward the end of our downtown adventure, we found a chocolate shop called Downtown Chocolate. The chocolate is all made fresh in the store, so they know exactly what goes into the sweet treats. There were some chocolate bars with Oreo cookies that I couldn't have, but everything else was fine. I chose some toffee bars covered with dark chocolate and almonds, a coconut curry truffle, a cherry white chocolate truffle, and a Mexican hot chocolate truffle. The toffee is amazing, and I'm still working on eating it. For me, the coconut curry truffle is a little overwhelmed with curry flavor, but the cherry truffle was fantastic, and the Mexican hot chocolate truffle in addicting with its sweet chocolate, darker flavor from spices, and a spicy kick from cayenne pepper that is subtle at first and then grows. I only purchased the one truffle, but we will be back before we leave to get some to take home! That night, we waited until after the fireworks to make dinner. I made a simple side salad and some Tinkyada tri-colored gluten free pasta topped with Classico carmalized onion and roasted garlic sauce. Not a bad dinner, if I say so myself! We have left-overs, so that will be a lunch on one of our more quiet days.
Our next day, I had cottage cheese for breakfast again, and then we went waterfall hunting! The waterfalls are breathtaking! Unfortunately, at our second one, we were in the middle of a mile-long hike to reach it, and we got rained out with a thunderstorm. Boo! We wound our way further up the mountain to reach the Pisgah Inn restaurant. On our way, we saw the most awe-inspiring phenomenon. The moisture from the storm met the heat of the mountain, and it created fast-rising steam that made the mountains look like they were smoking. Beautiful! It's nothing particularly new - this is what the Smokey Mountains are known for. However, being in the Blue Ridge mountains, it was a nice surprise! By the time we reached the Inn, we were starving and freezing (because we were drenched from the rain storm). They said they could accommodate gluten free, but what I found was they had a few items that were naturally gluten free, and I could have those. And that's fine. However, they didn't realize that some items like soy sauce have gluten in them. The only thing I found to order was a pork chop with a cranberry apple chutney. I ordered this with a green bean medley and some wild rice. It all tasted very good. In fact, the pork chop was incredible. It tasted like pork and fire. I did, however, suspect (and with reason) the vegetable medley. It smelled like Teriyaki sauce. I asked if it had any sauce, and the waiter said no, but if it smells like Teriyaki, and it tastes like Teriyaki, I have a hard time believing that it is NOT Teriyaki. I don't know... I stopped eating the vegetables, but damage had already been done. So, my stomach is a bit upset. The inn is worth visiting, however, because the view is breathtaking. The restaurant is surrounded by walls of window, so you can see the view from the top of Mount Pisgah as you eat, and from the lookout porch, you can easily see about 15 different mountain peaks. From there, we took the Blue Ridge Parkway to Asheville and then looped back south to meet some friends in Columbus, NC. They actually live in Orlando, too, and are visiting at the same time. They have a vacation home here, and invited us to dinner. Also, they eat gluten free, too! What an amazing dinner they served! The first course was a mango salad topped with grilled shrimp (which I did not eat, because shrimp likes to kill me) paired with a local white wine. The second course was an antipasta which had delicious vegetables, cheese, and sausage. I was excited for the vegetables! The main course was a delicious risotto. Both of these courses were paired with a red wine. Desert was a sort of Italian frozen custard with peaches paired with a sweeter red rine. A gourmet dinner with fascinating company? Anytime!
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