Beech Mountain’s dining scene has ebbed and flowed, with various chefs and styles coming and going at mile-high hotels (Beech Alpen Inn, Four Seasons and Top of the Beech all have dining spots now). I always enjoy Beech Alpen, with its see-through fireplace in the bar. There’s also Vazarely’s (remember the restaurant before that—Moguls?). Back in the day, I really liked Rascals, the fun barbecue joint that was extremely popular after its 1984 debut as the town’s first restaurant to serve beer and wine with live entertainment. Today the place to be is Archer’s Inn, with fine food and vistas at Jackalope’s View Restaurant. For years, the Beech Haus was marketing mountain trout at the bottom of the mountain, and a half dozen names have followed since (from Jeremiah’s to Mexican and beyond). Mexican cuisine has come a long way in the High Country. Los Arcoiris stepped it up, and the newly popular Puerto Nuevo Mexican seafood restaurant is bringing Vera Cruz to Banner Elk. Back in the early ‘90s, Bart Conway’s Tumbleweed Grille in Boone was one of my favorites. Now there are entire chains devoted to the fresh Southwest-
ern cuisine Conway was creating. Bart moved to Blowing Rock and now serves it up with one of the area’s great views at Canyons. “The view almost makes us an attraction,” he says, “but this isn’t one of those oceanside eateries where the menu is an afterthought.” Conway also displays memorabilia from a remarkable list of local landmarks he’s been involved with— the old Holly’s Tavern where Canyons is now located and the legendary music club P.B. Scott’s. Other one-off names come to mind, and among the most evocative was Marvin’s Gardens, a pivotal Boone eatery if there was one. The Woodlands was one of my earliest reviews. I just enjoyed telling the story of Butch Triplett and Jim Houston. What a savvy switch they made from a bar that couldn’t make its 51 percent food quota (remember those days?) to one of the area’s landmark barbecue joints and live music venues. The last time I looked, my review was still framed on the wall. There are more barbecue choices in the area now—Bandana’s in Boone comes to mind, Carolina Barbecue in Newland and Pappy’s at Tynecastle. Just down U.S. 321 from Woodland’s
A Perfect Evening Join us on Thursdays for our lively seafood buffet, or another evening for one of Chef Maisonhaute’s savory offerings such as Boeuf Bourguignon or Grilled Mountain Rainbow Trout. Call for reservations.
The Eseeola Lodge at Linville Golf Club
175 Linville Avenue Linville, North Carolina 28646
www.eseeola.com • 1-800-742-6717
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High Country Magazine
July 2011
John and Jack Pepper of Pepper’s is Papa Joe’s, formerly Ichabod’s. “The old name just wasn’t about Italian,” says Joe Papa, born in Brooklyn with four grandparents who came through Ellis Island. A new interior pairs with the newly invigorated Italian-American menu. Not far away is the new Foggy Rock, owned by Burt Myer. The longtime chef at both Chetola and Green Park Inn started Café Portofino, then sold it and “went traveling. But I always knew I’d be back. It’s what I do.” It took Myer six months to write the menu. “So many people
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Village Shoppes Downtown Banner Elk
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