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Cúrate 11 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC (828) 239-2946, curatetapasbar.com
Science Fare Executive Chef Katie Button blends art and science at Asheville’s Cúrate / by M. Linda Lee
// photography by Paul Mehaf fey
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nergy sizzles as the lanky young woman with arresting hazel eyes greets me in the entrance to her restaurant. “Hi, I’m Katie Button,” she smiles, shaking my hand. She wears jeans and a sweater, belying her role as executive chef of Cúrate in Asheville. She is clearly bright and articulate, but when this awardwinning chef tells me what career she almost followed, my jaw drops. “I was always good in math and science,” says Button, “so I majored in chemical and biomedical engineering at Cornell.” She always loved to cook, though, and grew up in a “food-focused family.” After graduation, she headed to Paris to earn her Master’s degree. Between all the studying, Button still found time to cook. “I taught myself how to make puff pastry by rolling out the dough on the floor of my studio apartment,” she recalls. Poised to begin a PhD program in neuroscience at the National Institutes of Health, Button suddenly realized what she really loved. The nascent chef ditched her PhD for a job as a server at Minibar in Washington, D.C., owned by top toque José Andrés. To get line experience, she volunteered in the kitchen on her days off. Through her connection with Andrés, she eventually landed an internship at El Bulli in Catalonia, Spain, Ferran Adrià’s temple of avant-garde cuisine. At El Bulli, Button put her knowledge of science to good use working for the man hailed as the father of molecular gastronomy. It was also here that she met her husband Félix Meana. She and Felix returned to the states to help her parents open a restaurant, settling on Asheville as home. When the Buttons offered Katie and Félix the opportunity to share ownership of the restaurant, Cúrate and its tapas concept was born. Just steps from Pack Square, Cúrate fills a narrow dining space with
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small tables and a long marble-topped bar bellying up to the open kitchen. It’s not easy to decide between all the incredible dishes, but a tasting of cured Spanish hams is a good place to start. The tabla de embutidos ibéricos includes the prized ibérico de bellota, made from free-roaming pigs that feed predominantly on acorns. From there, try signatures such as ajo blanco, a chilled almond milk and garlic soup brightened with green-grape granité and Dungeness crab. Mariscos en escabeche, tender mussels, scallops, and clams swimming in a roasted tomato and garlic vinaigrette, comes whimsically presented in a sardine tin. Among the hot dishes, albondigas con jamón incorporates some of that nutty ibérico de bellota ham, giving them a silky, moist texture. Button’s version of paella, rossejat negro, pairs squid in its ink with thin noodles instead of rice—Button’s twist on the traditional Spanish accompaniment. For dessert, walk around the block to Cúrate’s new sibling, Nightbell. Linger over a nightcap while you tuck into a box of three jewel-like petit fours. Molecular gastronomy inspires Button’s interpretations of the miniature French cakes. The first, a vivid orange riff on carrot cake, pairs a crunchy carrot-flavored meringue with a cream-cheese filling. In a clever take on Key lime pie, fluffy meringue crowns a tiny “cup” of refreshing Key lime sorbet. A bite through the chocolate coating of the s’mores petit four surprises with a taste of smoked marshmallow. Whether in science or the culinary arts, hard work, passion, and drive have taken Katie Button where she wanted to go. “I work more now than I ever did,” she admits, “but when you’re doing what you love, it doesn’t feel like work.