Restaurant Review: EDISON at The Grove Park Inn
I recently enjoyed a girl’s trip to the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC with one of my dear friends. It was the kick-off to her 50th birthday celebration that is intended to last at least a month. Personally, I think a month is probably not enough to celebrate such a great birthday but maybe the shortness in duration is accommodated by the quality of the celebration. Starting at the Grove Park Inn is certainly a testament to the quality!
The Grove Park Inn is celebrating its 100th birthday this year as it was built in 1913. They have been working hard to do some massive renovations to the hotel and they are doing a fantastic job. The place looks great! I love the mid-century modern flare throughout the hotel. As part of the renovations, the hotel has renovated a large area of the Sammons Wing with a new bar and restaurant area called EDISON. We were lucky enough that they decided to do a ‘soft opening’ during our visit and were able to enjoy dinner.
The menu is very Southern with a modern twist on some great comfort food items. We were impressed with all of the options and regional accommodations to items such as their charcuterie and cheese platters which included a shout out to Sweet Grass Dairies from Georgia and Benton Farms in Tennessee. They have duck fat fries with a fig ketchup too! What’s not to love about that. It was hard to choose our main courses but opted for the BBQ porterhouse pork chop and the chef’s interpretation of a Southern favorite, chicken and waffles. The pork porterhouse was served atop applewood bacon baked beans and cooked to order which is a nice change for those of us who have enjoyed some cuts of pork cooked medium for a long time. The fried chicken was well seasoned and perfectly cooked and the sweet potato waffles were a great texture comparison with the chicken. Instead of the maple syrup, it was served with a local honey hot sauce that was delicious.
Desserts were equally difficult to decide between but we ended up with a deconstructed grilled lemon pound cake with honey mascarpone cream and blackberry and Earl Grey tea compote as well as a caramel popcorn ice cream that was playful and delicious. The beer and cocktail list was fantastic and the wine list was pretty good. It was created with craft ale’s in mind more so than wine so that makes complete since. I had the Centennial Ale handcrafted for the Grove Park Inn by Highlands Brewery and it did not disappoint!! Very nice.
The restaurant is a more casual flare to the hotel and a great place for families and couples alike. There are large sofas and comfortable chairs and big screen TVs intermixed with the tables. As always, there are stellar views on Sunset Mountain.
The décor was complete with old school ‘Edison-esque’ light bulbs with the large filaments peppered throughout the dining area.
If you end up in Asheville, or better yet, at the Grove Park Inn, this is a must try! We were lucky enough to sit next to the chef’s wife and parents. They were beaming with excitement for him and I now know why! Congratulations, Chef Jake Schmidt!!