Atlantans know Asheville, arguably the closest truly funky mountain town to the ATL. But hey, as you might have noticed, we're working off of a new calendar now that 2017 has come around so even if you think you know the hip city in the "Land of the Sky," you may not know about some of the new delights that have popped up recently. Here's the scoop.
For instance, one very cool pottery shop with an owner/artist with very cool lineage opened in downtown Asheville recently. Alex Matisse, great-grandson of certain famed French painter ("Woman with a Hat" might be coming to mind), and his wife are proprietors of the East Fork Pottery . Matisse creates all his clay and glazes by hand.
Speaking of art, Asheville's River Arts District has long been a good place to rock 'n' stroll but is now more so than ever. The new Ash eville Guitar Bar mixes blues and visual arts compellingly inside the Cotton Mill Studios . There's a cozy bar, a dance floor and music-themed art installations all over. Meanwhile, glass artist John Almaguer is conducting new A shevill e Art Studio Tours that take participants on The Experience Tour, a behind-the-scenes walking tour of the River Arts District that offers guests the experience of making art with multiple mediums.
Grovewood Village is the newly revived name for the six English cottages that sit beside Asheville's Grove Park Inn, and history tours of the re-imagined historic property will open this spring. Grovewood became the home for Biltmore Industries, the craft school started by George and Edith Vanderbilt, in 1917. This year it marks its centennial, and also the 25th anniversary of the Grovewood Gallery, which features the work of hundreds of area craftspeople with a concentration on the Arts and Crafts movement. Grovewood also has an antique car museum and nine artist studios.
Now, this is Asheville, after all, so you know there are new places to eat and drink to your stomach and heart's content. Bone & Broth offers a meat-lovers paradise, Pete's Pies , English style savory pies, and No Taste Like Home combines cooking classes with dinner at Hickory Nut Gap Farm in nearby Fairview.
One of the most intriguing new food and beverage concepts, however, is Well Played , a "board game café" that will offer not only locally-sourced comfort food, desserts, beer, wine and coffee but also more than 500 (!?) gaming titles. Hey, it works in Europe and Asia, so why not?
Lastly, Asheville is also getting several new hotels. Opening in March is the AC Hotel Asheville Downtown , which will have a rooftop restaurant and bar called Capella on 9. The Cambria Hotel & Suites - Downtown Asheville is set to open in Pack Place with two restaurants this spring.
Asheville just keeps becoming more and more interesting.
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