Valentine's Day Dinner in Asheville

Love and romance are in the air as Valentine's Day in Asheville is quickly approaching. Make plans now to visit Roux, located in the Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park. For three days, February 12 - 14th, Roux will be serving a delicious menu crafted by our chef, Randy Dunn. Enjoy some of these delectable dishes.

Valentine's Weekend Dinner Menu

Soups: Mushroom Bisque and Oyster Stew

- Crab Avocado Stack - jumbo lump crab with a spicy aioli
- Lobster Un-Ravioli with garlicky spinach served in a creole alfredo sauce.
- Bibb Salad - shredded duck confit, dried cherries, gorgonzola and
smoked tomato vinaigrette.

- Filet with white truffle yukons, sherried mushroom brushetta
- Tuna 2-ways: Poké and flash fried, pommes frites, ginger aioli
- Pan Seared Breast of Chicken, sweet potato ravioli, peach demi
- Eggplant-Potato Pie with barley pilaf and winter vegetables

Mini Dessert Tray Sampler

Roux also offer a great selection of wines and local brews to complement your dining experience.

This menu will be served from 5:00 PM until 10:00 PM. Reservations are recommended. Please call 828-209-2715 to secure your table. Learn more about Roux on the web.

Be Festive with Santa in Biltmore Park

Santa Claus is coming to town - Biltmore Park Town Square that is. This Friday, December 24th from 3PM to 6PM Santa will be available to hear all the last minute requests. As an added bonus you are welcome to have your child's photo taken for free. Just be sure to bring your own camera with you.

Biltmore Park is located off of I-26 at exit 37. If there is inclement weather then you can find Santa in the lobby of the Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park. While you're there you can enjoy a delicious meal or appetizer at Roux, one of the best values for a meal in Biltmore Park.

Special thanks to my friends Michael and Chance for use of their photo.

Roux serves up Thanksgiving dinner in Asheville

Looking for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner in Asheville this year? Roux, located in the Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park, will be serving a fantastic menu - buffet style - from 1PM until 7PM Thanksgiving day. However, if you want to have Thanksgiving at home, and don't have the time to cook, then take advantage of the Thanksgiving To Go option. Your turkey will be slow cooked early so when you come to pick it up on Thanksgiving day it will be hot, fresh and ready.

The following is what you can expect.

- Organic Spinach Salad with Shaved Fennel and Bermuda Onions, Figs, Gorgonzola & Orange Cider Vinaigrette
- Curried Sweet Potato Salad with Honey and Pine Nuts
- Sesame Green Bean Salad with Soy Glazed Almonds
- Artisan Breads with Herb Butter & Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Wild Mushroom Bisque
- Roasted Medley of Brussel Sprouts, Carrots and Parsnips
- Sweet Potato Casserole with Pecan Streusel and Marshmallow Topping
- Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes
- Traditional Southern Cornbread Dressing
- Homemade Turkey Gravy

From the Carving Board:
- Roasted Tangle Wood Farms Turkey with Orange-Cranberry Relish
- Baked Ham with Pineapple-Mustard Glaze

Desserts
- Pumpkin, Pecan or Buttermilk Pie Served Table Side with fresh Whipped Cream

Prices for the Thanksgiving buffet are $21.99 per adult and $12.00 for children 12 and under. If you are interested in the To Go program then the prices are $164 to feed 10-12 people and $87.00 to feed 4-6 people. Please call 828-209-27145 for reservations. You will need to place all To Go reservations by November 19th.

For more information call the number above of visit the Roux website.

Spotlight on Asheville Artist Mitchell Lonas

Asheville is well known for being a cultural and artistic mecca. The plethora of galleries, studio strolls, and art & craft fairs that occur throughout the year are a testament to the size of the artistic community in Western North Carolina. Many artists take up residency in this vibrant mountain community including Mitchell Lonas.

The following is an excerpt from Mitchell's bio on his website.

The Tennessee native, who studied art history at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, was for many years a respected portrait painter before transitioning to his current style. A portraitist’s sense of focus, line, and beauty continues to inform his latest work, showcased in exhibitions such as The Wrench Series at Gallery Bienvenu in New Orleans.

Lonas, who now lives and maintains a studio practice in Asheville, North Carolina, personally developed many of the processes that imbue his work with its unique sense of materiality. “The challenge,” he observes, “is to create something original using unconventional materials and methods.” To that end, beginning in 2005, he evolved a method of applying paint to metal panels and incising them with iconic imagery. Working from sketches, he uses customized cutting tools to create rapturous stylizations of trees, feathers, birds’ nests, and other subject matter culled from the plant and animal kingdoms. As viewers behold the completed works from different vantage points, the myriad beveled lines in each composition glint and shimmer in the light.

Mitchell Lonas’ work has been widely exhibited and is featured in notable private, public, institutional, and corporate collections, among them a series of large-scale commissions for Nordstrom department stores.

Mithcell's Metal Nest series is currently on exhibit at the Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park, a hotel that adorns all of it's walls with the work of local artists.

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—Bio excerpted from “Mitchell Lonas: The Wrench Series” by Richard Speer. Speer is contributing critic at ARTNews and Art Ltd. magazines. His essays have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Huffington Post, Newsweek, Salon, and Opera News. www.richardspeer.com

Mother's Day Brunch at roux in Asheville

This Mother's Day why not treat the special mother in your life to a delicious brunch menu specially crafted by Chef Randy Dunn at roux, a restaurant located inside the Hilton Asheville Biltmore Park. The brunch is this Sunday May 9, 2010 from 11am - 2pm.

The theme of roux is southern food with a twist and this menu certainly delivers on that. Where else can you find applewood smoked bacon layered between peanut butter and banana pancakes? Perhaps your palate prefers a more traditional brunch item such as the Eggs Benny, but there are options to spice it up with smoked salmon or fried oysters. The crab and swiss omelet is sure to be a winner as well, but still there's more.




Other menu items include the maple-ginger glazed salmon, slow cooked pork belly, fried chicken and waffle or a 12oz prime rib. There are delicious desserts as well such as the caramel pecan bread pudding with white chocolate whiskey sauce or a fresh strawberry shortcake trifle.



In addition to the menu items there will also be a full buffet that includes, cooked to order eggs, omelets, waffles, pancakes, french toast, greek pasta primavera, carved to order salmon wellington, roasted potatoes and mushroom bisque. The buffet costs $16.95 and includes a beverage.

Are you hungry yet? Reservations can be made by calling 828-209-2715. You can learn more about roux and get directions here. If you're traveling to Asheville this week you should check out our Hilton hotel where roux is located for your lodging needs.

Dine to Be Kind in Asheville

On Tuesday, February 23, join Animal Compassion Network and for the 7th Annual Dine to Be Kind event. Dine in or take out from any of the participating restaurants and they will donate a percentage of the day's dining to ACN's Spay/Neuter Assistance and Foster Programs. Since 2000, ACN's Betty Fund has funded the spay/neuter surgery for 10,000 pets belonging to low-income families, and the demand on the program has never been higher.

Please click on the restaurants below to find menus, directions, or hours!

Apollo Flame Bistro * Asheville Ale House * Battery Park Book Exchange * Blue Sky Cafe * Brixx Wood Fired Pizza * Bone-a-fide Bakery * Cafe Azalea * cafe ello * Cats & Dawgs * Charlotte Street Grill & Pub * Chorizo * Corner Kitchen * chai pani * Cucina 24 * Curras Dom * Dripolator Coffeehouse * Doc Chey's Noodle House * Filo Pastries * Frank's Roman Pizza * Green Sage Coffeehouse & Cafe * Grove Park Inn: Blue Ridge Dining Room, Horizons, Sunset Terrace Chophouse * Kilwin's Chocolate, Fudge & Ice Cream * Laughing Seed Cafe * Lenny's Sub Shop *  Madison's Black Mountain * The Market Place * Morning Glory Cafe * Mellow Mushroom * Mountain Brew Cafe & Bakery * Nine Mile Inc * Oakie Dokie Smokehouse * Pomodoros * Province 620 * Rise 'N Shine Cafe * Rosetta's Kitchen * Roux at The Hilton * Sazerac * Sante Wine Bar * Sunny Point Cafe * Sunnyside Cafe * 12 Bones Smokehouse * Thai Basil * The Hop Ice Cream * Tomato Jam * Urban Burrito * Usual Suspects * Waggers Dog Depot * Wayne's Restaurant * Well-Bred Bakery & Cafe * West End Bakery * Wine Studio of Asheville * Wild Wing Cafe

Help us spread the word! Download an event flier from here and post in your office, school, church, community center, grocery store and any place else you go. Interested in being a Dine to Be Kind Advocate? Email Kelly Stoner for details: kellystoneracn@gmail.com.

Also, through the entire month of February, Sensibilities Day Spa will match any donations to ACN (up to $1000). Just bring your ACN donation to 59 Haywood Street or Two Town Square Boulevard in Biltmore Park, and help twice as many cats and dogs in need. Thank you, Sensibilities Day Spa, for all of the support you have given ACN and our rescues over the years!

If you're traveling from out of town, check out the Hilton which will be participating in this year's event.