Visiting the City Farmers’ Market in Asheville with the Chefs from The Grove Park Inn

Visiting the City Farmers’ Market in Asheville with the Chefs from The Grove Park Inn

This post is the second one on our trip to Asheville, North Carolina and The Grove Park Inn and the the third in the On the Road with Bunkycooks series.

On our first full day in Asheville (after much wine and good food the prior evening), we started the morning off with a really large cup of coffee (of course…the Bunkycooks needed to get going after a somewhat sleepless evening looking for the “Pink Lady”!). After the necessary dose of caffeine, we headed off to the Asheville City Farmer’s Market with two of the chefs from The Blue Ridge Dining Room (Chef Charles Jett and Chef Casey Connor) and their new restaurant manager, Mark Ramirez.

Chef Jett

Chef Denny Tratham, the Executive Chef at The Grove Park Inn, usually goes with the other chefs every Saturday morning, however, he was not able to on this particular day. So, after being invited by Chef Charles Jett, the Bunkycooks were excited to tag along because it’s fun to go shopping with the chefs to see what was looking good at the farmers market!

Now, you know that the Bunkycooks will never miss an opportunity to look at pretty food and take pictures of all of it! We know good looking food when we see it! We also enjoy eating it, too!

There are an incredible number of farmers’ markets in Asheville for a town of its size (a population of 100,000). According to the Asheville tourism board, there are 14 tailgate markets in the Asheville area! The City Farmers’ Market is just minutes from the hotel and is one of the larger markets, so that is where we headed Saturday morning!

This trip to the market is a weekly ritual on Saturday mornings for the chefs at The Grove Park Inn. Every Saturday The Blue Ridge Dining Room serves a farm to table brunch which highlights local farmers and their products. Many of the dishes that they prepare for the brunch are made with the goodies that they pick up at the market in the morning. The Bunkycooks were lucky enough to get to shop with the chefs and see what produce and cheeses they purchased to be included in the brunch.

You’ve got to sample the goodies!

This is also a great way for the chefs to stay connected to the community and to find out what the farmers will have to offer in the coming weeks and months.

There were really BIG Heirloom tomatoes at the market!

Continue Reading...

Page: 1 2
We participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.