We recently took a vacation to Ashville, North Carolina. My sister had been there a few weeks before we went and recommended that we take a food tour. She said it was a fun way to experience a variety of local restaurants in a short period of time. My wife made arrangements for our food tour weeks before our trip.
Our tour started from the lobby of the Aloft Hotel in downtown. Our tour guide Stu was waiting for us. Soon there was a couple from Chicago named Jim and Tammy that joined us. I often use association tricks to remember people’s names and I immediately thought of Jim and Tammy Faye Baker with them. Finally, a couple of ladies from New Jersey joined us. One woman was named Florey, which I remembered by thinking of Robert Florey, the director of the Marx Brothers first film, The Coconuts. Her friend’s name was Deborah. I couldn’t think of anyone to connect her with, so I just asked her name again to attempt to remember it. Stu had brought us excellent empanadas from La Bodega, a café that is part of one of Ashville’s most popular restaurants, Cúrate. We didn’t start getting to know the people in our group until we sat down with them at a restaurant called Twisted Laurel where we were served a sample of a ribeye with caramelized onions and homemade cheese whiz. Stu was good at pointing out interesting buildings around downtown as we walked to each destination. Our next stop was for pork belly tacos at the White Duck Taco Shop. The next stop would be for a slice of New York style pizza at Manicomio Pizza and Food.
Things got interesting at Ukiah Japanese Smokehouse. As we walked in, we were seated next to a table of people that spoke to Stu. People in this group had been on his tour the previous day. They had come back based on their experience the previous day. We started with 2 pieces of salmon sashimi that was covered in wasabi soy broth and scallions. Tammy couldn’t eat salmon, so they brought her some oysters. While we were waiting for our baby back ribs, Tammy went to the restroom. While she was gone, a lady from the table that spoke to Stu, stumbled from the restroom to our table. She stood at Tammy’s seat next to me and most of what she said was directed more to me. She asked if we had been to Biltmore Village. We drove through that neighborhood as we were leaving our tour of the Biltmore the day before. We had seen enough to tell her yes. She asked if we had eaten at the Red Stag Grill. We had seen it, but we didn’t eat there. She said she had eaten breakfast there that morning and that we needed to do the same. Then she said there was an art gallery next door to it called the Grand Bohemian Gallery. She said she had gone there after eating at the Red Stag and she “had the most sensual experience”. No one in our group knew how to take this or exactly what she meant. This lady went back to her table soon. Jim looked at me with a curious look and speaking quietly enough that the lady wouldn’t hear asked if I knew her. Of course, I said no. No one seemed to know exactly what kind of experience they might get if they went to that art gallery, but we all felt a need to go just out of curiosity. What could they possibly have there that would make the lady react in this way? When Tammy returned to the table, we had fun trying to explain to her what had happened. Deborah was at the other end of the table from me when the Red Stag lady was at our table. Deborah was seated with her back to the previous food tour’s table so as she was getting up, Red Stag lady decided to start telling her more about the art gallery. When we asked her about this discussion when she caught up with us outside, we found out that she learned more but said, “I don’t want to talk about it”.
We made a stop for ice cream sandwiches at a place called Sunshine Sammies before we returned to the Aloft Hotel. Stu was a great guide and our group got along well. While there was discussion about a group trip for breakfast at the Red Stag with a side trip to the Grand Bohemian Gallery, we would never see anyone in this group again. And we didn’t stop for a sensual experience before we left Ashville the next morning.