I spent the last few days in Asheville, North Carolina, for my niece’s wedding. It’s hard to hit a new place, try to see all of the highlights in just a few days, and especially to sample the food when your meals are largely already covered with rehearsal dinner, wedding, and post wedding family brunch. But my sister and I managed to land on the Spanish tapas place called Zambra, right in downtown Asheville, and it was spectacular.This hot mess of a picture is what happens when you put down a plate of patatas bravas in front of me, dripping with spicy tomato sauce and aioli: I dug in so quickly I barely managed to snap a photo of the messy plate before gobbling it all up. They were crisp and crunchy, and the tomato sauce had that weird almost tomato soup consistency that reminded me of the many places I ate these during the 2 months I spent in Madrid last year. Comfort food never tasted better.My sister opted for the salad, which appears boring in this photo, but included pear, Marcona almonds, and goat cheese.I opted for the seasonal and more decadent fried green tomatoes, served with ham and a smoky dipping sauce. I could have eaten about 10 more tomatoes like this!We split the quail, which was served over creamy cheesy grits with a peach compote on top – that was a mistake, and we should have each ordered one of our own.We DID order our own pork cheek, which was nestled atop a buttermilk-goat cheese mojo sauce. There was actually a lot of meat in this order and we would have been fine to share one of these.There is a lot to do in Asheville, and I’ll give you a run down of my visit in an upcoming travel blog post. In the meantime, if you’re in the vicinity, please make a trip to Zambra.

Zambra
85 W Walnut St
Asheville, NC 28801
828-232-1060
Website

Monday through Thursday
Lounge opens @ 5:00 PM
Dining Room opens @ 5:30 PM

Friday and Saturday
Lounge opens @ 4:30 PM
Dining Room opens @ 5:00 PM

Sunday
Lounge & Dining Room open @ 5:30 PM