The Gamekeeper Restaurant & Bar
Users of OpenTable (an online real-time restaurant reservation service) have named this High Country restaurant the No. 1 romantic restaurant in Western North Carolina. The Gamekeeper is housed in a 1950s stone cottage in Boone, just 2.5 miles from the Blue Ridge Parkway. The restaurant is known for its Southern comfort food. If you're in the mood to be comforted, you might want to try the cream of potato soup with truffle oil or the country ham pate with pecan-smoked trout for an appetizer. Main course choices include grilled buffalo with blue cheese macaroni, spice-rubbed ostrich with risotto and venison shank in tomato stew. And what romantic evening could end without a piece of chocolate cake, especially the Gamekeeper's flourless torte with semi-sweet ganache?
The Gamekeeper Restaurant & Bar
3005 Shull's Mill Road
Boone, NC 28607
(828) 963-7400
www.gamekeeper-nc.com/
The Old Stone Inn Restaurant
The Old Stone Inn mountain lodge and restaurant sits on wooded land a short walk from downtown Waynesville. The building, at an elevation of 3,200 feet, was constructed in 1946. A roaring fire in a large fireplace warms the restaurant. Diners are surrounded by stone walls and an intimate atmosphere with candlelight, lace tablecloths and flowers. The hearty offerings can satisfy even the hungriest appetites. Guests can start with an appetizer like pecan-baked brie with raspberry coulis or petite crab cakes. Entrees include crispy butterflied trout (the western North Carolina mountains are known for the tasty trout available in their rivers), rack of lamb and porterhouse pork chop with Marsala sauce. The inn offers a wide variety of desserts, including lemon tart with raspberry coulis, white-chocolate bread pudding and mousse in an almond lace basket.
The Old Stone Inn Restaurant
109 Dolan Road
Waynesville, NC 28786
(828) 456-3333
oldstoneinn.com
Horizons
Horizons at the Grove Park Inn Resort & Spa in Asheville won a AAA Four Diamond award in 2008, and it received Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence every year from 2001 to 2009. Diners eat on fine china at tables covered in the best white linens. Sunset views over the Blue Ridge Mountains accompany the award-winning food. The chef cooks with fresh food purchased from area farms. For an appetizer, you might choose lobster bisque or shaved prosciutto with melon. Second-course selections include duck foie gras and veal sweetbreads. And as your entree, diver scallops with white bean cassoulet and breast of duck are just two of your choices. If you have any room left for dessert, it might be hard to resist the chocolate and Chambord genoise with coffee brittle and double chocolate sorbet. Horizons hosts live entertainment nightly.
Horizons
290 Macon Ave.
Asheville, NC 28804
(800) 438-5800
groveparkinn.com
